Malaysia Through Chris's Eyes

I would like to apologize for the extreme length in time that it took for me to put this up. The past month has been hectic, to say the least. I will be updating a country per night for the next 4 nights. Hope everyone is doing well.

Interesting Things While At Sea:
The first of April began like any other day at sea. We got up, went to Global Studies and waited for Dan Christie to begin his lullaby. However, we were greeted by the doctor on ship, Dr. Matt, looking completely worn out from a long night. He began by describing the trauma that he had experienced that night, a plague of Leprosy was taking over the ship. He described the symptoms and some important facts about the disease. One of the major symptoms was a softening of the cartilage. Students were to check each others ears to make sure that the quarantine worked. Fortunately, this was an outbreak that only occurred once every year, on the first of April.
The day was not yet over. There was still an amazing prank that had yet to be pulled. Dean Mike, the academic dean and also my father’s boss and I had plans. We set up the camera and organized the script of our April fool’s joke. He then went and got Joanne and Kevin from their room, saying that he needed to discuss something very important with them. They came into his office and saw me sitting there looking depressed. Dean Mike asked me if I wanted to stay in the office or wait outside as he told them the bad news. I decided to stay outside and walked out of the room. He then broke the news to them that I had been caught plagiarizing on my Anthropology paper. He talked about the various options that I had and the likelihood of me being sent home. They both fell for it hook, line and sinker and Dean Mike felt too bad, so he came out to get me. I went in the room and told them it was just an April fool’s joke. They were so flustered that it took them a couple seconds to realize that it was just a joke. My dad even felt like he would have a tough time teaching his next class because his heart was beating too fast. The best part is that we have it all on tape, so anyone who wants to see it will certainly get to.

Malaysia:
We arrived in Malaysia and tendered to shore at about 10. We then headed over to the hotel where Tyler was staying. It was the largest and most beautiful hotel room that I have ever seen. After visiting with them for a few minutes, we decided to have lunch at an Indian restaurant. The food was quite good and recalled fond memories of the last port. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to get our things and then off to the airport. We hopped on a Malaysia Airlines flight to Langkawi Island. After reaching cruising altitude the seat belt sign was turned off and drinks were handed out. About 5 minutes later, they announced preparations for landing in Langkawi. It was amazing. In the States, you can’t get a meal on a 5 hour flight and on a 20 minute Malaysian Airways flight you get a drink! Langkawi is a beautiful island off the coast of Malaysia. Upon arrival, we went to the Sheraton Hotel to get ourselves settled and ready for our very hectic next few days. After having dinner at a unique Malaysian restaurant in the commercial part of Langkawi, we went to bed. It was the longest night of sleep that I had in a few weeks and boy was it great.
The following morning we made our way to the beach and visited the pool. We had lunch at the pool and met with the Whitneys, whose son Tyson was also in town. We then headed to a roaring waterfall, which turned out to be more of a small creek. It looked as though it could have been a great waterfall if it was the rainy season, but luckily it was not that time of the year. We then went to dinner at an amazing mangrove swamp. It was a kilometer hike along a boardwalk to a beautiful wooden building. They served us tons of seafood and a lot of drinks. The food was great, the location was beautiful, and the company was fantastic.
The highlight of our stay in Langkawi, or should I say the most active thing that we did was play a volleyball game. The two families and a couple of Sheraton staff joined in 3 games of intense volleyball. It was a lot of fun because nobody was too competitive, but everybody was good enough to keep the ball up. After an intense match, we retired to the pool for some well earned drinks and lunch. We then checked out of the hotel and parted ways with the Whitneys. We headed to the ferry and boarded a small ferry boat that took us back to Penang. Tyler and his “fiancé” joined us on the ship for an ice cream cake reception. They discussed Teach for America with a few of the students and spent the night onboard with us.
The next morning we all woke up and ate breakfast with Archbishop Tutu and his wife. As is his usual custom, he praised the good work that Tyler and Sara are doing and shied away from discussing himself. It was a fantastic breakfast because Tyler and Sara got to see what a great man Archbishop Tutu is and how he views the world. It was a brief chance to meet him, but I think that breakfast will play a role in their lives for some time to come. After breakfast, we headed ashore and met with our driver, with whom Tyler had already arranged to meet. Our first stop was the spice garden. The spice garden had a great variety of plants that have changed the world, not just in eating habits, but also in trade, globalization, and modernization. It was really interesting to see all of these plants, which we eat almost everyday but rarely see. We had a unique lunch complete with very strong ginger and nutmeg drinks. They were not my favorite and left a bitter taste in the mouth. After lunch, we headed to the butterfly farm. This was an interesting display of all types of butterflies that are found throughout Asia. It also had many reptiles and beautiful plants. We had a brief stop off at Tyler and Sara’s luxurious hotel and then headed off to the airport. Unfortunately, we had to say farewell to Tyler and Sara. It was great to see and spend time with both of them. One of the major things that I have discovered on this voyage is that family and friends may be the most important thing in a person’s life. We then headed back to the ship, where Alex, Alissa and Kevin boarded the ship. Joanne and I decided that we did not want to get back on the ship that quickly and did our best to spend the last of our Malaysian Ringgits. Unfortunately, and quite amazingly, there was nothing but a cheap harmonica that grabbed our attention. We changed our money left over money into Vietnamese Dong and headed back to the ship and set sail for Vietnam. Stay tuned, Vietnam will be up tomorrow.

Things I’ve Learned In Malaysia:
-The British really did rule everything.
-A roaring waterfall to one person may be a small trickle to another.
-It can be considered a major accomplishment to play a volleyball game.
-Club sandwiches in Malaysia are just as good as club sandwiches in the States.
-Hunger has changed the course of human history.
-It is nice to have the entire family together.