Lenggong River Valley

Short entry here, because I have a lot of homework to do. Happy Easter though! I was able to go to a mass this morning, and it was comforting to be apart of many of the same catholic rituals here.

This weekend we went to Lenggong River Valley to study insects, and fish. Friday was the dedicated insect day. We first went to a creek that feeds into the large river and took samples from different microhabitats. We were looking at the different species found in the river and comparing them to a water index scale to try and judge how clean the water was. Surprisingly, based on our results, the water was fairly clean! After, we walked up to look at a small waterfall. It was quite nice minus the mosquitos. I must of gotten 30 bites, and I was wearing bug spray everywhere! Later that night we set up a light trap, with white sheets hung in front, and caught various bugs that fly into it. I'm not an insect person, so wasn't too thrilled about all the bugs, but some people really liked it.

Saturday was the fish day. The morning was spend on small boats, traveling to fish nets and checking them. We all got a change to untangle fish from the net, and kept the specimens for analysis later back at base camp. We then boated around the river a little bit, as this was the downstream and cleaner area. In the afternoon, we drove to the more upstream part of the river, about an hour and half away, and observed how polluted and disgusting it was. After dinner and a discussion, we made our way back to campus! It was a nice short trip. This friday, we leave for a 9 day trip on the East Coast of Malaysia. Wifi will be incredibly limited, if it exists at all so a next blog post won't come for a few weeks!

Cookies can be a lifesaver

During my time in Malaysia, I've been volunteering every Wednesday for 3 hours at St. Nicholas home for the Blind. It's about a 40 minute taxi ride away and so takes up a lot of time, but a few of us go together and it's very rewarding. It was scary at first because while I've worked with Autistic and ADHD children before, I've never worked with someone who is visually impaired and it's quite challenging. I've gone for 5 weeks now, but this last week was my favorite by far. I was finally assigned to somewhere I really understand.. the pasty kitchen. I had emailed in my brother and I's favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe in hopes that by some miracle, they would have the right ingredients and allow me to show them how to make a real cookie. Cookies in Malaysia are actually gross. They did! I spend a few hours teaching them how to make the cookies, and then helping them make a cheesecake. I have never realized how therapeutic and wonderful baking (even cooking) can be. The lack of a kitchen, and homemade meals is really getting to me. I understand that food is super cheap here, and eating out makes the most sense, but there is just something about a home made meal thats comforting. Anyway, the cookies turned out pretty good and I've never been more happy to have a western desset. During a week filled with homework and stress, it was exactly what I needed. Next week, I'm hoping they will put me back in the pastries and that I can teach them how to make muffins. That sounds delicious as well :)

Gurdwara Visit

Our group had the opportunity to finish our unit on the religion of Sikhism with a visit to one of the Gurdwara’s (their place of worship) on the island. It was a wonderful evening, as the community was incredibly welcoming and hospitable to us.

At a Gurdwara, it’s the practice for everyone to cover his or her head out of respect. We were provided orange bandana type cloths to use, and a few of us even had the opportunity to get a traditional turban tied on. I stuck with the classic cloth, felt like I was back in my Girl Scout days!

The services at Sikh Gurdwara can last for hours, so we simply went in for about 15 minutes to observe. There was live music and singing, and everyone was seated on the ground, facing the alter and their holy book.

After the service, we were served a huge meal by volunteers of the Gurwara. It’s customary that everyone eats after attending, and so we just joined the rest. It was incredible how much food they kept bringing out to us. I ate way to much and was uncomfortably full, but I couldn’t say no to all the new dishes to try! It was a really enjoyable evening, and I actually really liked the atmosphere of the Gurdwara. Everyone was friendly, hospitable, and generous, and completely tolerant of us taking a ton of pictures in our hilarious head coverings!

Vietnam. Cambodia. Thailand.

Spring Break 2014. Wow. I don't even know how else to describe it. I did a 10 day tour that started in Vietnam, went through Cambodia, and ended in Thailand. I experienced so much, had so much fun, and learned so many new things, it's hard to fully explain. The best I can do is a mini day by day summary of what I did. But just know, it was so much more. Also, so I don't overwhelm you with photos, I will choose only one (or two or three) photos for each day, thats it!

Day 1 (Friday):
Arrived to Ho Chi Minh city and had our check in meeting with the Intrepid travelers group. After, we explored the streets of Ho Chi Minh city, grabbed some yummy Vietnamese dinner, and soaked in the atmosphere. At one part, the sidewalks were covered with people just sitting and hanging out, having a drink. We joined :)

Day 2 (Saturday):
Woke up to experience Ho Chi Minh by daylight. Gorgeous place. There was a large park close to our hotel that tons of local people were at. Doing tai chi, jazzercise, walking, they were busy! Left by bus to drive to Phnom Penh. To get there we had to take a large ferry across the Mekong River. Busses and cars and people piled on! Once we arrived, we took a tuk tuk tour around the city, stopped at a market to try a bunch of local fruit, saw some important places. Ended the night by meeting up with friends from Malaysia, plus a few from our travel group to hang out a bar for awhile.

Day 3 (Sunday):
We visited the killing fields, and the genocide museum. Both were very interesting, and incredibly disturbing. The afternoon was free, so I took a walk around the city with a few other travelers, and saw the Royal Palace. That night, we took a river cruise on the Mekong River and had $2 cocktails. Whoo! It was beautiful and I love being on the water. Went out with our guide afterwords, and ended back at our hotels rooftop bar, using our iPhones to have a dance party! Side note.. almost got my purse snatched by a guy on a motorcycle but it's all good.

Day 4 (Monday):
Left early to drive in a van to Siem Reap. Roads were terrible, so the jostling, bumpy ride was quite terrible. We stopped at a roadside market and tried fried spider (yuck! too oily!) and then stopped for lunch at a nice little silk farm. We learned about the silk process, and met some local women who work there. After arriving in Siem Reap, we had free time. Some of us went to the tourist center and wandered the night market before heading to bed.

Day 5 (Tuesday):
Visited Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom (Bayon), elephant terrace, and the Lady Temple at the Angkor Wat complex. This place is amazingggg and I highly recommend everyone going. Before Cambodia breaks out into another war, which I think is entirely possible. Touring took quite a long time, and exhausted me. Swam at the hotel for a bit, and then went back to Pub street for dinner and to meet up with a few people from Malaysia. Early bed though.

Day 6 (Wednesday):
Sunrise at Angkor Wat! We were there by 5:30 and watched the sun come over the temple. Absolutely stunning. After that, we toured the Tomb Raider temple (from the movie!). It was also incredible, the roots that have grown into the temple give it a really neat feel. A bit later in the day we visited the floating village of Siem Reap. Didn't really enjoy it because the people are so poor, and I felt like they were in a zoo that we went to. Interesting though to see an entire village floating in a lake. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping and enjoying some poolside time. That night, we had a huge party on pub street. There are 2 bars that blast music directly across from one another, and we danced and danced. If one bar had a bad song, we took 5 steps in the other direction and danced to the other bar's song. Great night. Probably my favorite of the trip!

Day 7 (Thursday):
Drove to Battambang today, and had a delicious western style (thats huge for me at this point) at a nice little cafe. Later we took another tuk tuk tour to see how the locals make a sticky rice dish, and noodles, and then went to where the old bamboo train is. We got to ride the bamboo train to a little village and explore, before going back to the main city and touring a traditional Khmer house. Had an absolutely wonderful home cooked meal at a local house, and went to bed.

Day 8 (Friday):
Drove almost all day to get to Bangkok. Entering the country was crazy busy, but we made it through alright! After checking into our hotel, we had one last group dinner and bar time. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone in the group, as we'd had such a good time together.

Day 9 (Saturday):
Bangkok Day! We did a walking tour around the main part of the city, and ended it by visiting the famous reclining buddha at the Wat Pho temple. After that, I took a mental health break and sat by the pool for a few hours. We then moved to our hostel, grabbed some food, and took a bus to check out the famous Chatuchak market. It was huge! and sold so many things! After wandering, we went back to our hostel (on the main party road) and discovered that the Thai New Year Celebration had already started. It's called the water festival and is the biggest water gun fight ever. We were drenched within 2 minutes, so obviously bought a water gun and took to the streets. Exciting wet night, and crazy how busy the street got.

Day 10 (Sunday):
Went to the amulet market (apparently the biggest one in Thailand) to wander a little in the morning, and then came back to Khao San road to pack up and head to the airport. Made it to the airport, bought the most overpriced meal and starbucks of my life, and got ready to depart back to Malaysia. And school. And classes. And homework. UGH.

So quick summary: Vietnam. Cambodia. Thailand. Tons of fun. SPRING BREAK 2014!

also, 46 days left in Malaysia for me. Time is moving fast.. but also so slow. Weird.