Day 28: Cultural Village and Farewell Dinner

~Sunday July 21, 2013~

Thank goodness it wasn't an early morning wake. I was still recovering from the hike. Throughout this whole trip there is no time to be tired. We're always going and on the move and  it keeps us busy and entertained especially since there's no wifi to entertain us. It's nice to leave the technology and enjoy the view and experience Malaysia without distractions of Facebook updates.

Nonetheless, it's all a learning experience and I try to take notes on every presentation even when I feel sleepy. 

Anyway, we visited a cultural village about the history of Kuching. It was fun roaming around at the replica houses and viewing the tools and instruments that they used back in the older days. The show at the end of this program was nice too. The women dancers were so pretty and the traditional costumes were really beautiful. The cultural village had a beautiful backdrop of the mountains and driving to the cultural village provided some scenic views.  

Day 26 & 27: Anah Rais Longhouse

~Friday July 19 and Saturday July 20, 2013~

~First Day~

I didn't know what to expect at this Longhouse. I knew it was going to be a cultural activity of this trip. I was a little hesitant about this overstay. Of course living in America it's different and  living in a Longhouse village was so different from what I was use to. I was able to adapt to living in the dorms of Penang and Kuching. Luckily, I held my head high and was able to live comfortably and situate myself in the Longhouse. I was pleasantly surprised at the natural surroundings! I think I was uncomfortable of staying at the Longhouse because we would be in a small area with 14 kids. 

On our first day here we hiked to the hot springs, ate good food, had a little fun with their cultural dances. 

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~Second Day~

On the second day half of us decided to go on an actual hike through the jungle. Today we were to visit the waterfall. Hiking to the waterfall is approximately 2 hours. I was one of the few who hiked. The hike wasn't bad either. It was so much fun! The lazy bums who didn't hike took the van to the waterfall, and the even the weirder (maybe lazier) people took the van up there, but didn't step a foot out of the van. I thought that it's weird. Why not do everything you can while you're in Malaysia? I don't know why they didn't want to see a waterfall. 

The waterfall was so refreshing, but so cold! It was an amazing experience and always hike up to the waterfall if you can! Dr. Azizan pulled me into the waterfall. Hehehe! Rambo was our amazing tour guide!

Day 24: Orangutan Rehabilitation Center

~Wednesday July 17 2013~

I was pretty tired from getting no sleep and catching a plane to Kuching at 7am and getting a 2 hour nap on the plane. Kuching is very different from Penang. Penang is very crowded and messy with crazy roads and drivers. In Kuching it's much more organized and more space for drivers and I feel like it's a lot more cleaner than Penang. It also feels less hot and humid. 

We're here for 5 days. It's so surreal that it's almost over soon. Time has zoomed by! These 5 days are again in no air conditioned rooms, cold showers, and no wifi. I'm used to it now. We're always busy doing things in the city that there's no time to sit and surf the web. 

We visited the Orangutan Center and it was quite cool. Watching the orangutan swing in the trees was so scary because it looked so big. It was neat watching all the orangutans eat the bananas and crack their coconuts. Unfortunately it started to rain really hard so we left and we went to explore the water front. 

Day 7: Free day means beach day at Batu Ferringhi

~Sunday June 30, 2013~

Today was a do whatever kind of day and we did plenty of stuff. Have a look'se' down below! :) Our international buddies didn't really tell us what we were doing or what we were seeing. They just told us to meet back at a certain point at this time. So, sorry for my lack of my information, but I try to read anything in English and enjoy myself as I go on these walk-abouts of these places they take us...

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~Burmese Buddhist Temple~

Another gorgeous temple. I'm not familiar with Buddhist religion, but the temples are very interesting to look at. I know some things about Buddhism, and I picked up this book called A Manual of Buddhism by Narada Thera at this temple to learn more. So I plan to read this book on my free time if I ever have free time on this trip.

There was this weird guy that approached me and told me an interesting fact about these Buddhas. The row of Buddhas are similar, but they are very distinct to each countries representations of the Buddha. The weird guy took a picture of me taking a picture of the Buddha....now somewhere an unwanted photo taken of me is somewhere on the cyber world... -.- 

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~Thai Buddhist Temple (Wat Chaiyamangalaram)~

This is home to the gigantic statue of the sleeping Buddha. These two temple were right across the street from each other and equal in beauty and magnificence. The best thing about these temple are that they don't charge for admission. It's a spectacle to behold and also quite peaceful and a time for reflection.

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~Lunch at the Straits Quay~

The area was nice because it was right by the water, but this was a more Western shopping and dining area full of tourists. It was kind of pricey here and there's a lot of upper class Chinese people here, not the usual Malay people of Indian, Muslims, and regular folks  I would see around USM and Penang. 

This fruit dessert was the best thing I ever ate. It was so cold and refreshing. As you all know, I love fruits.

Watermelon grass jelly and sweet and sour fish!

 

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~Beach/flying/dinner at Batu Ferringhi~

Malaysia is extremely hot. You sweat everywhere you go, there's no avoiding it. Going to the beach is extremely hot as well; even more so than Florida beaches. My boyfriend told me to try and do everything you can do because it's cheap here. My friends and I decided to go para-sailing and rafting on the beach which was pulled by a jet ski. The rafting was intense because it was so fast and bumpy. It was crazy! I wanted to go on it again. I had so much fun! I don't know how much it would cost in the US, but for both  of those water activities it cost RM$90 which would be US$30. WHAT?! What a deal and a steal! 

As you can see here, she tried to break my bones. HEHEHE. She landed on top of me. Our graceful descent to land was anything, but. 

Pattaya Thai fried rice

Day 6: Fruit farm, temples, Penang Hill

~Saturday June 29, 2013~

~Tropical Fruit Farm~

Another bright and early morning. This was a long bus ride to the very top of the mountain. I wasn't really sure what to expect at a fruit farm. All I knew was that it was going to be sooo hot. However, I was mildly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Tropical Fruit Farm. As you all should know (teehee), I love eating fruits! So the fruit eating filled morning made up for the sun, but it was quite breezy up on top of the mountain. 

We had the best tour guide who let us try all the fruits off the trees and plants. I loved it. If you ever visit there make sure you eat the rose apple, it's like eating a sweet apple with the scent of a rose perfume. We were also provided with a fruit buffet and shake smoothies. I enjoyed this place so much! Check it out here!

 

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~Penang Hill Climb~

We took a little trolley/bus that drives up the slope of the Penang Hill and it was very high up. The view was incredible and the breeze was great too! Multiple times on this trip I'm on top of the world. Teehee!

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~Kek Lok Si Temple~

Unfortunately, we had little time to explore to explore this Chinese temple due to the insufficient timing. I did my best to explore as much as I can in 1.5 hours. In Malaysia there's so many stair cases and steps...so I did a lot of climbing to get to places. If you ever travel make sure you have the ENERGY!

It was a beautiful temple and so color too. The temples in Malaysia, which they're everywhere, are so colorful and so well preserved!

 

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~Georgetown/Festival of Lights~

We decided not to waste the night and I went a different route. I usually spend my exploration with the 3 friends I hang out, but I decided to hang out with the other USF study abroad students. Georgetown is a popular area and they're hosting nightly festivals of different events this summer. This night was the festival of lights and it was heavily focused on the Chinese of Georgetown. We got there late so we saw a  few things such as Chinese drum and dragon performers and enjoyed some street food. I ate some sort of rice flour dish.

It was also Javaris's 21st birthday so we celebrated his birthday too! 

Day 5: Stepping Stone and WorldFish

~Friday June 28, 2013~

~Asia Community Service/Stepping Stone~

Hello all, today we took the bus to the other side of the island of Penang and up the mountain. It was a very scenic view.

Our first stop was Asia Community Service where we visited Stepping Stone. They're a non-government organization that provides help for special needs kids and adults. It's a wonderful program where they enhance the special needs' skills, tap into their creativity, and become their own decision makers. It allows the children and adults career opportunity and training them for a functional life. Reading and writing is not a priority in this program; as they focus on helping these kids and adults function in society. We toured the facility and they make handmade soaps, they weave beautiful fabrics, clay art, baked goods for their salary.

At first I was a little astonished that the kids and adults work and not taught to read or write, but I understood them when they explained that education is very poor there and that they needed to be taught responsibility and be part of their community as active contributors.

They do have some challenges such as being funded entirely by donations, when to "retire" the older disabled members, and marketing their products to a wider audience. Please help them out! For more info about ACS click here about and click here to view their products.

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~WorldFish Center~

I was a little sleepy during their presentation. It was an interesting topic, but sometimes throughout the lecture I caught myself doodling to stay awake. I was also hungry and I could hear my stomach growl. 

Anyway, their mission is to reduce poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. Sorry for the vague description of this organization...I thought we would be visiting an aquarium. I like hands on and interactive learning; sitting in a room looking at slideshows takes a little longer to peak my interest as well as prolong my interest in the subject. 

For a better description than my little quip, visit WorldFish.

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~Dinner~

After our little excursion for the day in which we didn't eat a proper meal; my friends and I decided to eat Korean BBQ. We stopped by at a Daorae 

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 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.

* * *

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.