Day 4: Gandhiji Ashram

~Thursday June 27, 2013~

~Anwar Fazal~

Another early morning and no breakfast. Today we visited Gandhiji Ashram which is a civic hall in Georgetown, Penang. It also serves as a religious retreat and hosts estate workers who come to Penang for religious festivities. We were greeted by Anwar Fazal and he gave us a tour of the beautiful park behind it and gave a little lecture about his beliefs in health, peace, happiness, and doing good deeds. He's a wonderful man with a gentle and loving spirit. He reminds me of a real hippie!

Something that he said struck me..."health is not just medicine." And it's true! He's very positive and very uplifting. He reminded us to laugh, to smile, to breathe, and be positive. I became so fascinated by him. He closed his remarks with, "we are children of mother Earth and citizens of the universe."

Some pictures of our small hike/tour of the park behind the Gandhiji Ashram which Mr. Fazal guided us.

 

 We also had the pleasure to eat lunch with Anwar Fazal. It was so good!

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~Elizabeth Thomas~

There was also another guest speaker named Elizabeth Thomas. When I first heard she was going to talk about HIV/AIDs I wasn't so thrilled because this topic is something I hear about all the time. However, I pleasantly surprised because she talked about her cause and her outreach organization to help those infected with HIV/AIDs especially since sex is a taboo subject and sex education is not given to kids. I was amazed by her organization and her perseverance to shed light on this subject in Malaysia in a place dominated by religion.

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Across from Gandhiji Ashram was a plant and fabric shop. The fabric shop was beautiful. We viewed handmade fabric and hand drawn fabric. The colors were so bright and stunning!

Day 3: CGSS

~Wednesday June 26, 2013~

As this day ends and I'm writing in this blog I feel a little homesick. It's quiet and I'm listening to music from my iPod. I yearn for the people I love and the people I'm familiar with and to be in my own bed. It's only been a few days and I have many more days to go. I guess this is what it feels like when you decide to venture on your own for the first time. Nonetheless, I'm still having fun.

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Anyway, today we went to visit Center of Global Sustainable Studies (CGSS) at USM and we were given a lecture about their programs and the word sustainability which they simply put "Tomorrow is better than today." Professor Kanayathu C. Koshy defines sustainability as development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding Earth's life supporting system on which the welfare of current and future generation depends on. To learn more click here.

It was a very interesting lecture. I learned a lot about Malaysia's public health challenges and what USM has been doing to solve problems that deals with waste and consumption. They have implemented many initiatives such as no plastic bag, no styrofoam, and other programs to help educate their community about using the environment in a resourceful way. I applaud them for their efforts!

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After our short lecture we were given the afternoon to do whatever we wanted. My friends and I decided to write postcards home, do laundry, and we also ate out along the streets right outside our dorms. I forgot to take a picture of my food, but I ate roti telur which is eggs cooked in flat bread and eaten with curry dipping sauce which cost RM$2.00 that is less than US$1.00! 

Day 1: continued... & Day 2: Orientation/Georgetown tour

~Monday June 24, 2013 (Day 1)~

It was a free day for to rest our tired bones from flying. I spent the day shopping with my friends. They take too long to shop...I can only shop up to 3-4 hours max...more than that I become tired and irritable. I wanted to go home early, but I felt like they wanted to shop and I didn't want to go home by myself.

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Penang is very different from home. I wasn't used to not having toilet paper, dirty, wet bathrooms, not having air condition in my dorm, and the weather being extremely hot and humid...I'm slowly getting used to the Malaysian lifestyle.

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~Tuesday June 25, 2013 (Day 2)~

I woke up early for the briefing about Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the Malaysian culture and learned a few key words like "Tak Mahu Pedas" which translates I don't want spicy. I don't like to eat spicy foods...it ruins my appetite and I find that a lot of Malaysian foods are spicy.

After the brief introduction we went for lunch. We went to Kopitan Restaurant and it was delicious! The waiters and waitresses were a little overwhelmed with 15+ people entering their tiny restaurant. I ate Singapore Fried Bee Hoon and drank Fresh Dragon Fruit Juice all for RM $13.00 which is equivalent to $4.00!! 

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~Georgetown Tour~

We also took a tour on Georgetown, a popular city here in Penang. Here are some photos from the tour! It was sooo hot. Like my outfit?! Hehehe.

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion 

Inside the mansion and my professor Dr. Kwa! :)

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Penang State Museum. Yes, I like to pose with figures.

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After the museum we walked around the streets exploring and I saw this! I love flowers and I was tempted to purchase these flowers and necklaces. It smelt wonderful! The picture below is the street view...the traffic here stops for no one, nor does it slow down...

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And finally, after a long day we decided to have some more fun before we headed to bed. 

Day 1: Check in at Universiti Sains Malaysia

~Universiti Sains Malaysia; Sunday, June 23, 2013~

I'm now currently checked into a dorm. My first dorm ever! I room with my friend. It's a simple room and not as glamorous as the "American college experience." The view from my window in my room is so pretty and you can see the mountains.

View from le dorm room. Pretty, non? But the smog...

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It's incredibly hot and unfortunately the smog has ascended to Penang. Ever since today, upon the arrival of smog (from land burning in Indonesia). I'm now suffering from allergies and a cough...I'm ready for bed and ready to get bright and early tomorrow...Good night, I'm so exhausted!

On our way across the globe!

~Home to NY (2.5 hours) Thursday June 23, 2013~

I left the states with my friends and headed to NY. I was really excited for NY because we had an 8 hour layover and I had seen the glamorous life of New Yorkers through movies, TV shows, and music (Empire State of Mind). I used the subway for the first time, walked around downtown Manhattan, went around in Central Park for a little, visited K-Town, and went to Time Square. I wasn't that amazed with New York...well, I was only there for 8 hours and I was super tired from not getting sleep that night. New Yorkers are too fast paced for me. Hehe!

My friends and I stopped by and ate a Korean restaurant for lunch and stopped at several cutesy bakeries! I wanted to buy all their foods and cakes...

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~NY to Frankfurt, Germany (6 hours)~ 

We had a one hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. They have a nice clean and sleek airport. I wish I could've explored Frankfurt a bit. We took Singapore Airlines and they have the most pretty stewardesses! They had matching, cute, traditional Singaporean outfits; their hair was neat in a bun or chignon, they all had pretty faces, but they wore a lot of makeup. I wanted to be one of them. "Hello, welcome to Singapore Airlines!"

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~Frankfurt, Germany to Singapore (10 hours)~

We landed in Singapore on Saturday at 6am after a 10 hour flight. Needless to say I was "pooped." They had a gorgeous airport and everything was so pretty, clean, neat, and they had plants everywhere! I also wished we had more time to explore the city, but it was only a 3 hour layover. However, there was heavy smog in the air, I believe it is because of Indonesia's land fires and it happened to spread to Singapore. The smog was so dense. 

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~Singapore to Penang, Malaysia (2 hours)~

I don't know why, but we decided to go to a major mall after landing. Bad idea. We went to Queensbay Mall and stayed there for the whole day. I couldn't function by the time we got back to our hotel; (we arrived a day earlier than our study abroad group).

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My itinerary

I'm going with my friends on this trip and we went separately rather than travel with the other USF students. We also decided to continue on traveling after Malaysia to Thailand for 10 days. I shall also return home to my birth place in Wisconsin. I know...so many airplane rides!

Feelings before the trip

I've never been out of the US before and I had dreams of travelling and I get my chance to Malaysia and Thailand!! Whoo-hoo! For more info about my trip and about myself please click here!

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A few days before the trip I went to the gym to condition and prepare myself for the trip. I didn't really think about this trip that much because it didn't hit me that I was going on this trip until the last two days. I kept putting off packing because I didn't realize I was leaving.

I kept packing and unpacking because I wasn't sure what I'm supposed to pack. We were told to pack as little as possible and appropriately because we are going to a Muslim dominated area. Too be honest, I was a little worried because I knew Malaysia would be hot, but because it's a Muslim dominated area I still want to dress modest. I dress modestly anyway, but I didn't know if I could wear shorts and T-shirts.

One full suitcase and an empty rolled up duffel bag (for later use) =6 weeks!
The program is roughly 4 weeks, but my friends and I will head to Thailand after.

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