Honeymooning in Langkawi

Our dear friends Jack and Amy recently tied the knot in Hawaii!  Although not our honeymoon, we were able to ride on the coattails of the newly weds' S.E Asian honeymoon as they made their first stop in Kuala Lumpur and later to the beautiful island of Langkawi.We certainly couldn't be happier for Amy and Jack, and feel truly blessed that we had the opportunity to spend time with them over the Chinese New Year!
The first days we spent together were filled with Kuala Lumpur tourist hotspots (most of which I have written about before). However, since it was Chinese New Year, and most of the Chinese people in KL go back to their hometowns, our week was significantly less crowded, and by enlarge, coloured red.

Our week included a trip to the Batu Caves, the National Mosque, street-food on Jalan Alor, henna in Little India, a stroll around Chinatown and poolside days coupled with celebratory drinks. For me, particular standouts were our day at KL's waterpark and a Korean BBQ feast.
Korean bbq was really great (for obvious reasons including grilled kimchi, samgyeobsal and soju) as it made us reminiscent of a place in time. I know it has only been nine months since we left Korea, but after a summer in Canada and six months in KL, it seems pretty distant. For whatever reason, whether it was because it was our first country we lived in abroad, the first real risk we took together, or the friendships we bonded while there, Korea holds a very special place in our hearts. Although not actually in Busan, for two hours we grilled, cheers-ed, and had a Korean friend order for us in Korean. We even topped it off with 'Shark-pops' and a beverage from the mart while watching students trudge off to English academy. Although we often remind ourselves when we are 'homesick' for Korea that one can only move forward in life, it's always nice to be nostalgic.

 The day after Chinese New Year, we figured that the water park would be pretty dead, as many Chinese would still be fulfilling their New Year obligations and family time (perhaps one in the same?). Tyler had been really pushing for a trip to the water park for quite some time and since the prospect of less people presented itself, we jumped on it! Arriving ten minutes before the gates opened and leaving as they shut things down, it was a full day of water slides, wave pools, zoo animals and roller coasters. All was pretty awesomely run-of-the-mill amusement park fun...all accept the fact that Amy and I quickly realized when we stepped out of the change room that we were shamefully unaware, and scantly clad in our bikinis. Have you ever gone to a water park in a Muslim country? Me neither. Have you ever gone to a beach and felt like everyone was staring at you, but in actuality you were just being self conscience and paranoid? If so, our day at the water park would have been your worst nightmare. Wandering around a water park where 98% of women are covered from head to toe, sporting the ever fashionable and liberating 'berkini', we certainly stuck out like sore thumbs. We got the looks, finger-pointing, and the question 'Are you from Europe?" shot our way more than once. We did however, ride the waves like champions and made it out with, (thankfully) no wardrobe malfunctions that can commonly happen while shooting down a water slide.. that would have been just the icing on the cake!

 Midweek, Jack, Amy and I (Tyler joined us a day later due to work) headed to the island of Langkawi, in the Northern part of Malaysia, bordering Thailand. Not having visited any peninsular Malaysian islands, I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out, it was pretty darn great! All things desired and required for a beach vacation were present with abundance. Besides lounging on a beautiful unpopulated beach, throughout the five days we (over)indulged in the most amazing food, duty-free chocolate and beer (a huge welcomed surprise was that the entire island was duty free..30 cent beer, yes please!). Each day was spent dipping in and out of the ocean, building sandcastles, sipping on coconut cocktails and taking in the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen (rivaling only one other we had seen in Bali!). To say the least, it was a pretty lazy and relaxing time away!

By the fourth day we felt like we should pick ourselves up and actually do something, so we settled for an island hopping tour. Although super touristy, it was great to see Langkawi from the water's perspective. We got off the boat and swam in a fresh lake, and at a couple of other beaches...but by about 2pm we were ready to be back on the familiar beach we had made home for the last three days.

Finally on our last day we headed to another part of the island and checked out a cable car up into the mountains. The base of the cable car was conveniently located across from Jack and Amy's new hotel, so we dropped our stuff for the day...ultimately ending up at the beach (surprise, surprise) and coming upon an amazing resort where we enjoyed one last island cocktail and swim before heading off to the airport.

 Although disappointed to leave such a beautiful island, we have benefited, as our eyes have really been opened to the potential of travel in Malaysia! To add salt to the wound, we were saying goodbye to Amy and Jack, as they continued north to Thailand, being totally envious of their upcoming adventures! Nonetheless, Tyler and I will continue our adventures to Singapore for a Valentine's Day this weekend!

Thaipusam Festival

The true beauty of working in Malaysia is that there are so many public holidays recognized. This past week we were at school 3/5 days as we recognized the Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad on Tuesday, and on Friday we celebrated Thaipusam. The Thaipusam festival that is held in KL at the Batu Caves is one of the biggest in the world, and the general buzz is that it is quite the spectacle. As Ty and I love our festivals, from the Fireworks Festival in Busan, to Applefest in Brighton, we were eager to add another to the list!

We were warned by coworkers that the insanity starts early, and that about a million people visit the Batu Caves during the one-day festival. Having experienced some pretty claustrophobic moments while at Korean festivals, Tyler and I set our alarms and did our best to beat the rush (with no real luck). Taking the already crowded train too early on our day off and feeling slightly off as per the Korean bbq and soju from the night before, Tyler did the faux-pas of jumping on the illusive 'ladies only' car. Feeling awkward, we found the other rogue males on the train car to stand near and tried not to make eye contact. Once arriving at the Batu Caves it was pretty apparent that this was unlike any festival we had been to. Sure there were the food tents, others selling clothing and jewelery, the music was pumping and there were hoards of people. The biggest difference was however, that it was all fueled by religion, and everywhere we looked people were expressing their faith in spectacularly colourful ways.

**Before I go on, I'd like to add the disclaimer that, although completely captivated by Indian culture, and learning more about the Hindu faith, I am pretty vague on the facts. Most info is based on observations, a bit of internet reading, and by and large conversations with my great co-teacher Magesh. For the most part, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Thaipusam is one of the largest Hindu holidays in the year, where in the lead up people fast, or give up certain things (much like Christian's Lent). On the day of Thaipusam, Hindus visit the temple to pray to Lord Murugan for help in the future or in order to rid themselves of their sins. They make offerings, mostly of fresh milk. Once finished, they feast with their families. Seems pretty mundane, right? Like the case in all religions, the practices that one follows depends on their personal relationship with the deity. People practice their faith based on what works for them, and what brings them the most comfort. As we watched the droves of people making their way through the gates of the temple, as mentioned, we certainly witnessed many expressions of faith and interpretations of the festival.

For some people, walking up the steps to the Batu Caves with their families and pots of fresh milk works. Others will shave their heads, make pilgrimages, carry very heavy colourful offerings on their shoulders, dance, and most notably pierce their cheeks, backs and chests with metal hooks and skewers. Again, it is really whatever works for the individual and the family at that time in their lives.

We watched the steady procession of people and chariots for over two hours!

 As far as festivals go, Thaipusam ranks pretty high! With the basis of the celebration being religion it certainly offered a more dimensional experience than some festivals we have gone to (not that Applefest wants for sophistication or dimension!) If you're interested, check out an interview with a Thaipusam participant to hear his perspective on some of the practices carried out at the festival. 

In other news, the count down is on to Chinese New Year! Nine more working days until we ring in the Year of the Horse with a week's vacation..Let's paint the town red!

A Mixed Bag in Semporna, Borneo

Because of Malaysian tax laws, we had to be back in the country by December 30th. Since we still had a week left of holidays, we decided to check out the island side of Malaysia; Borneo! Although a bit of an emotionally conflicting trip (more on that), it was fantastic to have a look at another dimension of Malaysia..not to mention, being able to show Catherine Barker a bit of our host home (although not KL).

We flew into Tawau and made our way to the coastal town of Semporna located on the east coast of Borneo. Again, without doing any research, and taking for granted that we would be in Malaysia (meaning our bank cards worked and we could could confidently order from a menu) we had few preconceptions. We arrived in Semporna in the evening. Everything was closed, it was dark and the town seemed pretty dead. Having the excuse of wanting Catherine to sample everything Malaysian, we had a large feast of Chinese Malaysian food and as Tyler and I had spent the night before in the airport, we went to bed.

We woke up the next morning really excited for a day of diving and New Years Eve celebrations! We were super pumped, as diving was the main reason we chose to visit this small town and the surrounding islands. The waters and marine life were to be second to none, as most people venture here to dive in the world famous national park, Sipidan. We had been warned the night before by our friend Hutchy who had arrived a few days earlier, that the waters were absolutely stunning, however that the amount of garbage was equally staggering. After we geared up and cruised out of the harbour (where there is always a certain amount of garbage lingering) we marveled at the absolutely brilliant clear blue waters. The sun was shining, the water was relatively calm and we were in good company. As we made our way out into open waters however, it was amazing just how much plastic was floating on the surface of the water. So much garbage that our boat had to stop several times to rid its motor and propellers of the trash before continuing on its journey. Still the garbage didn't seem to hinder our day of diving too much. We did three dives seeing some beautiful coral, fish, turtles..and of course were serenaded by Hutchy's underwater rendition of the Mission Impossible theme song..which makes it seem like we we are on an important mission ourselves :)

 
That night, we geared up for New Years Eve celebrations! Again, we gathered to share a feast of seafood, Malay, and Chinese food before hitting up a (the) small pub in town. We danced, chatted with randoms and rang in the New Year. As far as New Year's goes, it was pretty typical. The next day we were all feeling pretty lazy (myself in particular) so we sought out the only pool in town. We wandered into the hotel like we were guests, eventually were sussed out, and paid the fee. Little did they know how much we love a lazy New Year's Day. From the pool, we all visited the spa for massages, ate at the lobby restaurant, then watched a movie in their cinema room. We totally loitered and lingered perhaps too long.

The next morning we sadly had to say goodbye to Catherine Barker, as she was heading back to Qatar. Danielle, Tyler and I were off the spend the remainder of our holiday on Mabul Island, an hour trip from the mainland. After we arrived and got our rooms all sorted out, we were in utter awe of the beauty of our surroundings! The water was unlike anything I had seen before! We hung around our little resort for a while, then decided to venture to the beach. To get to the beach we needed to walk through the village. Walking through the village was a bit of a shock. The amount of children in the streets was overwhelming (Ty later looked it up..about 2000 people live on the island, with about 1000 being under the age of 14). Furthermore the amount of garbage piled up was heartbreaking. We made our way through to the gated resort, enjoyed the beach and made our way back. As we sat out drinking beer and enjoying the sunset, small children would float by in their canoes asking for money. When we gave them money, they would then ask for food. It was a heart breaker. Over the next few days we did some dives, swam and relaxed.We also spent a lot of time reflecting on topics such as poverty and trash.

Thanks to Danielle for some of the great photos! (Follow her on Instagram @daniellecorbett. Her pics are fantastic!)

 Although in the most beautiful place I have ever traveled to, I had a lot of trouble really enjoying it. It was hard to encounter naked children rubbing their tummies and asking for food, then turn our backs to head off to the gated resorts for an afternoon of spa treatments, ice cream and tanning. This isn't the first place we have gone where poverty is overtly apparent, but something seemed different about this one. I think (although I have no idea) it was that the children didn't seem to smile all that much. In other countries we have gone, the children seemed to play, and engage a lot. Perhaps they are just sick of tourists clicking photos. Again, I have no idea, nor presume to know what the true inner workings of the island, village or its inhabitants are. I do know, that it was not easy switching on and off the vacation/reality mode.

The second issue that weighed heavy on my mind was the apparent problem of garbage disposal. Since kids we have all heard about campaigns that read slogans such as 'Save the rainforest', 'Clean up our oceans', etc. We all know that these are important initiatives and serve a purpose. However for me, they didn't really mean very much. Yes, have seen the result of industrial pollution in Lake Ontario, and know all about the collapsed fishing industry in Atlantic Canada. I am well aware that I could be criticized as 'the pot calling the kettle black', however until seeing the ocean environments in East Borneo and the tangible damage that is being done firsthand, it was nothing I felt passionate about.
While in Mabul, we sat up scratching our heads about the devastating amounts of garbage in the water in contrast with the breathtakingly beautiful ocean. We discussed ways the problem could be irradiated, but nothing really seemed viable. In developed countries we create the same amount of garbage (if not more). Yes, we bury it, burn it, collect into one place. We are lucky enough to be able to put it in an out of sight location, and therefore it is out of mind. Ignorance is truly bliss. In a place like Mabul, they do not have the infrastructure to deal with the garbage, so everything is chucked in the ocean. Again an issue that I have really been now awaken to, however left unsettled and unsure of any solution. I suppose there is no one solution, but an array of possibilities; The simplest ones being, stop creating so much garbage, recycle, and educate. Don't be ignorant to where your garbage is going and what the long-term affects of it are. Tyler and I are as guilty as the next person, but now it's time to decide what we are going to do about. Before we left the island, we were in a gift shop looking for some souvenirs. I picked up a marine life book, and read this quote that seemed apt;
 “The oceans are the planet's last great living wilderness, man's only remaining frontier on Earth, and perhaps his last chance to prove himself a rational species.” -John L. Culliney 

The homes in Mabul were amazing!

 I really apologize for the negative tone of this blog post. To say that our vacation to Boreno was life-changing might be a bit of a reach, however it was certainly eye-opening and thought provoking. Don't get me wrong, we left Borneo with killer tans, having completed six dives in unreal locations, sharing laughs with great friends and welcoming a New Year. The reason we travel is to educate ourselves, and beyond measure we have been certainly schooled! Just as we are expected to when we graduate, it is now time to do something with our experiences.