Street aerobics at Lumphini Park - every evening at 5 and 6:15pm:
Aside: I remember writing a while back about how much I enjoy watching CNN World, particularly the ridiculous news headlines. As I was writing that last paragraph, I looked up and saw "Drunk 'darth vader' escapes jail" trail across the ticker. This was followed immediately by "overweight nude to set art world record," then "Madonna: New, different, 'Hard.''
The Malaysia trip went very well. By this point in the semester, most of us have shifted from very detail-oriented, efficient travel into a more lackadaisical system of exploring. My friend Judy and I arrived on Penang first and stayed in the town of Georgetown for three days while our group assembled. Activities included a visit to Fort Cornwallis (can you tell that Malaysia was a British colony?), Penang Hill and its view of the island, the world's largest (and possibly only) toy museum, and the botanical gardens. We also rented motorbikes the day we got there, both because it's the easiest way to get around the island and because we've always wanted to try it. Judy had rented a motorbike on a previous trip, but this was my first attempt at it, and everyone accurately described my driving as "less than confident." Still, it was a nice way to get from point A to point B, even if that 'way' included me driving so slow that I was being passed by rickshaws and hawker carts.
We left the following morning for the Cameron Highlands, an inland region of Malaysia known for agriculture and beautiful, rolling hills. We didn't know what to expect, but after being sidelined by pouring rains for an afternoon/evening, we had a chance to explore the area the next morning. The weather was refreshingly cool, and the scenery was beautiful. We visited a tea plantation and a strawberry farm, the highlights of which were naturally the delicious tea and strawberries. That afternoon, we left on another bus for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The bus ride took us winding through the jungle and featured several inexplicable "rest" stops, but we eventually made it.
Cameron Highlands:
We only had one full day in K.L. due to the rain delays, but we decided to stick to our original plan and visit a nearby theme park. This was a debatable decision considering that we were sacrificing our only day in the city, but it proved to be well worth it. The park was in the Genting Highlands, another cool mountain region, and to get there, visitors take the Genting Skyway, a 3.4 km cable car ride over the tropical rainforest. Needless to say, that experience made the whole trip worth it.
The theme park was a wealth of fun and a surprisingly cultural experience. We discovered that Asians (generally speaking) are easily excited and very animated on rides, especially thrill rides like roller coasters and free falls. The entire park was so high up that it was in the clouds, which made the vertical drop ride particularly scary since there was no visibility (we rode it four times and had a collective panic attack each time we reached the top). Throughout the day, we met a surprising number of Iraqis and had some very interesting conversations, including meeting a peacekeeping soldier who had friends in North Carolina. Still, all things considered, the highlight of our day was definitely observing the reactions - both sounds and facial expressions - of our fellow park goers. We also staged photos on roller coasters, the best of which was actually our first effort, which I've included here. We picked four poses that we felt symbolized our day's experience - the trademark Asian peace sign, motion sickness, fake-smoking, and an unnecessarily petrified facial expression that was actually outdone by the woman behind us.
The last morning, we visited the Petronas Towers, the largest twin towers and formerly the tallest buildings in the world. Visitors can visit the skybridge connecting the two towers, but there is a quota on the number of people who are allowed up each day. We were planning on going there early to ensure a spot, but everyone's cell phone ran out of batteries and we woke up frustratingly at 10am. Having missed out on our one experience in the city, we took a few pictures from the bottom (see below) and headed straight to the airport. Even though I didn't spend much time in KL, I liked the city. It was cleaner and seemed better organized than Bangkok without being as overwhelmingly Western as Singapore.
Now that I'm back, I'm trying to tie up all the loose ends and not miss anything during my last week. The monsoon season has arrived early, so after months of barely having any rain, we are now seeing torrents on a regular basis. Thailand wasn't hit by the cyclone, but it's been rough hearing about all the trouble in Burma, especially because I was there so recently (twice this semester, actually) and spoke to migrants and refugees. It's tough being so close and knowing that there's essentially nothing that can be done to help.
After a week of class here, we'll travel as a group to Vietnam on Saturday and spend a week traveling and visiting health organizations there. After the program ends on May 25, I will spend a few extra days in Vietnam with a couple classmates and then fly back to Bangkok the following Friday. We're planning on spending some time in Ho Chi Minh City, possibly stopping some along the way, and mainly trying to piece together the war history by visiting various memorials and sites. I can't believe that the semester is almost over, but I think I'll be ready to go home when the time comes.
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