Jungles, Beaches&Mountains

If it wasn't bad before, Tyler and I have gone into tourist overdrive in the last couple of weeks. We've spent less time working on our tans (to Tyler's dismay) and a bit more time ticking off tourist sights in and around the city. With that comes some cheesy tourist spots, the inevitable street-food induced sickness, and ultimately some cool experiences!

Last weekend, after both being sick, we thought we needed some fresh air (Stats say that due to the air quality in KL, it's like each person is involuntarily smoking 7 ciggies a day -_-). We jumped on a train, and landed in a forest reserve, FRIM, just outside the city. The reserve's main draw is that it has a canopy walk through the jungle. We arrived on a mission to get in the treetops, walked up the mountain to the canopy and realized we needed to get a ticket at the bottom of the hill...no problem. Anyone who is close to us knows that we are always game for a totally unnecessarily long and seemingly pointless walk (33 km midnight walking race comes to mind?) We walked up, wandered down, back up again, and back down once more. Pros: watching and hearing monkeys in the treetops overhead, getting a birdseye view of a jungle from a rickety canopy and learning that Tyler might not be so comfortable with heights. Cons: Well, who can complain about a day in the park!?

This past weekend was a busy one, as Tyler had a four day weekend, and although I had to work Monday and had Tuesday off, I was in full long weekend mode (perhaps subconsciously celebrating a Canadian Thanksgiving..who knows!?) We started Friday with a typical happy hour, dinner, drinks and as old habits die hard, a night of karaoke. Despite a bit of a headache, Tyler and I were up and off on Saturday to a nearby beach town called Port Dickson. Being as Port Dickson is one of the closest beaches to KL there are lots of resorts and lots of people. We checked into a VERY kid friendly resort and relaxed on the beach, watching the sunset and even caught a fireworks show. Although we both teach, and have quite the affection for children, the sound of 100+ screaming children fighting for a turn on the pool slides on Sunday morning was too much for us to handle, so we checked out, jumped in a cab and were off to Blue Lagoon Beach. Blue lagoon is said to be the cleaner beach area with less people...sounded ideal! Of course there were the mandatory landmarks we had to checkout when we arrived (we just can't resist). Trekking up a seaside mountain to snap a photo of the oldest lighthouse in Malaysia was a bit of a let down..perhaps because the lighthouse was closed, perhaps because we have seen one too many lighthouses being from (Tyler) the East coast..who knows? Quickly moving on, we followed a trail down the other side of the mountain, and through some questionable trails. When we felt we were never going to hit a beach, one just opened up to us...and the novel thing was (especially for Asia) no one was there! There was no one, and nothing; just a couple of kilometres of unmanicured beach all to ourselves! A perfect way to find some peace and relaxation on a Sunday! We later trekked out, avoiding the biggest, blackest snake we've ever seen, hoping we hadn't gotten Dengue fever from all the mosquito bites, but feeling ultimately like we had had a killer day! (Note- We didn't even make it to Blue Lagoon Beach..)

 

 

 

Once we arrived back in KL we met up with a couple of friends who had a visiting friend (always exciting for all those involved)! What was to be a quick bite to eat, then straight to bed kind of night, quickly turned into something a bit more full-blown.After a fantastic meal which, among others, highlighted tomyam soup, satay and bbq fish, we headed to a club called Sky Bar. Our friend Danielle had raved about this bar and had convinced me to check it out, if only for a minute, as I was still pretty committed to getting to bed early. Needless to say this is not how the night worked out. Sky Bar is on the 40th floor, has open windows facing the Petronas Towers and a huge swimming pool down the centre. I think it would be hard for anyone to check out early...So we danced, drank (20rm waters for those with day jobs..) and capped the night with a late night swim. After a pretty productive Monday at school, we got ready for a Tuesday vacation day celebrating Hari Raya Haji     (Feast of the Sacrifice- sacrifice of the best halal domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep or ram)).

Since this is one particular holiday we were  not interested in (although I suppose millions of turkeys met the same fate in the West this past weekend), we spent the day out of the city checking out Genting Highlands. We had heard this was a place where we could see beautiful vistas, cool off from the heat in the city and gamble...add a little touch of Niagara Falls cheezzze, and Genting Highlands did not disappoint. We rode the roller coaster around the mall while taking in the sights of mini Big Ben, Golden Gate Bridge and Eiffle Tower, lost a bit of money at roulette and ate bad carnival-esque food. The highlight and redeeming factor was definitely taking the cable car down the mountain side. We came down at sunset, descending through the fog and mountains for about 15 minutes. It was beautiful and totally turned us around on the allure of Genting! We'll be back for the cable car (...and to put it all on black ;)

Although it seems like the long weekend just wrapped up, we are on the eve of a two week vacation from school! Needless to say, spirits are high! Next stop, Bali!

People Watching in KL

We've only been in KL for six weeks and have witnessed and experienced the stark contrast between the rich and the poor. Throughout the week, and often on the weekends we live in a bubble of affluence. Day-to-day we take a cab from our condo to the gated school and back again. We lounge poolside, eat at nice restaurants, and shop. I don't mean to sound like we splash money around and have cash to burn, we are simply living the Western standard of life in a developing country where things are cheap.

In a country where restaurant workers make a little more than a dollar an hour, it's hard to ignore that there are a lot of working poor. This doesn't seem so bad as the cost of living is low..right? They still eat, have homes and can buy the amenities. Then there is a class far below poor, which is often a portrait of human suffering and very hard to turn a blind eye to.

A couple of weekends ago, Tyler and I were wandering around China Town, searching out cheap knock-offs and eating forbidden pork products (in an officially Muslim country). We sat down on some steps a few feet away from a (seemingly) homeless man sleeping/passed out on the steps. Several people had left takeout containers of food beside the sleeping beauty. We sat, and watched, and thought about how nice it was that people were being generous, and caring. While re-hydrating and reflecting on the kindness of strangers, a Chinese man walked over and abruptly burst our humanity-loving bubble by dumping a bucket of dirty mop water on our sleeping, homeless friend. Now, I understand that if I was a business owner, I probably wouldn't want someone using my doorstep as their bedroom, but there are definitely nicer ways to address this problem.

Seeing extreme poverty can be unsettling, but is a fact of life in all big cities. I think that the reason why the China Town episode has stuck with me for longer than a glance, is that it was such an illustration of a tragic human condition;  The lack of compassion for each other.When we are often so consumed by declaring our individuality and celebrating our uniqueness, we can forget that we aren't so different. Despite our flaws, our gifts and talents, our professions, our nationalities, our mental health or our economic standing, we all need care, we all need human connections and we all need love.

Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!

The last couple of weeks have been a total whirlwind! New Students, new teachers (me), new classroom...needless to say, not a lot of time for fun and excitement.. unless you're 5 (or 27) and started Grade One last week :) So here's the haps!

Last weekend started to wind up on Friday night (as they often do). What started as some happy hour drinks and appys turned into a night of pretty wild sights! After wondering to a night market street in an area called Bukit Bintang, we were excited to see (and hear) the start of a Merdeka (Freedom/Independence) Day parade. The first floats and groups were the old dragons and drums…it seemed pretty exciting and loud but was quickly over. We were then off to seek food, and realized the parade was just ampping up! We proceeded to see wild costumes, men sitting on thrones of nails, processions of blind people, and the burning of 'Hell dollars', which was all culturally interesting to  and more or less what we would expect from a parade…Then Tyler and Danielle start gasping and saying “NO WAY! Are you seeing this!?”. Without my glasses I was seeing costumed people holding skewers of fruit and things between their teeth; No biggie. After I found my peepers however,  I realized the poles, swords, and even the body of a bicycle were actually pierced through their cheeks. These men and women had very recently (as evident by the blood dripping down them and all over the ground) pierced their cheeks with swords and other various objects and then paraded through a crazy busy street…all in the name of independence? I checked out Google for practices relating to Malaysia and came up empty handed. I asked several people at work and no one had a clue. It wasn't until a week later, Tyler and I stumbled upon a Chinese temple in Little India (?) and got to chatting with a man about a Chinese festival they were setting up for. From there the convo evolved back to what we had seen the week before (we had obviously been mildly traumatized). We gathered the vague explanation that it's a festival that involves slipping into an eventual trance, to where the piercee will not feel any pain...Seems good enough for me! The next two days were filled with street fairs, parades and general nationalism…much the same as Canada Day. We walked, chatted, shopped and, of course, sampled some amazing food!

Unfortunately, we were caught totally off-guard and only got pics with our phone!

 

In Merdeka Square, where independence from the British was declared 57 years ago...to us, a tourist photo-opt!

  

So many new fruits! Rambutan!

Some call it it people watching...others, stalking.

 The amazing part we are finding about Malaysia is that it has, literally, the best of all worlds (for lack of a better term); A variety of cultures, languages (including English), anything and everything from Western countries, an awesome climate and all while having the S.E Asian ambiance we all come to love and adore. Thus far, it’s been a country where we have been able to feel totally comfortable (due to the ability to interact with everyone, amenities, and friendliness) and yet still left amazed, surprised, and wondering about the sights, practices, religions and cultures. I can’t say it enough, Malaysia’s a gem!