Andrew in Penang

2007-03-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

Sabah: the best trip ever?

Yes. This was the highlight of my year. I first flew to Kota Kinabalu, a small town dominated by Chinese. Because it was Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!!), there were red lanterns all over the place and a stage set up for old Chinese men to sing music Karaoke-style. You can imagine, I left KK immediately. Well, not before flirting with the idea of buying a puppy at the outdoor market...yeah they sell dogs in open-air markets close to the fresh produce and touristy trinkets. I didn't end up buying one and instead took an all-night bus to Semporna to catch a boat to Pulau Sipidan. The all-night bus featured a movie "the White Ghost": this takes place in the 70s or 80s in Vietnam. A former army soldier marries a Vietnamese woman and lives in the jungle. Then, American military try to find him and so do the Vietnamese. He paints his face white, and everything starts blowing up. Vietnamese dudes, Americans...its great. Reminded me of my time in Langkawi with my bro (see previous post). Note: if you haven't seen this movie, please never ever see it. Its the worst movie in the history of cinema...really.

So I arrived at 4.30am in Semporna, ate some Nasi Goreng (fried rice) at the only restaurant open. Then, I slept on a dock for a few hours til the boat arrived. I finally boarded the speed boat and jetted to the oil rig-converted tourist destination that was to be my home for 3 nights and 4 days. It was a pretty sweet setup: good food, diving all day, some ping pong, and some time to read (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a good book). The diving at Pulau Sipidan is first class. On the first dive, my guide tapped her air tank to get everyone's attention. She then put her two fists on her head and started squealing. She saw a Hammerhead Shark! I missed the head (it was fortunately swimming away from the reef), but I saw a massive body and tail roughly 3 meters long. It was a really frightening and exhilarating moment. On subsequent dives, I saw so many turtles (swimming 2 feet from them was pretty righteous...totally), 3 devil rays gliding around, many white tip and grey reef sharks (small but really cool), lionfish, a school of barracuda, a crocodile fish, cuttlefish, a small octopus, some jack fish, bat fish, eels...this was some really incredible diving--I had such a blast.

After diving, I went back up to KK (!?!?!?!) but this time not to engage in the cultural festivities but to climb Mount Kinabalu, a world heritage site thats half the height of Everest, apparently. Anyway, I went from 25-30 meters underwater one day to 4000 meters above sea level the next two days. The air got thin but I was able to complete the hike. My friend and I hiked up half of it in one day, then woke up at 2.45am the next day to hike to the summit for the the sunrise (a lot of camaraderie cuz many tourists do the two-day trek). I have never seen such a beautiful night sky--the stars were bright, clear sky...really incredible. The sunrise was a'ight--nothin mind-blowing. But the top of the mountain was so cold--not snowing, but if I had stayed up there a minute longer, I would've frozen to death...really.

I've included some pics of the oil rig where I stayed, and then some pics of the mountain. Enjoy!

2007-02-08T05:01:00.000-08:00

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:-)

2007-02-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

2007-02-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-01-27T22:51:00.000-08:00

Battle Royale: Matthews Brothers vs. drunken, skinny Malay (at Reggae Bar)
This Christmas/New Years, my family came to visit. I was super-stoked as my time in Malaysia has been the longest period of time I've gone without seeing them. Before my parents arrived, I took my brother to Langkawi (as a little Christmas present for him). We had fun driving around the island on motorbikes, seeing sites, and chillin on the beach. It was a great time to have some serious convos, hang out, and generally to get reacquainted with the smells of brotherhood. One night, we both decided to hit up the Reggae bar. We had been biking around a lot and we thought some time to sit back and listen to some fine music was in order. We had fun dancing and met some cool and not so cool people. After dancing with some African friends we had met (who were studying in Kuala Lumpur), we confronted a Malay guy who was getting a bit too familiar. He was a bit out of it and after an unsuccessful attempt to get him to chill out, things got real. Dave's version: This Malay guy was trying to shimmy up to some of our African friends and Dave laid down the law...just making sure the Malay dude knew that the girls did not want to dance with him and were just there to enjoy themselves with friends. After sensing a primordial and territorial male rage, the Malay dude picked a fight. Dave, wanting to be a peacemaker, threw up his arms and did not engage but apologized instead. After subsequent attempts to fight, Dave and I decided to leave. We made our way to our motorbike but of course, he followed us and blocked the exit leading to the main road. I was driving with Dave sitting on the back of the bike and we whizzed past this guy just as his friend couldn't hold him back. He took a swing at Dave (just grazing his back) and the bike wobbled to the left then to the right. I cut both feet, almost losing balance and having a total wipe-out, but was able to keep the bike in control and safely get away. I had deep gashes on my left and right big toes for the next two or three weeks--pretty brutal. Andrew's version*: Dave was getting his groove-thang on, mad peeps diggin his vibe. Checkin out the scene, I scopes some trouble brewin. "Dave, we best be leavin," I say. But Dave found his niche; he was unstoppable. This mini-Malay (Dave guessed 14 years old; I think he was probably 16) gets too familiar with some of our newly-met friends. Dave, reaffirming his earlier-established alpha-male status (with the exception of my superior status), taps the dude on the head. "Step off," Dave says.** Things got outta control fast. Malay guys started pouring out of the walls with bow staffs and knives. Dave sticks a napkin in a bottle and lights it on fire, throwing it only to see a huge mushroom cloud of flame ascend into through the bar. Ninjas were flyin all over, reggae gangsters were firing gats, and Dave, our African friends, and I were ducking to get to the exit. Mini Malay blocked the road with flaming tires and as we raced out on my bike, he bit my leg. We safely got away and for some reason Dave couldn't stop talking about fighting for the rest of the trip. It got kind of annoying (seriously Dave, I'm just saying...) but we had fun laughing about the experience.

No clear winner was decided, but Dave and I were pretty confident of what would've happened had things progressed:-)

*this version did not happen
**Dave never said this

2007-01-14T02:23:00.000-08:00

Sarawak
Recently I travelled to Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo to do some hiking. I had heard of the wildlife and great hikes in Sarawak so I decided to make this trip more of the eco-tourism kind. I went to Bako, Gunung Gading, Similajau, and Niah Caves national parks. Along the way, I saw a wild baby crocodile (squint your eyes at above pic:-), some beautiful views, cave drawings, birds' nest scaffolding (explanation to follow), proboscis and macaque monkeys, bearded pigs (the most hideous animal on the planet), a few caves (Fairy, Wind, and Niah caves), a beautiful sunset, and in the process almost killed myself while hiking....seriously.
The trail was well-marked but the map wasn't. Any three trails could've been the one I was looking for. Then again, my friends never let me forget that I've gotten lost plenty of times. Anyway, I was resting on my hike and decided to walk off the trail a bit and up a slippery creek, complete with rushing water, rocks, and loose roots. A perfect place to sidehike. Inevitably, I slipped and (mom, stop reading here) smacked my face on a rock (the pic above is actually a cut from a tree on a different hike). I sat up and just chilled for a second to check whether I was ok. A few cuts but nothing major...I decided to have lunch and it was pretty good :-)
Sarawak was my first trip alone--i.e. I wasn't going with or meeting someone--and it went pretty well. I was really able to relax by the middle of the trip (after I wasn't so concerned about seeing everything) and the hiking was really a great way to chill out. In some of the parks, the trails were not well-maintained--fallen trees, fallen bridges, ambiguous trail markings--which meant for probably the most rigorous hiking I've done. From what I've heard, Sabah (the other Malaysian state on Borneo) has a bit more to offer (I go there in February to climb Mt. Kinabalu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu) and to scuba dive), but from my experiences, Sarawak offered exactly what I needed after sitting in my apt. planning my family trip to Thailand for two weeks (look for upcoming entry). Enjoy the pics and as always, I love to hear from you!

Also, I never saw the woman posted below. I merely sent the picture to my parents to get them excited for Thailand:-P

2007-01-14T02:20:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this woman?

2007-01-14T00:52:00.000-08:00

Singapura
In November (yeah a long time ago), I went to Singapore for a long weekend to see the city-state and hang out with Chrissy Malvasi, a friend from Pton who's working at Ngee Ann Polytechnic teaching creative writing and other disciplines. It was a great time hanging out around the city and catching up with Chrissy. In 3 days, I really felt that I did most of Singapore. I saw the zoo, went to a few museums, went to Arab Street (the middle-eastern section of the city), to little India, and went out to a chic bar with Chrissy and her friends one night.
Some highlights of the trip: I saw some orangutans in the zoo, saw thousands and thousands of indian dudes who were enjoying little India on a sunday night (their day off from work--and really, it was all dudes), stayed in an Apple Martini-themed bedroom one night (see picture above), got some Arabic food, and had a good time away from Penang. Enjoy the pics!

2007-01-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

Cameron Highlands
After Hari Raya, I joined some friends in Cameron Highlands, a hill station in Malaysia with large tea plantations. Although I got sick from fasting from food for a few days and then stuffing myself for the following week and then eating some really spicy indian food, I had a good time and the views were spectacular. A mutual acquaintance on the trip brought his gravity bike to ride down some hills. A friend and I took pictures of him from the back of a moving truck--kinda ridiculous and I felt absolutely absurd. A gravity bike, for those of you who are intelligent enough to avoid such a thing, is a bike that has been stripped of its bikeness. It is a bike that has been robbed of anything useful. It is a bike, essentially, for those who have time to engage in athletic pursuits yet do not want to take the energy to do so (ok I'm exaggerating for effect). If you would like to buy a gravity bike: simply purchase the most expensive bike you can find, remove the pedals, lower the seat, and put on some other shiny metal parts to make it look fast. Anyway, my friend and I (as soon as we saw the bike) could not stop laughing and making jokes. We were tactful about it so as not to offend, but man, this thing was hilarious. All you do is sit on the bike and ride down a hill letting the gravity take you down. Thats it! And they couldn't even come up with a better name to hide the true purpose of the bike. Unfortunately, I have no pics of it (was using a friend's camera) but I felt it worthwhile to blog about it. 'Nuf said.
Enjoy these pics of the tea plantation!

2006-11-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

Ramadan in Kelantan

Last week, I spent the final few days of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) and Hari Raya (day of celebration = "boo ya, Allah is cool with us eating now") with my coworker and his family in Kelantan, on the east coast of Malaysia. I had wanted to see traditional Malaysia for quite some time and now was my chance. I was probably the only white person in the village, which was situated next to some rice paddies and a 20 minute drive from the capital of Kelantan, Kota Bahru. To give you some idea of just how 'different' this place was: the slogan for Kota Bahru is "Kota Bahru: the Islamic City". Even though I don't think this is very creative, it speaks to the prevalence of Muslims and ethnic Malay people here. In fact, the government at one point tried to impose Islamic Shariah law here at one point. Note: this project failed.

I fasted from food (makanan) for the final four days of Ramadan and then broke fast (buka puasa) every night with the family. We gathered in the kitchen, sat cross-legged on the floor, and dug in to the plates of chicken, rice, beef, a few veggies, and sometimes some desserts. And when I say dig in, I mean it. We ate with our right hands, formed like shovels:-) After dinner (which was always new and delicious), I played with the kids, read, watched some fireworks or napped:-) Fasting takes a lot out of you:-P The father of the house only spoke Malay so my conversations with him were abbreviated and often consisted of him making kissy faces trying to refer to different things around the room. Because he had trouble pronounced my name, he called me either 'Azrul' or 'Orang Putih'. The first is a generic Malay name and the second means 'white person'. Above, there are a few pictures of the kids, fireworks, and food...

Finally the day of celebration came! And boy, was it a celebration. I dressed in Baju Melayu (traditional Malay clothing--see above) and welcomed neighbors as they arrived. The day started with eating...really. I woke up and went into the kitchen to greet the family saying "Andrew, Andrew, makan makan" which means "Andrew, Andrew, eat eat" Then, on to more food with the neighbors in my friend's traditional house. After that, we walked around to the neighbors' houses (many of whom we had just seen) and ate MORE! I think I got full 4 times a day for the following few days. I did not feel that healthy, though I ate some delicious food!

On my final day there, I attended a traditional Malay engagement ceremony. The entire family drove an hour to the fiance's house and was greeting by gifts and a lot of food. We ate, the men talked about the terms of the engagement, the rings were exchanged, and then we left. It was a really great time of experiencing some of the social and cultural traditions of this place.

Note: if some were taken back by my comment about Allah, I will explain here. 1. In Psalm 51, David's Psalm of repentance, he says "sacrifice and burnt offering you did not desire, but a contrite heart." I think this highlights not the anti-nomian nature of the true Gospel of Christ but the true call to an inward repentence and reconciliation with God, rather than merely an external, law-based discipline. 2. Although the word 'Allah' is the translation for the word 'God,' Christians know a different God, I would argue, than Muslims know. Its a failure to refer to the same God, in this case. My light-hearted comment about Allah does not refer to the God who sent his son Jesus Christ, but rather to a god whose followers reject the divinity of Christ and the redemptive power of the cross. If we were in the time of Ireneaus, this god would be called a false god.

2006-10-29T01:50:00.000-08:00

A little story about Dicky Tan...

I picked up my 'new' car from the dealer. Man, I was so excited. I took it out for a brief spin with the dealer just to check if everything was in order. I stalled five times within the first 45 seconds of turning on the car. But that was my fault, not Dicky's. Anyway, everything checked out, so I was content, and I drove off the lot towards home.

Glancing down at my cracked dashboard, I noticed something was wrong. I was low on gas. No problem, It'll be my first cost associated with the car. I put 20 ringgit in the tank, felt content, and started to drive away. Unfortunately though, the gas gauge didn't change. I quickly realized my gas gauge was broken. No problem, I'll guestimate using kilometers.

Later on, I picked up Stacey, my housemate, to go out for a ride. Before pulling out of the parking lot, I tried putting down the window. It got stuck, then I put it back up and tried again. This time, the entire window fell into the door. It came completely off of its track within the door and slammed into the bottom of the door. Ugh....such is life with Dicky Tan.

(note: the gas gauge is still broken, but the window is fixed:-)

2006-10-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hmm, do you really mean that?

This will be a short post but perhaps the one you're most glad to have read. I am sitting in my office grading papers from a listening test I administered this morning. The monsoon rains have just quieted, and I'm hoping Dicky Tan is still in park further up the hill. Students are intermittently coming by to finish their final graded component, the interview. In between the interviews, I begin reading one listening test, a fill in the blank section. It reads as follows: "The worst _______ in human history was probably Mt Tambora 1815, in Indonesia." Because the listening deals with natural disasters, you might've guessed that the answer is eruption. Nevertheless, my students seem to struggle particularly with this word. A common response has been the following: The worst erection in human history was probably Mt Tambora 1815, in Indonesia. Despite the prevailing (and emasculating) notion about Asian dudes, apparently the West should have taken another gander in the early 1800s to determine its truth. Now the real question, do I mark the answer wrong?

2006-10-07T04:56:00.000-07:00

A New What?!?!

Thats right...I bought a new car. Well, not quite new. Its a 1984 white, manual-transmission Toyota. I'm not quite sure what model it is, because the car doesn't say...and the dealer didn't either. Regardless, it was Rm 1800 ($500) and it's running well now.

So, I decided to have a naming competition. Please feel free to post a comment with some ideas for names. For right now, I have decided to name the car after the guy who sold it to me. Provisionally, then, it will be called Dicky Tan.

Enjoy these few pics and I'll post more later on the car specifics:-)

2006-10-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

Langkawi Island!

Located north of Penang, Langkawi is a group of peaceful islands with nice beaches and some nice eco-tourism. I took a 3-hour ferry ride to reach it. Upon arrival, some friends and I rented a car...manual transmission car. I took the driver's seat--the last time I had driven stick was en route to San Diego last summer...that was also the last time I had driven on the right side of the road (with the stick on the right side)...which was also the last time I had driven:-0 Needless to say, I felt pretty confident:-P

After checking in to our beachfront room, I headed north to Tenaga Tujuh (Seven Wells). After a hike of about 500 concrete steps, my friends and I arrived at the wells and rock slide (pictured above). There was some beautiful scenery and some fun times. We then drove to a larger waterfall (also pictured above) and hung out there for a bit. That night, we went to one of the only cool night life places on the island, the reggae bar! Great band, great times...danced a bit then asked one of the singers if I could play the congas. They were cool with it, so I got to play a song with them. Lotta fun!

The next day, my friends and I hopped back in the car and headed to the cable car ride (pictured above). Despite the cloudy weather up top, the ride was spectacular! The mountain and surrounding islands were beautiful. Even though it was just a weekend trip, I was able to see a lot of what Langkawi had to offer. Still, I'll probably head back to go on the island-hopping tour, on which they feed a bunch of eagles...visitors welcome:-)

2006-10-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

Formal Apology

I must apologize publicly for not blogging in a while. You, the reader, have the prerogative to be angry. Regardless, I'll press on and continue to blog--please enjoy these two new posts:-)

2006-09-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

Scuba diving on the east coast of Malaysia....ahhhhh

So for those of you wondering where I was all last week (mom and dad:-), here are a few pictures from my scuba trip. I went to Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu (pronounced Terengganu), Malaysia in the South China Sea. It was a great week of relaxation and scuba diving with a 5-star Padi center called Flora Bay Divers. I usually spent two hours or so a day learning about scuba, then another hour or so would be spent in the water, learning skills seeing fish, etc. To give you an idea of some of the stuff I needed to do: swim without my regulator (breathing apparatus), breathe without my mask (more freaky than it sounds), get accustomed to having my tank of air turned off, and also generally get used to seeing my air bubbles escape my mouth and ascend 16 meters of water. Haha, actually it was incredibly relaxing, fun, and really not too scary.

On almost every dive, I saw some really neat stuff. A school of squid gracefully passed above me, a school of large humphead parrotfish munched on some coral (see an internet picture at http://www.gooddive.com/diving-photos/show.php?start=0&id=672), boxfish--one of my favorites--were a staple of each dive as well as angel and butterfly fish, and one of the coolest was the anemone and clownfish (see Finding Nemo)...just beautiful. Excepting the first dive, the visibility on the east coast was awesome, very clear! Even when I snorkelled I could see a stingray and a large turtle...I tried using my surfer/california accent (see Finding Nemo) on the turtle, but I don't think he was interested.

I included the first pic of the white boat and a small boat frame because a smaller island near Perhentian had about three boat yards that made boats entirely out of wood all by hand. Although the museum-like shop was technically closed, my friend and I managed to get in to the largest of the boats...the shipyard commenced construction in 2004 and hopes to launch in 2006. Though an industry in decline in Malaysia, these boats are spectacular!

The picture of the baby in a mini-hammock I posted because this little monkey was a staple of every day. She would wake up and prance around the restaurant/hotel in her Malay traditional clothing then take a nap in the afternoon:-)

note: The 20 ringgit (USD 6) A-frame huts were nothing spectacular but provided a good night's rest despite the bats outside, the few frogs and cockroaches inside, and the occasional rat (my A-frame didn't have any, but my friend's had many).

2006-09-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

You could've been sold into...

Before I begin, let me tell a brief story to illustrate one of the general dispositions of my parents towards their sons. When I was 14 or 15, my mom dropped me off at the barber to get a haircut. The plan was that I would walk home after my haircut, being that I was only 5 minutes away. So my haircut ended and I decided, instead of walking straight home, to stop at the local West Coast to check out some movies. Inevitably, I lost track of time--I think it was an hour I spent there--and decided to walk home. On the way home, my brother suddenly careened around the corner on his bike. Out of breath, he said, "oh Andrew, geez...mom called the police and the state troopers, she has no idea where you are." We booked it home--running up Colony Dr., a cop car pulled up along side us. "Is this the kid?" he said. Dave said that it was in fact me and we finished the sprint home. As soon as I walked in the door, I turned to see my mom clutching the phone with a look of utter anguish and worry on her face. She looked up and said, "Oh thank God...I didn't know where you were! I was worried sick. I called the police and the state troopers, I had everyone looking for you...I had no idea. Andrew, you could have been sold into child prostitution!"
Hatboro: population 7, 393; known for manufacturing tri-cornered hats during the revolutionary war; famous people: during the summer of 1777, George Washington ate once at the Crooked Billet Tavern in Hatboro. "You could've been sold into child prostitution!" No explanation needed.
I thought perhaps these prepubescent days of familial freak-outs would end. To my astonishment, I have another story to tell. This past week I was able to travel to Perhentian Islands (pictures in a following post) on the east coast of Malaysia to scuba dive. I was there to get my open water diving certification which means I can dive anywhere in the world (with a buddy) up to 18 meters. I saw some really cool stuff, but I digress. I informed my parents on the phone that Friday night that I would be involved in a 4-day course then I would travel a few days after. I said I would probably take a night bus back Saturday night or Sunday night. No worries, covered my bases (for the most part) and headed off to Perhentian. The week passed quickly and I found myself on a bus, half-asleep, at 12:30am. Then, my French traveller friend answered his phone and hands it to me. "Uh, its for you." I picked up the phone to hear: "Hi, this is Anastasia Vrachnos." Oh geez, how could this have happened? First of all, what happened?
Apparently, I am now a registered missing person with Princeton Public Safety. Thinking I was on a long weekend trip (and after then not hearing from me for a few days), my parents called Princeton psafety, who called a dean, who called the director of PiA (Anastasia Vrachnos) who remarkably got my friend's number who then handed me the phone. After figuring out that I was fine, Anastasia hung up and I later spoke with my parents. There was some prior miscommunication and after taking some horse tranquilizers, they settled back down :-)

2006-09-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

My translator

Recently my phone stopped working for some reason. I checked the pre-paid status; I had 37 ringgit left, plenty to send hundreds of text messages all over malaysia. But for some reason, whenever I made a phone call, a woman speaking Bahasa Malay would defiantly explain something. All I know is that I listened to that recording ten times and had no idea what it meant. So, I decided to get some help.

There are a few Malay guards who work at E-park, my apartment complex. I knew they spoke Bahasa so I asked one for help. He listened to the message, and quickly starting gesticulating and speaking to me. Of course, he spoke to me with few words of English. I nodded a few times and made similar gestures back to acknowledge my understanding, thanked him ("terima kasih!") and walked off. I still did not know what was wrong with my phone.
When I thought about this experience, I thought about the irony of a Malay-English translator who doesn't know English. One who ought to relate in the most familiar way to bring understanding must emulate--if not actually be--that to which he is communicating. In my case, I needed someone who knew how to speak English. It's interesting, too, how this concept separates Christianity from many other religions. The idea that our translator, Jesus Christ, was not and is not a removed deity but rather a personal God who is accustomed to human life. He indeed was human. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (as the hymn goes), this is a very real and necessary thing for the Christian faith. We do not need to wonder about forgiveness or redemption; rather, it has been freely given to us by a God who knows the temptations we face, who understands our heartbreaks, who has not failed in any way, and yet loves us beyond limit. Our translator, Jesus, can intimately know and redeem us, because he was human and yet God.

2006-08-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

Cats, chocolate, and planet Earth

Recently, my students were required to give presentations on a topic of their choosing. The instructions were simple: 3-5 minutes long with 2 minutes of questioning afterwards, make eye contact, don't read, and provide some type of visual aid. The possibilities for this assignment, then, were limitless. I mean, think of how much one could discuss with so few requirements...yet, somehow, one of my students sent me the following email:

"hie mr andrew.
im faezah mohd bakri from group 11.
i would like to change my oral's title from CATS: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SCEINCE AND MY OWN EXPERIENCES to FACTS OF CATS. the points ive found aren't really suitable with my first title."

I can't quite track her thought process exactly...because I don't know how the second title improves or changes anything she's said in the first. Nevertheless, I reluctantly complied and waited for a rousing presentation on cats, from the perspective of science and personal experience. My friends, if any one of you could be in the room during this presentation, I would probably lose it.

Another student comes up after class to provide me with her already-late presentation topic. When asked her topic, this clever girl, while sheepishly looking over at her friend Nor Faeqah, replies, "the mittos of chocolate." "The mittos?!" I replied. "Yes, yes, the mittos...you know... mitt," she answered. "Oh, right. Of course. 'The mythos of chocolate.'" Wheww! At least I figured out what she said--with the help of another student. "So," I said, "what is a myth about chocolate?" "You know, if we eat it, we will get fat," she said apprehensively. "Umm...thats not a myth...thats actually true. Are there any other myths about chocolate?" I said. "Yes, yes...if you eat it, you will get pretty," she quickly retorted. "What?" I laughed. "Thats not a myth!?! Are you just making these up?" Laughing and grinning, she said, "yes, yes."

Uh huh. Still, I have yet to be moved by any presentation topic. Perhaps one of the guys will have something better. So, I spoke with two guys later:
"What will your topic be?" I skeptically asked. "Salt," the Chinese Malaysian triumphantly replied. "Uh huh. And what will yours be?" I moved on to the next Malay. "Planet earth," he said in a veiled tone as if he knew that there was no way I could pass this. "Well, anything about salt or planet earth," I hopefully replied. "Yes, like how it raise blood pressure." "And, like the system and the planets," the other quickly clarified. I offered my approval and now must wait til the day of reckoning; when these two among many others must actually follow through with their poorly-thought through presentation choices of cats, chocolate, salt, and planet earth.

2006-08-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of me and some malay students from my English class. As you can see by their faces, many are quite scared and shy to even be pictured with a white dude. Haha! I think shyness is just their general demeanor. Teaching has been wonderful and frustrating at the same time. Getting some of these girls to talk can be like pulling teeth! But it can also be fun and rewarding to see the students speak English and enjoy themselves during class. Though I think I have a natural tendency to be more charismatic and extroverted (oftentimes inciting a lot of laughter and whispers--especially when I demonstrated 'a strut' and 'a California/turtles-from-Finding Nemo accent), its the preparation part that can be killer. 18 hours of class doesn't seem like too much (a little more than a normal course load at Princeton) but making these English lessons fun can be a challenge. If you have ideas for games or activities, I'd love to hear them!

2006-08-06T02:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend some friends from church and I drove to Kuala Lumpur for a weekend away from Penang. I was glad to take a little trip--I definitely needed a change of pace and scenery. I stayed at a friend's uncle's house, who gave me his life story in 3 parts, a few of which were in Chinese, I think. That's him pictured in a lawn chair in his family room--he slept there that night too...a lawn chair...in his family room. So I got into KL and went to take some pics of the Petronas towers (2nd tallest building) at night. I arrived to see a beautifully-lit, Islamic architecture-styled building. I stepped out of the car, and the lights shut off immediately. Fortunately, my cam was still able to take some cool pics. Later that night was an experience...I saw more lady-boys than I ever have seen and ever will see (I vow to you now) again. I got way too many looks and really had to just keep moving through the club street--our group didn't go into any clubs...needless to say. The next day, after waiting in line for an hour and a half (getting the last of the tickets), I went up to the sky bridge which provided a great view of the city. After checking out the KL tower (5th tallest tower), the rest of the group and I walked for what seemed to be days checking out different malls etc.--like I said, a bit touristy for my taste, but a fun time nonetheless. That night, after listening to a little jazz at an outdoor concert, I went home and crashed. Some dimsum for breakfast with our host and I headed back to Penang smelly and in need of sleep. I was glad to check out KL for the first time and I'm anxious to head back to see Thaipusam, a Hindu forgiveness holiday during which thousands of pilgrims climb 270 steps to a Hindu temple in Batu caves north of the city. Although that may not seem too interesting, the pilgrims put long, thin, metal rods through their skin....keep checking out my blog:-P

2006-07-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I ascended Penang Hill once again...this time for a different kind of adventure. I joined 30 other guys from my new church, Excel Point Community Church, for a time of reflection, repentence, and renewal. Attached is a picture of all the guys shouting "buka!" which literally means 'to open', in this case it meant something like being open or transparent about weakness (see if you can find me; hint: the only white face). I really enjoyed the weekend--despite not showering and drinking way too much chocolate milk, I experienced somewhat of a spiritual breakthrough.
After a sermon on sin and its affects on our lives, I was really able not just to recognize my own weakness, but also to experience God's abundant love and forgiveness: to realize my relationship with Jesus. The tendency at Princeton was to form the most coherent and comprehensive Christian way of viewing the world; unfortunately, the center of that web of belief --my relationship with Jesus Christ--can suffer when the edges of the web are under construction, so to speak. It was good to examine how a Christian can view culture, politics, gender, etc. in light of Christ, but what Christianity 'reduces' to is the call of Jesus in Luke 9, one's following Jesus in sacrificial, painful, but transcendently beautiful surrender.
Enjoy the pictures I included! And as always, I'd enjoy reading your thoughts.

2006-07-20T02:27:00.001-07:00

This pic was taken after I hiked to Monkey beach towards the northern end of Penang. Randomly, a fisherman took me and some friends to his fish farm to cook up some freshly-caught lobster. Mmmm! A tad chewy, but a great time nonetheless. After the lobster, we motorboated back to land and shared a drink with our Chinese-speaking friend. Good thing we had a translator!