The Travel Diary of Amos Lee, page 1
Copyright © 2014 by Adeline Foo
All rights reserved.
Published in Singapore by Epigram Books
www.epigrambooks.sg
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Cover design by Stephanie Wong
lllustrations © 2014 by Stephanie Wong
NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD SINGAPORE
CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Foo, Adeline, 1971-
Monkeying in Malaysia!: the travel diary of Amos Lee/written by Adeline Foo; illustrated by Stephanie Wong.
— Singapore: Epigram Books, [2014]
pages cm. — (The travel diary of Amos Lee series; 2)
ISBN: 978-981-07-9419-4 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-981-07-9420-0 (e-book)
1. Boys — Singapore—Diaries — Juvenile fiction.
2. Diarists—Singapore—Juvenile fiction.
3. Hiking — Malaysia — Sarawak — Juvenile fiction.
4. Bornean orangutan — Juvenile fiction.
I. Wong, Stephanie, 1979-
II. Title.
III. Series: Travel diary of Amos Lee series; 2.
PZ7
S823 — dc23 OCN891117812
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First Edition
It was just another uneventful day in school, except for an assembly talk we had before classes started. Guess who visited us to give the talk? A bunch of people from S.A.I.N.T.: Save Animals in Nature Today, a wildlife protection group. The speaker was a passionate man; he spoke animatedly about the urgent need to combat global warming and how vulnerable endangered animals are.
I thought it was going to be the usual yadda yadda speech, until he mentioned something exciting. He spoke about raising funds for a study trip to Sarawak. I had no idea what the money was for... but aha, that was when a light bulb went off in my head!
SARAWAK! That’s in Malaysia, where my girlfriend lives! Er... maybe it’s a little inaccurate to call her that. Let’s just say Jolin is the object of my infatuation. (Those are Mum’s words, anyway.) We met in Taipei on a cultural immersion trip and we’ve managed to stay connected since, through WhatsApp and Skype.
Being separated is tough on our friendship. No one understands how difficult it is to stay committed. Imagine: when faced with one free hour before bedtime, would you choose to sneak the Nintendo DS under your blanket to play games before Mum catches you, or would you faithfully lug out your dinosaur of a laptop to chat on Skype with the girl you like?
Jolin has repeatedly asked that I visit her in Malaysia, but each time I bring it up, Mum just rolls her eyes. She says my “fixation” on Jolin is a phase that will pass. Whatever that means.
So for the rest of the assembly talk, I paid close attention to what the man from S.A.I.N.T. said. Hmmm...it looks like if we raise funds for their project, we will be given the chance to go on a trip to Sarawak to see animals that have been rescued from environmental destruction. WOW. A FREE trip! Fantastic! But what I like best is that it’s a school programme! This would be something that Mum can’t possibly say no to. Oh boy, I can’t wait to rope in my best friends, Alvin and Anthony, to sign up together.
I wonder what animals we would see? I hope they are BIG, FIERCE and AWESOME! Maybe we’d get to see the Malayan tiger or the Sumatran rhinoceros! I can just imagine the bragging rights I’d get, the PICTURES I’d be posting on Instagram! This is one trip that I really want to go on. Nothing is going to stop me! Malaysia boleh! Oh yeah!
TARZAN FORMS A PLAN
Over breakfast, I was on my best behaviour. Even when my annoying brat of a sister screamed at me when I failed to trim the crust off a sandwich I made for her, I held my tongue. Mum looked at me suspiciously when I said sweetly to Whoopie, “Sorry, your highness.” I didn’t want to overdo my act, so I scowled at my sister. Just for dramatic effect. But Mum caught on to me when I gave Everest a hug for finishing his cereal.
“What is it? What do you want?”
I smiled. Mum is such a genius. “Er... I’m doing this project to raise money. We’re saving animals in Sarawak. Can you make a donation?” I asked excitedly.
Mum rolled her eyes. She really did! I was impressed as I could see the whites of her eyes. She said she’d think about it, which usually meant “no”. So I thought quickly and added, “But Mum, think of how helpless the animals are out there. With global warming, the change in weather, the HAZE! They NEED ME!” Boy, was I good.
Then Mum said she’d help, by gathering stuff that I could sell to raise money. Huh? But that wasn’t what I asked for! The next thing I knew, she was going around the flat and by the end of the morning, she’d packed several cartons of stuff. She was so happy when she announced cheerily, “Look, your first pop-up store! A fundraiser! This is going to be fun!” I took a peek into the boxes she’d filled up. Oh man...
Box 1: Costumes from Everest’s kindergarten performances.
Box 2: Whoopie’s cups — and trust me, she had enough to fill one entire box! These were cups that she’d used to sing and pound along to the “Cup Song” sung by Anna Kendrick. I sooooo hate the woman for making the song a worldwide hit.
Box 3: Storybooks we had outgrown.
Box 4: Dad’s old copies of National Geographic.
What is it with my mother? Can’t she be normal like other mums? Just give me the money!
Alvin and Anthony both readily agreed to join me on the Sarawak project. But what they weren’t so keen on was to have their mums offer them stuff to sell, to raise money, too. I guess all mothers must have gone through some sort of Torture Your Kids programme to learn how to bring up children. Oh well, the bright side to this was probably knowing that Alvin and Anthony wouldn’t be backing out of this trip... after all, their mums had directed them to sell EVERYTHING they were given.
Anthony’s Martha Stewart Set-Up:
TWO entire cartons of D.I.Y. baking mix which his mum had bought online. He said something about a failed home business venture, which meant his mother would probably have more stuff to pass to us, like glass jars, cookie cutters and baking tins.
Alvin’s Beauty Parlour:
FIVE cartons of shampoo, body oils and organic soaps. Wow. It was mind-boggling! How can anyone use so many beauty products in ONE lifetime? Alvin said they were all products his mother had bought in bulk, as part of some multi-level marketing scheme. Huh? Why would women do such things? How much money can they possibly hope to earn? Think of all the space that these boxes must have taken up in the flat. So Alvin wasn’t joking when he said he lulls himself to sleep looking at women’s stuff. I’d always assumed he meant girlie magazines.
I wasn’t surprised when, before I went to bed, Mum caught me and excitedly announced that she had gathered more goods for me to sell. She said some of her friends are donating unused (what she really meant was unsellable) Tupperware products for my pop-up store. I was too sleepy to bother answering her. Since when did I ask for the Tupperware Women to contribute to my cause? But just as I dozed off, a thought struck me. Maybe these women are not to be scoffed at. I’d heard Mum rave before about the excellent turnouts at Tupperware parties. Maybe I could mobilise these women to buy ALL our stuff. Mums United. They must share the same interests, right? I’d do anything to get to Malaysia. Nothing will keep me away from Jolin.
T IS FOR “TUPPERWARE” AND “TUBERS”
Finally, I got a chance to do something with my bros. Alvin, Anthony and I spent the entire Saturday morning setting up our pop-up store. I must say I was touched by their commitment. Anthony found time to bake cupcakes the night before. His line-up looked impressive, with all the baking products laid out neatly on a table. Alvin was smart. He recruited Whoopie and Everest as his sales agents. Having dolled them up in Everest’s kindergarten costumes, he got them to hand out sampler tubes of body oils to customers as they showed up. I had to admit, my siblings looked cute dressed as superheroes.
As for me, I spent the morning baking potatoes and yams. Then I spread generous amounts of butter and sour cream on them, before packing them into Tupperware products, to be served as welcome bites. Dad also threw his weight behind our fundraiser. He scanned images from copies of National Geographic and had them printed as posters highlighting the plight of exploited animals. I put up photos of them on Instagram immediately!
Whoa... I learnt something today. And the posters were AWESOME!
When hordes of Tupperware Women showed up at our flat, I was bowled over. What did Mum do? How did these women hear about our fundraiser? They trooped into our flat in droves. And boy, were they pleased to see their donated Tupperware products used to serve welcome bites. Wolfing down my potatoes and yams, they went around buying up everything in sight. Seriously, I didn’t think they understood what we were doing, but they were easy with their money.
Bottles of shampoo, bars of soap, jars of body oils and all of Anthony’s baking stuff got swept up. Dad was so excited with the overwhelming response that he gave away all his magazines. Our storybooks were all sold, and so were Whoopie’s cups and Everest’s costumes. I was
In the evening, Mum helped me count all the money we’d made. It was close to $900! Wow. I almost cried with happiness! Jolin, I’m sooooo on my way to Malaysia! If I had any regret over what we’d sacrificed to get this far, it was the small white lie that I’d told Mum.
She asked if I’d remembered to wash and scrub the tubers before baking them. Er... it was my first time, what did she expect? Under all those layers of butter and sour cream, no one would possibly mind some bits of hardened soil that got baked in the oven. Anything that is cooked is safe to eat, right? But I did stop my little brother from touching any of the tubers. Real men don’t eat tubers.
I thought hard about how I should present my case to Mum. Finally, I found a way. I did an online search and found scores of newspaper articles from all the way back in 1990. Singapore’s ministers had been pushing to get kids into the outdoors, where they would train and sweat with teammates, and learn how to handle challenges. The Ministry of Education had called for schools to encourage students to be risk-takers with a can-do spirit. The newspaper headlines mentioned camping, abseiling, trekking...taking a frightening step into the dark to TOUGHEN UP!
If I had to be honest, I’d say that it was no fun climbing Bukit Timah Hill once with Dad. That was my first (and only) outdoor experience as a small kid! So I lied to Jolin, heh. But a year ago, our school hired an experiential learning expert to design lessons out of the classroom. To learn about the concept of forces in Physics, we went rock climbing at East Coast Parkway. To see the make-up of the cornea in an eye for Biology, we had to visit a wet market to buy bull’s eyes from the butcher. Somehow, none of us were surprised when parent-volunteers kicked up a big fuss over how troublesome it was to arrange field trips to support the school’s learning activities.
I’d thought it was fun to get out of the classroom...but when I heard we were heading to Pulau Ubin to attend an Outward Bound School camp, I quickly drew up a list of excuses to get out of it: “I’m allergic to sweat”, “I’ll die if I were to get a leech bite!” and my favourite, “I have a medical condition, I’m only allowed to drink boiled water from the tap”.
But we never got to go — the school said something about not getting consent from parents. For sure, I can understand why! Thank goodness for protective mothers who are afraid to see their kids suffer in the wilderness!
If it weren’t for Jolin, I’d never have entertained the idea of entering the jungle. But “Tarzan of Sarawak” does have a nice ring to it. And besides, I’m 14. I’m just four years away from being enlisted in the army. Maybe Dad’s right; climbing Bukit Timah was just to get my feet wet. Better that I learn how to survive in the jungle NOW than to suffer at 18 as a National Service recruit.
I dutifully printed out all the articles I’d found on the National Library’s online newspaper portal. I even had them bound into a folder. Next smart thing to do: get Dad on my side. That’d make it harder for Mum to say no to letting me enter the jungle.
GETTING SET FOR THE TRIP
Over dinner, I tried to talk to Mum. What I didn’t expect was to have her so upset after she had read everything in the folder. She said I should snap out of my infatuation! What was she talking about? I’m NOT running into the jungle to marry Jolin! I just thought it’d be awesome to visit Malaysia and spend some time in the jungle.
Er...I did say I wanted to get myself ready for National Service, but Mum didn’t believe me. I couldn’t believe how unreasonable she was! She said she was disappointed because I’d hoodwinked everyone into doing the pop-up store when all I really cared about was raising money to fund my trip to see Jolin. I was wounded. I had every intention to donate ALL the money we’d made to the S.A.I.N.T.’s cause. But that can wait till, like, next year! This school holiday, I’m set on going to Sarawak. There must be other good people waiting to donate money to the S.A.I.N.T.’s cause!
I felt betrayed when Dad said he was disappointed with me, too. What was wrong with my parents? Mum said that she wouldn’t give me anything more than the $900 I’d collected. Well, that’s OK, I guess. I’d done my calculations. $900 would get Alvin, Anthony and me to Malaysia on a budget airline. Jolin had requested that we meet in Kuala Lumpur first, as her parents would like to meet all of us. I thought that’d be fun as the four of us, together with Jolin’s BFF, could go on a food binge! Jolin assured us that her parents would be paying for all our meals, and we could all stay at her house. It’s big enough. Awesome!
As for Sarawak, we’d be trekking through the jungle, for which the cost is almost zero! Jolin’s uncle has got tickets for all of us to attend the Rainforest World Music Festival, so we definitely won’t go broke. For the jungle trip, I’d planned to bring along loads of instant noodles. That, together with 10 cans of baked beans, should last us five days in the jungle.
But there was something I didn’t tell Mum. I’d decided to forgo the idea of upgrading my iPhone, which I’d been saving up for a looooong time. I needed the $400 now to buy cool camping gear. Only the most fashionable camouflage outfit would do! I didn’t ask Jolin the name of the band she was stalking. But I know I can’t possibly look bad compared to them. Boy, was I glad my best friends are coming with me. We’d show the boy band who the real men are.
Just before we ended our conversation, Mum said she wouldn’t stop me from going to Sarawak. But she did say, “You’re going to regret your decision. But it’s something you’ll have to learn, to be responsible for what you choose to do. I hope you’ll learn something from this trip.” Hmmm...I wondered what she was really trying to tell me. Jolin said a jungle man would accompany us, so we’d be safe! How tough can it be to survive a trek through the jungle?
I felt a little bad when I saw Dad writing a cheque for $900 made out to the “Save Animals in Nature Today” society. “A donation from the family and friends of Amos Lee,” he had written on an attached note. He looked at me briefly before putting the cheque and note in an envelope. “I won’t mail this yet. I hope you have something to contribute after you’ve come to your senses.”
What’s he talking about? I have no money except for the $900 raised and my own savings of $400. Everything is going towards the “Me Tarzan, You Jolin” mission.
Dad’s sweet. I didn’t expect him to make a donation in my name. But at this moment, nothing could persuade me to stay away from Sarawak. Dad can be the good Samaritan donating his money to the S.A.I.N.T.’s cause.
Alvin and Anthony met up with me after school to select our trekking gear. We had surfed the internet and found the Army Market at Beach Road. It’s a collection of over 100 stores selling army wares and camping equipment.
Anthony didn’t seem excited about anything we said. He kept complaining that he was going to suffer on this trip, as it was his first expedition in the wild. I thought he was just being silly. He even whined about not getting a bed to sleep in. Well, a sleeping bag would be just as comfortable, I assured him. He then went on and on about how there are depraved animals in the jungle waiting to pounce on us. Like seriously? The reason why a society like the S.A.I.N.T. exists is precisely because there are few animals left in the jungle to eat us up! Every animal that can eat Man is endangered! We’d be safe. Besides, I’d looked it up on the Internet. The forest that Jolin said we are going to is called Batang Ai National Park, about four hours’ drive from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. She did say the real reason why we are heading there is to catch the band hiding out at their secret location, before the Rainforest World Music Festival kicks off. I trust Jolin wouldn’t lead us on a wild goose chase. Since it’s so important for her to meet her band idols, I’m totally supporting her. If along the way we get to see wild animals, it’ll be a bonus!
I wondered what my friends’ true motives were for accompanying me on this trip. They hadn’t said anything, except for Anthony’s incessant whining.
I suspect that the only reason Anthony agreed to go is to see Jolin. It’s OK. I know he has a crush on her. I could live with that because I know how she feels about Anthony. She sees him as a brother! No competition there. Alvin, on the other hand, is a different story. He’s my best friend, but there’s something about him that makes him dangerous around girls. They like him. I wasn’t sure about his feelings for Jolin. But I’ll have to take a chance. Alvin would be good company. He’s resourceful and fun to be around, and he loves the outdoors! I’ll need all the support I can get, like someone to take care of meals, even if it’s just boiling noodles and heating up baked beans. When I saw what Anthony’s mum had included on his packing list for the trip, I couldn’t stop grinning. It’ll be great to have him on the trip!
