I am going to try and sum up everything I have done this past week...in a fairly quick write-up, since I am trying to pack everything tonight.
Two of the other interns at WAO (Ida and Jessica) and I, finally were able to go and explore the Batu caves! For those of you who don't know, the Batu Caves are located not too far outside of KL, and the caves are used as a Hindu shrine and temple. It is also home to the world's largest statue of a Hindu deity (sorry, I don't know which one...I haven't been reading up on Hinduism). We took the LRT (light-rail-transit) to KL Sentral Station, but we soon realized that the taxi's were over-charging us by a lot, so we got some breakfast there (in the form of an iced cappuchino and chocolate/strawberry waffles,) and headed to the farthest LRT station, called Gombak. We finally reached there and took a taxi there for 8 RM (so much cheaper!)
The first thing you see when you arrive is the huge gold (or is it fake...?) statue of the Hindu deity. I felt like a tiny ant compared to it. Some nice older European tourists took a picture for us and then we headed up to the stairs. Oh, the stairs. We were dreading them...272 steps. That may not seem a lot to some people, but to my out-of-shape body, it was something I was dreading, especially since it can get so hot. However, I must admit that it was WAY easier than I imagined, and I am just thankful I got the chance to climb them now, instead of when I am 70 years old...The weather was also not bad (we got there around 10 or 11 am). I would NOT recommend going there after 12 pm, as it's very hot during that time.
Once we reached the top, there was a big sign that said, "NO EXCERSIZING IN THIS AREA." I thought to myself, "well...who would WANT to after all those steps?" I just thought it was funny...Anyway, we went inside the cave, which was pretty amazing. I love caves because they're so mysterious and calming (well, unless you get trapped inside a cave...which would be bad obviously). It was much cooler once we were inside the cave...although it would have been more peaceful if there had not been so many tourists. But, there's not much you can do about that. There were quite a few temples, and people praying inside the caves. I am really happy I got the chance to go there before I left KL, and would highly recommend going there if you are in the vicinity!
Other than going to the Batu Caves, I really didn't do anything too exciting. I had a dinner with some of the interns last night at the Kitchen of India-got to have some Indian food before I leave, since there really isn't much of that in Thailand. I will be going to Penang tomorrow morning with the staff from WAO. It's a staff retreat, and there are a lot of games and activities planned. We are staying in a guest house on one of the nicer beaches in Penang. On Sunday, I will take a bus from Penang to Hat Yai, which is about a 4-5 hour trip. I will stay in Hat Yai a few days with Kiat's family before I go to Phuket. It's sad leaving KL...but at the same time, I know that a new adventure is waiting for me! It has been such a great experience and I am really happy that I chose to do an internship at WAO in Malaysia. It's such a beautiful and interesting country! I will try to update this more later, however, I don't know how much internet access I will have. I hope everyone is well in Oregon (or anywhere else they might be!)
Cheers!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Recent Happening's in KL!
Hello! Sorry for the late posting, but I have been very very busy this past month.
Work at WAO has been keeping me busy (much more so than I expected). It's crazy how there was nothing to do in January, and yet in March there is TOO much to do! I have been doing a lot of administrative tasks (answering phones, writing letters, moving boxes, going to press conferences, getting food for my boss-oh, wait, that's not really an administrative task...hmmm)
Anyway, but the BIG task for me is being in charge of the newsletter for this month. It's a huge task because it has to be pretty perfect and editing takes a lot of time. It's fun writing the articles, doing the interviews, and the lay-out, but it's also incredibly time consuming and since technology and I do not get along very well...it's been a bit hellish (is that even a word...well if it isn't, it is now!) I will try to get a copy of the newsletter to everyone once I finally have it finished (which should-theoretically...be tomorrow...) I am also going to start teaching the English classes to the women who are residents at the refuge for the next two weeks. That should be...interesting, especially considering I am used to teaching English to young kids.
Besides work...I have done quite a bit. I went out with some of my fellow interns and staff to a reggae bar...although there was really nothing reggae about it. They played two reggae songs and the rest was Lady Gaga (if you do not know who this is (aka mom and dad)...be glad). I also went to a gay bar for the first time in my life. It was interesting, especially considering that I went to my first one in a VERY conservative country...I didn't even expect there to BE a gay bar. That was...interesting! Although if you are a straight man, it probably would not be your cup of tea...
Let's see...what else. I went to Melaka-a city 2 hours south of KL-with Ida (my new flatmate from Sweden-she is also interning at WAO). It was a really fun trip and I am glad I got a chance to visit that place because it is a world heritage city. Our landlady took us there in her car and she dropped us off. She recommended we stay at this one hotel because it was under 100 RM and fairly nice. So we got a taxi to take us there...however, we soon found out that it was 175 RM...which is very expensive for a hotel, so we decided to look elsewhere. We wandered down some deserted streets, past abandoned karaoke bars and finally into a busy street. We looked for about 20 minutes until we finally settled on a place for 75 RM. It was decent...with aircon, so we didn't complain. We went to the night market on Jonkor Road and went up this tower which shows us the whole city. We also went and got a 1 hour massage. It was really nice and these two Chinese women were the masseuses. I could tell they were from Beijing because of the dialect they were speaking, and managed to pick up some of what they were saying. The woman commented on how my hands were prettier than hers, though honestly, I could not tell the difference...it was a good massage, but...intense, as most Asian massages seem to be.
The next day we got up early, ate some good Indonesian food, and walked around some more. We decided to take a river cruise, which was nice. We decided to take a rickshaw ride, since it seems like something everyone should do at least if they are in Malaysia. Our rickshaw driver was interesting...he played pop songs on his bicycle and wheeled us (in jeans...he must have been so hot) around the city. We kind of felt like queens, well except for the fact hat it was scorching hot and we had to keep us cool except for the fans we bought earlier that day. Our rickshaw driver stopped for awhile (cigarette break...) and he tried to impress us by the fact that he could do 50 push ups with a cigarette in his mouth....hmm...not sure if that was gross or impressive haha. He also kept on asking me for my number...which I politely declined to give to him. I'm not really interested in marrying a 30 something year old Malay man and converting to Islam...it's not really my style. He took us to a really old church and that was about it of our tour. We went and had lunch, and then we went to the bus station and got a bus back to KL. Oh, and if my picture somehow appears on the Internet a lot, it's either because of interning with WAO or because random people took our pictures in Melaka many many times. I guess we are part of the tourist attractions now...But overall, Melaka was a beautiful city and I would recommend anyone to go there! It has a lot of history.
Speaking of WAO, we had the 3R walk on Saturday, which was for International Women's Day. The interns got there around 10 in the morning and we helped set up this tent, which took forever and doing it in the sweltering heat made it almost unbearable. We were all sweating by the end. We escaped into the mall for about 2 hours and then went back and joined in on some pre-walk aerobics (which I have a video of, by the way...I will post it later,) and then finally joined in on the solidarity walk. Oh-by the way this walk was for woman's rights. It was pretty amazing during the walk because the police actually close off a main intersection and it was the first time I felt like I could never be run over by a vehicle!! We wore sandwich board signs and blew whistles. I can't believe this has been my first ever "walk for a cause" and it wasn't even back home in the US!
Other than that, I have not been doing too much. My internship officially ended today...but I am still carrying on as a volunteer for the next 2 weeks until the end of the WAO Penang retreat (March 27th). I am going to try and take a couple days off during the next 2 weeks. I will try and post pictures and video soon!
Work at WAO has been keeping me busy (much more so than I expected). It's crazy how there was nothing to do in January, and yet in March there is TOO much to do! I have been doing a lot of administrative tasks (answering phones, writing letters, moving boxes, going to press conferences, getting food for my boss-oh, wait, that's not really an administrative task...hmmm)
Anyway, but the BIG task for me is being in charge of the newsletter for this month. It's a huge task because it has to be pretty perfect and editing takes a lot of time. It's fun writing the articles, doing the interviews, and the lay-out, but it's also incredibly time consuming and since technology and I do not get along very well...it's been a bit hellish (is that even a word...well if it isn't, it is now!) I will try to get a copy of the newsletter to everyone once I finally have it finished (which should-theoretically...be tomorrow...) I am also going to start teaching the English classes to the women who are residents at the refuge for the next two weeks. That should be...interesting, especially considering I am used to teaching English to young kids.
Besides work...I have done quite a bit. I went out with some of my fellow interns and staff to a reggae bar...although there was really nothing reggae about it. They played two reggae songs and the rest was Lady Gaga (if you do not know who this is (aka mom and dad)...be glad). I also went to a gay bar for the first time in my life. It was interesting, especially considering that I went to my first one in a VERY conservative country...I didn't even expect there to BE a gay bar. That was...interesting! Although if you are a straight man, it probably would not be your cup of tea...
Let's see...what else. I went to Melaka-a city 2 hours south of KL-with Ida (my new flatmate from Sweden-she is also interning at WAO). It was a really fun trip and I am glad I got a chance to visit that place because it is a world heritage city. Our landlady took us there in her car and she dropped us off. She recommended we stay at this one hotel because it was under 100 RM and fairly nice. So we got a taxi to take us there...however, we soon found out that it was 175 RM...which is very expensive for a hotel, so we decided to look elsewhere. We wandered down some deserted streets, past abandoned karaoke bars and finally into a busy street. We looked for about 20 minutes until we finally settled on a place for 75 RM. It was decent...with aircon, so we didn't complain. We went to the night market on Jonkor Road and went up this tower which shows us the whole city. We also went and got a 1 hour massage. It was really nice and these two Chinese women were the masseuses. I could tell they were from Beijing because of the dialect they were speaking, and managed to pick up some of what they were saying. The woman commented on how my hands were prettier than hers, though honestly, I could not tell the difference...it was a good massage, but...intense, as most Asian massages seem to be.
The next day we got up early, ate some good Indonesian food, and walked around some more. We decided to take a river cruise, which was nice. We decided to take a rickshaw ride, since it seems like something everyone should do at least if they are in Malaysia. Our rickshaw driver was interesting...he played pop songs on his bicycle and wheeled us (in jeans...he must have been so hot) around the city. We kind of felt like queens, well except for the fact hat it was scorching hot and we had to keep us cool except for the fans we bought earlier that day. Our rickshaw driver stopped for awhile (cigarette break...) and he tried to impress us by the fact that he could do 50 push ups with a cigarette in his mouth....hmm...not sure if that was gross or impressive haha. He also kept on asking me for my number...which I politely declined to give to him. I'm not really interested in marrying a 30 something year old Malay man and converting to Islam...it's not really my style. He took us to a really old church and that was about it of our tour. We went and had lunch, and then we went to the bus station and got a bus back to KL. Oh, and if my picture somehow appears on the Internet a lot, it's either because of interning with WAO or because random people took our pictures in Melaka many many times. I guess we are part of the tourist attractions now...But overall, Melaka was a beautiful city and I would recommend anyone to go there! It has a lot of history.
Speaking of WAO, we had the 3R walk on Saturday, which was for International Women's Day. The interns got there around 10 in the morning and we helped set up this tent, which took forever and doing it in the sweltering heat made it almost unbearable. We were all sweating by the end. We escaped into the mall for about 2 hours and then went back and joined in on some pre-walk aerobics (which I have a video of, by the way...I will post it later,) and then finally joined in on the solidarity walk. Oh-by the way this walk was for woman's rights. It was pretty amazing during the walk because the police actually close off a main intersection and it was the first time I felt like I could never be run over by a vehicle!! We wore sandwich board signs and blew whistles. I can't believe this has been my first ever "walk for a cause" and it wasn't even back home in the US!
Other than that, I have not been doing too much. My internship officially ended today...but I am still carrying on as a volunteer for the next 2 weeks until the end of the WAO Penang retreat (March 27th). I am going to try and take a couple days off during the next 2 weeks. I will try and post pictures and video soon!
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