Malaysia November 22-25

Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving! It is usually a chance to go to Athens and spend a lovely fall day with my family eating some great food. However, for the last few years Thanksgiving has just been a chance to have time not thinking about work. My first year I was in Thailand at a teacher conference and had a fabulous time! I still think about that trip from time to time. It was also my first trip while living in Hong Kong. At that time I hadn't even been to Shenzhen, China yet. Last year my family was here! I got to enjoy time away from work with my family but without the beautiful fall weather in Athens. We did have good food but we were eating at a buffet in Shenzhen and not turkey and dressing and cheesy apples (man, do I miss cheesy apples). Well this year Sara, Emily and I headed to Malaysia for Thanksgiving.

We made a rule not to talk about school or their decisions from the time we were on the airplane until we got back which was a good rule. We all needed to get away from Hong Kong and ICS and take a break from the stress of school with the move and Malaysia was a wonderful destination.

It was not our original plans. We had actually planned on going to Cambodia but then couldn't get plane tickets and we couldn't find any other destinations under our price range for some time. Well after the craziness of getting tickets we were heading to Kota Kinabalu to sit and relax. That is exactly what we did.

When we arrived (delayed) it was raining. We found a taxi and got to the hotel (which wasn't bad). It was being renovated so the rooms were really nice but the signs in the hallway for room numbers and such were made with styrofoam and were painted. When we checked in they told us it would probably rain for the next two days. We were given a free welcome drink (grapefruit juice - not to bad) that we had that night with apple pie (it was Thankgiving day after all) as we discussed our options. We actually didn't have any put to pray that it wouldn't rain.

The next morning we woke up to a slightly overcast but nice day. It only got better as the day went on. We had a taxi take us to a beach in town which was terrible! It was really dirty and not much sand and no where to lay out. We then decided to go to an outer island. On Friday we went to Manukan Island. The boat ride out was terrible. The sea was really choppy and the boat would drop in between the swells. It was a hard bench and it kept jamming my back. I felt like I needed a trip to the chiropractor or something after it was finished. However, once there it was wonderful! It felt like we were at a summer camp. The island was actually a national park. There were cabins on one side with a soccer field in the middle. Then the beach on the other side. There was one restaurant and one public toilet but there was also a beach. We found a small patch of sand on the mostly coral rock beach and spread out two beach mats.

We spent the day laying on the beach. It wasn't that hot (we weren't sweating) but it was a very comfortable time on the beach. We had lunch and layed out some more. We left the island at 4 for a not so bad ride back to Kota Kinabalu (we had a great view of Mount Kinabalu on the ride back - too bad it was too choppy to get a picture of it). We went back to the hotel, showered, and went shopping. We we tried to go shopping but the handicraft shop was closing so we just browsed (which was nice). Then we went looking for a restaurant. We found a great restaurant that also had a massage place. Needless to say we had a great meal and a massage. It started to rain while we were getting a massage. It was good timing and the ladies there were pretty reassuring that the next day should be nice again - that is only rained at night. We then went back to the hotel and to bed.

The next day was another beautiful day! We headed this time to Sapi Island. It had a much better beach but it was smaller than the other island. It was mostly sand with only coral rock at the water. I didn't lay out quite as much because it was hotter and I had gotten slightly burned the day before on my back (it was only red and not painful - thankfully). I really enjoyed the day. There were several kids that had to be locals playing in the sand and around the beach. It was fun to watch them. I also talked with a lady from Penang, Malaysia. The day was wonderful. We left at 3 to shower and go shopping. This time we actually did shopping. We commented on how the Christmas lights and the Christmas music really felt out of place when we wearing shorts and spending the day laying out on the beach.

We planned dinner at this place with that had a cultural show. The restaurant was very overwhelming. People were trying hard to get us to sit in their section. At one point after we had picked a table, Sara counted 6 people at our table. It was confusing and after they left I wasn't quite sure what I had even ordered or who I had ordered from. However, the food was good and the show was interesting. Afterwards, we got another massage (it's just cheaper here - I wouldn't do this in the States but I enjoy them while I'm here). Then headed to bed.

We headed back to Hong Kong the next day. It was just what we all needed. An escape from the craziness at home and a wonderful relaxing time in a new country. I loved the few days on the beach. I even made it back in time for my Cantonese class which also made me happy!

Oh a few side notes about Malaysia: Kota Kinabalu is on the island of Borneo which is the third largest island in the world. This is Malaysia 50th year as a nation and they are really pushing tourism. There are three countries on the island of Borneo: Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. Malaysia is part of the north and northwest part of the island. It surrounds the area that is Brunei. The equator goes through the part of Borneo that is Indonesia. Both of Malaysia's World Heritage Sites are on the island of Borneo. The first was Kinabalu park which is in Sabah (the area of Malaysia that was in) and it is where Mount Kinabalu is.

I think that's the highlights. Pictures are coming but I left my camera at school today an I haven't downloaded them yet. Have a great day!