It's been a while, a personal account of my 9 day trip in Malaysia

Monkey at the Bird park

Spring break trip to Malaysia in a nut shell was fast, interesting and chaotic!  I left Korea thinking, " WOW, its been a quiet 7 months in the country, without anything really exciting and neither crazy or dramatic.  Which for me is STRANGE given the last few years of living in different countries.  I WAS ready for some adventure, surprizes and FUN!


Landing in humid Kulua Lumpur wearing jeans and a sweater, Violet laughed as we met.  The city was bustling, multicultural with a tropical feel.  Knocking off a number of to do's on the first day we visited the Bird park, Chinatown, The Petronas towers and various downtown areas.  Exhausted by the end of the day and mind foggy I fell into a deep sleep as my head hit the pillow! As well it was nice to sleep in a giant, soft King bed that Violet so graciously shared with me!

 

Pictures of our first day.  Of coarse its obviously impossible to have someone get the view you asked for, but we were hoping to get the towers in the background!

That first day was the start of what I like to refer as a fun trip filled with mini disasters and challenges. 
Documenting it as such is necessary!



Challenge #1
Arguing with the taxi driver on our way back to the apartment.  WHY each time do I feel accountable if who I am with argues with the taxi and refuses to pay.   My mind fighting with itself, do I leave, who is right.....feeling guilty I hurriedly paid the difference and ran off....FYI only 2 dollars.

Disaster #1
Walking up after a delightful sleep in the comfy bed only to realize I DIDN'T have my wallet.....how is that possible.  I paid the taxi driver last night then came right in. Only people who have lost their wallets know what it is like to call the credit card company and hear someone has been using your call all night while you slept like a baby.  Day two was spent dealing with canceling cards, finding a way to transfer money.  BAH

Hindu Statue

Batu Caves

View of the clear sky and KL skyline

So I guess we have these things happen to be thankful for the quiet times, non-crazy times and to be more aware.  The rest of the trip I was over cautious, which in my opinion is not very fun!

Trek up the stairs to a temple inside the cave

Thanks to some friends who helped me get  money I was able to enjoy my time in the city, visit some sites and have drinks on top of a heli pad!

Violet's roomies and friends from Canada  at the rooftop bar called HELI PAD

Getting lost downtown and taking a local bus back to China town

Challenge #2
Trying to get a flight booked without a credit card....I really wanted to head to an island for rest and relaxation, which I was in serious need of. Resilience can be my number one trait when it comes to travel and doing impossible things. Haha thanks to both my folks for sorting out the flight and especially my dad's patience as we booked the flight online 2 hours before it left.  Literally I was hopping in the taxi on the way to the airport and he paid the ticket fee.



Disaster #2
Getting to the check in counter only to have the man tell you your flight was not for 8 more hours, seems Mr. Bert didn't book in time to get the mornign flight. Haha there is a way to change the flight for only a small fee.  YOU CAN only imagine I was happy to land in this beautiful place and go para-sailing by 3pm!

The hostel I stayed at had various cool new people to meet but I spent most of my time with a girl from Ontario, she was awesome.  With a better sense of direction, international drivers license and adventurous spirit she drove us around the island on a scooter!  If you know anything about the best parts of traveling its not necessarily the site seeing or shopping that makes a trip but the people you meet along the way.  Finding Jessica to hang with was great, she was into all the same things as me, seeing beautiful sights, trying local food, finding little adventures and meeting interesting people!

Scooting around the island with Jessica

There were a lot of interesting things on this island.  Such a rich variety of culture, architecture and beautiful vibrant colour , lookouts and ocean views everywhere.

How to enter the Mosque.

Stop for fresh fruit.  I swear these girls were listening to Latin music

Night market snacks. YUMM

The next day we headed out on an island hopping adventure. On the tour we met a few new friends. 

New friends

Jessica with Bed Nam and Fashid                     

I said good bye to the island and my new pal Jessica and headed back to KL for one last weekend with Voilet.  We relaxed by the pool, had pedicures and just hung out.  I really enjoyed my time there and the highlight was visiting her classroom and messing around with her art students!  As always, vacations come to an end and I was halted away from a terrible dream that I missed my flight as the alarm rang on Monday morning for my 5am taxi pick up to the international terminal.



DISASTER #3

As the taxi approached the airport, I asked him to drop me by Air Aisa.  He said no Air Asia here.  Confused I inquired "no Air Asia, but this is the international airport?"....it did not look like the airport I arrived at but again, it was pitch dark out.  Stubbornly asking for my money he said I drop you at International airport which you booked for but NO Air Asia.  You ask at the counter inside.

I was a pissed, but more than that frantic. I was not confident I was in the right place.  However, fed up with taxis in this country I paid and scrambled inside to what WAS definitely NOT the airport I arrived in on. With only 2 hours to my flight I had to hurry and get to the right place.  At the information counter they informed me I needed to be at the low carrier international airport.  I HAD NO IDEA :( This was a major oversight on my part!  I had two options, take another taxi or try to board a bus and get to the CORRECT airport 20min away.

Challenge #3
Decisions, split second decisions, the important ones that could mean a missed flight.  It was easy to see I was in a helpless moment.  Either way could be stranded with NO money or credit card to bail me out of this situation.  However, it was easy for me to decide which option I trusted more and just KNOW I would make it in time. I arrive with 1 hr and 10 minutes to check in, drop off my luggage, clear customs and security and find the gate.  YEP, all that is possible with enough time to pee before boarding and chat with a few beautiful people along the way.

The excitement and challenges were all what traveling is about.  But I think it was a bit much for short week vacation! Arriving in Korea felt great, exchanging my last bit of Ringit to Won was liberating . I had just enough to money get home on the bus and buy a few groceries!

Moments you can never forget that come out of nowhere. These kids came to say hi while applying sunscreen.

El Diente Fes and Guanajuato

Mexican Independence day, a mid September long weekend marked one month in school.  It had been a very, long busy month, full of many firsts, exhausting art classes with chatty children and a lot of changes in my life. Let's just say the short week was well deserved.  I was able to go with my new friend, Sergio and his cousin to El Diente, a extreme sports festival.  There was hiking, biking, rock climbing and slack lining.  The area was located about 20 minutes out of Guadalajara, near a small village, in a rocky area surrounded by trees.  It was just what I needed, to get away from the city for a while and  spend it with a bunch of outdoorsy hippies!

 To the right is a photo of te slack line competition.  I have to say the girls were really impressive, even better than the guys in the competition.  It was fun to watch.  I'm thinking I might try to get into it.  Since we didn't have equipment, we were only able to participate in the hike and watching events.  The hike was super awesome and we came across this amazing tree.  The entire day was beautiful.  I was still pretty exhausted from the school week around mid day we just put a blanket down and napped, chatted and practiced some Spanish.  It was a relaxing and perfect afternoon.  The event I was most excited for was the DJ late in the evening.  Unfortunately but ironically it began to rain and storm about 1 hour before the show was to begin.  So we hid in the tent, only to discover that the tent  leaked.  In the the end we had to escape the flooding tent.  It was quite an adventure to get from the camping area to the main stage.  We ran through trees and ditches that had filled with water, now more like flowing rivers to safety.  Then Sergio's uncle had to come rescue us in his Jeep.  There is no way a regular vehicle would make it up to the rainy mountain.  You can see below how muddy the rain made it that this bus got stuck!

 Two of my favorite photos of a random climber.  I love the sky in the background.  Really wish I could have climbed that weekend.  I'm working on finding a friend with equipment.

Guanajuato y El Rancho.  The very next weekend I traveled about 2 hours east of the city to a rural area with smaller cities with my same friend, Sergio and his mom.  She had an appointment to attend, so I went along for the ride.  The traffic along the way was a bit nuts, I was glad I was not driving. The first night we stayed at a ranch.  It is very common for Mexicans to own a ranch, a piece of land out of the city.  I don't know what most ranches are like but this was pretty hilarious, kind of run down, not well kept and had just the bare minimum.  Haha, there were spider webs everywhere and no running water.  It was fun for one night.  Getting in and out we drove on a windy, bumpy road with huge cactus in sight.  I decided the subject of my next art works is going to be of cactus in bright colours.

One of the scary dogs living at the ranch sees us off

Finally we arrived in Guanajuato.  It was beautiful.  I felt as if I was in Europe.  There were many narrow, cobblestone streets, a lot of little shops, colours and people everywhere!  It was great to be in such a rich, vibrant town.  We walked around most of the afternoon, taking pictures of different sights.

Guanajuato view

The night couldn't start off without cheap tequila shots.  We ordered a good brand, but the headaches the next day made me think that somehow the tequila we drank was different than the label said.

To add to the headaches the next morning, the car license plate was removed by the police during the night because we had parked in a no parking zone late in the evening with the plan of moving it in the morning.  We had to venture about the town to find the police station and Sergio had to pay to get it back.   All in all, I don't think a few hours passed those last two weekends without some "crazy-adventure-like" experience happening. I don't know if its Mexico, me or Sergio, but some sort of energy is following us making things hillarious!

Lastly before driving home, we visited the mummy exhibition, a great end to the weekend!  I can't believe how crazy real these mummies are!

Hola!

This marks the beginning of adventures teaching art and living in Guadalajara, Mexico! 

So its the end of my first week and so far things have been good!   I've been able to take cat naps everyday after school.  I absolutely love my new routine and schedule!!  My school provided my accommodation for the first week in a very nice, quiet neighborhood.  The place came with cooking, cleaning and laundry service!  Totally awesome.  Every morning I woke up to eggs, in the afternoon I had comida, which is a big  lunch in Mexico. Then we wouldn't eat until 9pm at night.

The houses in this area are amazing.  Its called Bugambillas, a gated community south of the city.  In my opinion is Mexican suburbia! 

Living in a house with 8 students was good because they all spoke English well. I learned some useful phrases, and some bad phrases and they showed me around a bit. Saturday night we went to a club called Dirty Harry.  It was fun, but I was tired...I've been tired all week...I blamed it on being older than all these young kids.

Sunday was a relaxing afternoon, followed by Tacos for 9pm cena!!! 
 Buenas Noches!
  

Exhaustion!

I titled this post Exhaustion because at times this week i've felt my body at an almost breaking point! Not only am I mentally tired but also physically lathargic and feel immobile. It might be a combination of things, lack of satisfying foods, lack of sleep from living on a loud street and also constantly being surrounded by things that are moving. Everyday I witness bikes, vans, cars, busses, motorbikes, trucks and pedestrians go by at a fast pace. It's been overwhelming so say the least. If I can't see them then I can hear them. I'm definitely not used to that. My morning commute to work is either a crammed bus ride with men in suits or joining the herd of students down the street! haha, either option I'm on display for people to stare and call out at me.

Mainly I think the heat is really tiring! So when I went hiking on Saturday with my super excited, energetic co-teacher Christine I didn't know if I'd make it up the mountain without falling over from exhaustion.
Here we are together, she's bright and cheery and I look like death! We also visited a blacksmith village. It was on the edge of Guri in a more natural area, quite pretty and even quiet!

In my second week in Korea I have gotten up to a lot of new things. Its been fun but again tiring. I forgot how exhausted I felt in Japan at first and add the horrible heat to it and living in my current apartment, I can barely function. Here are some random pictures of the events of the last week. I attended a hip hop concert with a teacher and her friend. It was quite the event. I felt like we were at a premiere for a movie or the Grammy's. They shuffled everyone in as if we were walking the red carpet, people stopped for photos and we got free food and drinks.

I'm not the biggest hip hop fan, but from what I could tell it was quality music, good beats and the crowd loved it. The opening DJ (below) was super lame though. He only played cheesy top 40 dance music from 20 years ago. I found that quite humorous!

I've been super fortunate to meet up with Melissa and Julius a few times now. We've gone for drinks and dinner and shared many stories about teaching in Korea. They've been a big help and it just is good to be around people from home who you can relate to. Melissa and I went yesterday to get my bangs chemically straightened which was fabulous! and CHEAP! for under 10 bukcs I got a straight perm, a hair wash and style, juice and he even gave juice to her! It was amazing. I especially liked the hair stylist warning signal he did just before using the hair straightener!