Only in Asia...

A few weeks ago, after a brief Sunday hiking excursion, I returned to my apt. to chill. Two or three days later, I woke up with an intolerable rash. Ok, it wasn't that bad...but it got real pretty quick. At first, an annoying case of poison ivy. Then, it spread from my arms to my neck to my legs to my abs...yes even to my abs. Naturally, I went to the clinic. I got some cortizone cream and oral steroids and started working out...I mean...started treating myself. And as expected in Asia, I did not get any better, rather worse. Ok so I decided this was bad enough to go to the hospital to see a specialist. I drove Dicky to the hospital, and on my way, my hands exploded....literally! The tops of my hands started itching like crazy and I noticed bumps all over the tops of my hands...microscopic bugs probably attacked me from the recesses of my old steering wheel cover. Dicky Tan!!!! Brutal. I walked into the hospital feverishly itching my hands...got some more steroidal cream and pills and instead of driving Dicky home---cuz he gave the disease to me in the first place---I got a taxi. No problem..crisis averted. My hands would just look like I had arthritis for the next few days and I would have some discomfort.
Well three or four days later, I returned to the hospital to retrieve Dicky Tan. Upon arriving, I realized my severe mistake. I left the windows down and parked under a tree, home to thousands of Penang birds. Hmmm....yes. My car was covered in bird poop. Fortunately, these birds must've been blind because the inside of my car was virtually untainted. But the outside was ridiculous...an asbolutely horrid sight. Also, someone had managed to root through all of my valuables in the car--used steering wheel cover: 1 ringgit; febreeze: 17 ringgit; Dicky's dignity: priceless--and stole the febreeze. I mean, honestly. I had like a rubberband, some pennies, and a sideview mirror in the middle compartment, and the thief had the audacity to steal my febreeze. Does common grace not extend that far? Don't you think you would say, "Hey, this car is really crappy. The owner doesn't have any valuables, he's parked at a hospital, the car is covered in bird poop, and the windows are down. Maybe I'll look for another car to rob." Not in Asia. They even take your friggin febreeze. Can you sense my bitterness?
Anyway, I healed up and my rash has subsided, though I'm still not %100. Nevertheless, I'm headed to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo on Saturday to scuba dive and hike Mt. Kinabalu. In Sipadan (the diving place), I'm staying on an oil rig redesigned to accommodate scuba divers. Pretty sweet and its the cheapest option...hmmm I hope I don't get some weird rash. Pics to follow:-)

Family Trip!!!
Wahooo!!! My family finally arrived---and I was totally stoked. This was the longest time I've spent away from home so it was so great to see them. Pulling up to the airport with Dave in my car, I really couldn't help but smile in anticipation and upon seeing them. After some hugs and talking, we headed out to begin our journey. Their trip of Penang can be seen at www.malaysianmayhem.blogspot.com. After a few days in Penang, we headed out to Bangkok for some city touring. We saw the Royal Palace, the Temple of the Rising Sun, and some other historic sites as well as some more touristy stuff. We went to a movie theater with sweet recliner seats, blankets, and a complimentary drink and watched 'Night at the Museum' which was a good family movie:-) We checked out a tailor so my dad could get his long-awaited-for cape, and my bro and I could get some pants and shirts. It was an altogether great experience. We next headed to Chiang Mai for some eco-tourism. We got to ride elephants, see some traditional villages, went to a night bazaare, and went to an elephant nature park where we learned about the dangers to elephants in Asia. There, we even got into the water with these huge elephants and washed them. It was a lot of fun! After Chiang Mai (which was the unanimous highlight of the trip for the fam) we went to beautiful Ko Phi Phi, an island in the south of Thailand. Although the weather on first day or two was kinda rainy, we enjoyed some massages, sudoku (my dad is a sudoku fiend), and reading. The weather cleared and we fit in some snorkelling (I went on one dive as well) and saw some beautiful fish in the clear water. Similar to Sarawak, there were also wooden pols on the sides of some cliffs to collect birds' nests to make the famous Chinese soup. Enjoy the pics and as always I love to hear from you!