Off to the jungle....

Hello all!
After a fun week of culture and introductions to Malaysian life and tropical ecology, we are now ready to hit the field for a 3 week excursion covering a good deal of peninsular Malayisa and all its diverse ecosystems. We'll be exploring the jungle, mangroves, palm oil plantations, elephant rehabilitation centers, freshwater stream systems... you name it! Of course the one I am counting down to is the week we spend on the beach working on coral reef ecology!! Can't wait to see what the Malaysian reefs have to offer! I know its hard to believe, but the cyber world in rural jungle villages is a little underdeveloped (wireless?!?) so I will be out of the loop for a bit but if we do come across any Internet cafe or such I will be sure to update you. If not, will have lots to say when we return to Penag in a few weeks!! Take care all! Here we go!!!

Market Magic

There is no better way to experience a place than to immerse yourself in the local lifestyle. And on Thursday night that is exactly what we did. In a small town where one of the ladies who has been showing us around lives, named Demass, there is a market every Thursday night that is loaded up with all types of Malaysian food, music, nick-nacks, more food, and finally more food. So we ventured out and pretty much spent the night soaking up Malaysian life and eating our hearts out. All the food was so inexpensive it was unbelievable! For example, a plate of noodles similar to Phad Thai was 3 ringgit, which is less than one dollar Canadian! For sure my favourite was these delicious rice noodles (made at the stand in front of your face using something kind of like a garlic press) mixed with brown sugar and coconut – YUMM! Chantelle and I went back for more… twice. After wandering and eating for a few hours, Demass invited us up to her house for traditional Malaysian Tea and to meet her family. So kind of her, and really neat to see what life is really like. I think my experience at the night market was one of the best so far and hope we are fortunate enough to be welcomed into other such communities and experience other local markets in the weeks to come!

A world tour of Penang

Selamat pagi (Good Morning!) I’ve been in Malaysia for 5 days now, even though it feels like weeks! We managed to see a fair bit of Penang, the state of the country in which we are in, consisting of partly island and partly mainland, connected by a 14 km bridge!! 14km!! By far the most fascinating thus far is the diversity of culture. For instance, I’ve eaten Malay, Indian, Chinese and Thai for dinner in the last 4 nights… and I’m not talking imitation food, but the real traditional stuff! Delicious! The mixture of religion is also amazing. Within a two block radius in the main city, we visited an ancient Chinese temple, Islamic mosque and Hindu temple - amazing to see the coming together of these ancient belief systems. Visiting the mosque was a highlight, especially having befriended a few of the local Muslim students who are showing us around, and who have answered a million questions about the Islamic religion and lifestyle. It is the closest I can ever imagine to getting an inside look, truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. From our room, we can hear the daily prayers being led, awaken by the sound of a deep almost chant like voice at 5:30am for the morning prayer. The incredible diversity of the area makes for a photographers dream. The towns are splashed with colour, intricate temple designs and old colonial buildings. Food stands line every street, cooking up anything you can imagine and more, beautifully displayed on their carts. Needless to say the tropical flora and fauna are also stunning. So far, the best description of my Malaysian experience is food and photo paradise!

A day in the life… of busyness.

Living in Victoria, people always ask what I thought of growing up near Vancouver, “the big city”, usually remarking how big and crazy it seems in comparison to the quaint Victorian lifestyle. Well, big and crazy does not even come remotely close to describing my first response to what has to be one of the busiest cities on earth – Hong Kong. En route to Malaysia, we stopped over in Hong Kong for the day and ventured into the city for a taste of the Big Life. Amazingly, the train takes you directly from the airport to the heart of downtown in less than 30 minutes – super easy! The core is really divided into two, the business district and the more historical, artsy part. After a brief wander amongst the towering (and I mean TOWERING) skyscrapers in the business area, we hopped on a little ferry boat to cross over to the older part of the city (love ferry boats). The noise and smells are unbelievable. Walking down a street you experience a new scent and sound every few feet, going from the blaring music of an electronics kiosk to the searing grill of the dim sum stall next door. The shriek of car horns was nearly constant from the moment we stepped foot off the train at 8am – cars, busses, mopeds, anything with wheels really, does not halt for a pedestrian or even slow down, rather just honks until you pick up the pace to a sprint in order to evade the oncoming vehicles. Needless to say a few close calls for our gang of wandering newcomers, fresh from Victoria where cars usually travel 10km under the speed limit and will stop at the slightest glimpse of a crosswalk on the horizon! Although there is a coating of grime and smog on everything in Hong Kong, there was much less filth and trash than I expected for such a massive place. Also surprising was the amount of English – most billboards and signs were written in dual languages. Even the dim sum restaurant we ate at for lunch (deliciousness!!) where almost none of the staff spoke English, had a menu with English subtitles. Talk about a global community. Although brief, our visit to Hong Kong was a fantastic experience and eye-opening – never will I complain again about anywhere in “downtown” Victoria being too busy. After a full day of exploring, our jet-lagged bodies welcomed the journey of ferry, train and then plane onto our final destination of Penang, Malaysia. Nearly 30 hours after our initial departure, we arrived in Penang safe and sound yesterday, welcoming a full day of sleep! It has been a whirlwind of a beginning to the summer adventure and I can’t wait to embark on the remainder of our journey!

Off to Malaysia - Adventure Begins!

Hi Everyone!
Decided to finally enter the blogging world to keep in touch over the summer while I take part in a field school in Malaysia and then tootle around with my pal, Chantelle, also a field school attendee. Hopefully I will have loads of fun stories and photos to share with you all!
Here we go....... !!