Well I am back! After a long absense from the blogging world after my very long adventures in Cambodia and Thailand its time to fill you in on what Ive been up to over the last 3 months. This is going to be quite difficult to write as my experiences traveling were some of the best of my life, which is a tough act to follow. Never the less with a combination of my amazing skill and some hard graft, here goes.
The start of the year calender year was rather hectic, everyone was returning, presents were being exchanged like the cold virus and no classes were officially being taught. After much boredom, our timetable was finally ready. New classes, all nicely organized, the whole package. It lasted two whole days, then it was changed, and changed, and changed again. With students leaving, arriving and the school a disorganized mess, it did at least feel as if we were home in Malaysia. It was quite a quiet new year, dominated mostly by films and cleaning. We did however have no of the usual pressure to have the BIGGEST NIGHT EVERRRR! there was no choice in the matter. January was leading up to another short trip, our first meeting with our new volunteer friends on the island of Penang.
Penang is a small island city on the Malaysian west coast. It is famous for its incredible street food, richly diverse culture, including Indian and Chinese and of course the huge Chinese new year celebrations. We of course experienced no of this. Volunteers had come from all over Malaysia to meet the new volunteers, in Malaysia on an 8 month placement instead of the full hardcore 12! We had Lottie, Sharon, Lucy, Robyn and James. We introduced each other in the normal way for teenagers in a foreign country, and insults filled drinking game. To any other member of society this seems ludicrous however we really do enjoy it. During our stay in Penang we did experience some culture, including street Dragon Dances and the largest temple on the Malaysia west coast which was specially lite up for the celebrations, WoW! It was like someone had taken the lights of London and given them some actual personalty, beautiful.
Penang was rather important for me personally, it gave me a chance to have a look at myself. If there is ever a chance in your life to make a change for the better, then a year on the other side of the world is almost definitely the best one. I decided finally that it was time to stop blaming others for myself and do something about it, an epiphany sort of. It made me feel sort of free, like i could finally accomplish anything. Obviously this cannot be an overnight thing, however i do now feel like this is one of things i will really take away from my incredible opportunity in this amazing country.
I returned to school with a new found optimism. There were new clothes, better self care, new hair, a whole new look. Posture, attitude, opinions, outlooks even exercise and healthy eating, all changed. A grand plan indeed, one that will take months of hard work. It is already worth it though, everything i do does not feel a chore, simply something that makes me feel great about myself.
Language week was the next event on the school calender, which this year our school had the honour of hosting. A total of 12 school would come to Pasir Tumboh for the weekend and complete in Public Speaking, Spelling, Storytelling etc. This also included the volunteers from Kota Putra, Besut and Kuala Krai, the trusty northerners. Although is was great to see them, there was a small problem. Monopoly. Now we all know that Monopoly is famous for being able to break up family and couples in record time. now imagine 7 teenager playing, including one is is a rules maniac. It was chaos. The D-Day scene in Saving Private Ryan was more organized, there was more mess than in my sisters room. Mental. Even when someone suggested a break, daggers were thrown from all angles. The only way to stop the brutality was a trip to the new opened KFC down the road, although this was only temporary rest bite. Language week finished and James and I had the house back, or what was left of it.
Now at this point James and I had been without WiFi in the house for nearly two weeks, it was killer. We had read all the books, watched all my films (twice) and i had cleaned everything including the cleaning equipment. It was time for some entertainment. First came the darts bored, complete with patriotic UK darts. This was great, although since we are not beer bellied, football playing builders in the pub at 1 on a Sunday we did need some practice. Unfortunately for us men, this just wasn't enough, nothing is ever enough. Next came the Ping Pong. Now obviously we couldn't buy a full size table, ridiculous. I simply built one, old kitchen table, net and pegs, job done. Now this was it, the competitive aspect. The pay is still no stop, constant. Everyday the challenge is laid down, the testosterone surges round. The ball becomes and blur, the paddles a mere extension of our arms, flesh and bone. Forest Gump is an amateur compared to our Ping Pong skill. This however did leave little time for relaxing so i finally bent to James desire. We are now the owners of three of the cutest kittens you will ever see. There names? well we have Oreo, Mosquisia and Austina (guess who named the last two) We did have a mum called Zazzlez but she moved n the pursue a new husband as the kids call it. The kittens have however developed an unfortunate habit of attempting to bite our, well, you can guess. It is a rather painful experience with blood having been drawn more than once, ouch. We love them to bits though.
While all this was going on, preparation was underway for the next holiday of the year. A group of us were flying to the island of Bali in Indonesia. James had sadly decided not to accompany me, but that's nothing new, he likes doing his own thing. I traveled to KL and met with volunteers from all over Malaysia, not just from MRSM school but outward bound projects and other smaller teaching schools. Then BAM, plane delayed. Thanks Air Asia, thanks alot. We reached our hostel in Bali at 3:30 in the morning me having been up for over 40 hours at this point, including a night bus. Our first few days in Bali were rather standard, beach by day bar by night. Tried surfing for the first time, don't think I will be trying it again. It was all going to well, then my friend Matthew dislocated his shoulder. Now i would say i know the theory of putting a shoulder back into the socket, i however never actually want to have to do it. After a rather pain filled ambulance ride, the hospital was there. We were promptly told insurance first, treatment second. Matthew was quickly filled with morphine and I was left to sort the PR stuff. After 4 hours, finally it was done, the 6 million bits of paperwork were signed. Unfortunately the shoulder wouldn't go back in, so he had to go under local. Ill add that during this time we had both come straight from the beach. We quickly filled the entire hospital with sand and were wearing no shirts, shoes or underwear. Highlight of the place. The McDonald's on the way home did something to brighten the experience. After the beach we heading into the islands centre to climb Mt Batur, a famous active volcano. A 3am start was painful but the sunrise and beer on the top made it worth it, proper mountaineering. The guides then got rather upset with us when me and Matthew decided to Free run down the mountain. 3 hours to climb up, 20 minutes to get down. It was a wild ride. The rest of the time was spent in the small village of Ubud, know for being spiritual and traditional. We watched fire dancing and ate gorgeous vegetarian food. i had grilled Polenta with Lemongrass, Chili and Pesto with a side of homemade Houmous, Caramelized Onion and Ciabatta. This restaurant was beautiful however no one had mentioned to Dale it was vegetarian. He arrived, looked at the menu, turned to me and said 'were is the burger'. I nearly died of laughter.
The final night was spent back at the beach. Now this was our last night before having to return to our strictly Muslim projects. Everyone was planning a big one, carnage was inevitable. To my surprise, everything progressed very well, i discovered i have brilliant talents as a wing man and was having a brilliant end to the holiday. Unfortunately things went slightly downhill. After a finding a friend in some trouble I took it upon myself to help her home.When supporting someone on your arm, the last thing you need is an over-enthusiastic bracelet salesman. However this 'sale' then turned into an attempt to steal her purse. My rather considerable effort to retrieve the purse was successful, although there was a price. I may have been bottled in the knee. At this point i was more concerned for my friend, meaning helping her home was more important. I awoke the next morning to a bloody knee and the inability to walk. After a day of relaxing poolside i thought 'this isn't that bad'. I promptly passed and in the immigration que in Bali Airport and had to be wheel chaired through the rest of the airport to the plane, much to the enjoyment of my friend Holly who got the pleasure of pushing me. I was referenced as a 'human snow plow' more than once. After a painful and drug filled journey home to Kelantan, X-rays confirmed everything is OK, no lasting damage. The gossip when i returned to school however was unreal, i heard everything from car crash, to shark attack to sword fight. Kids huh. My story was i was helping a friend who needed me and I would do it for anyone. My trip to Bali was a roller coaster but one which i thoroughly enjoyed. we unfortunately managed to miss the annual Hindu day of silence where the entire island is silent. No ones does anything except stays indoors and thinks. Weird, wish the UK tried that sometime.
Oh also i forgot to mention, in the last 3 months i also turned 18. What a wild one it was, Irn Bru and a dinner with Muslim women, crazy stuff. Seriously however, thank you to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday and sent me things, the money especially for it was spent making memories. It is an important milestones, it means Mum and Dad can either put a tick or a cross in the 'did you rasie him well' box. I think they did a pretty good job.
The next events in the Pasir Tumboh calender are a visit from project Trust, James birthday, visits from both sets of parents and then potentially a trip to Vietnam. If that happens finally ill be able to say 'YOU WEREN'T THERE MAN, YOU WEREN'T IN NAM!!!!!' I am really looking forward to my last 4 months, seems scary that ts only that long, time has flown by. Hope you are enjoying my slightly unorthodox way of telling my story but i you all know i wouldn't do it any other way.
Oh P.S. as my parents keep telling me, yes the spelling is awful but realistically who has time for spelling. Cheers
