Cameron Highlands: Tea, Strawberries, and a FREEZING Breeze

On to the Cameron Highlands!

Our stay in the Cameron Highlands was short and sweet. We wanted to get away from the big city and experience a little of Malaysia's countryside and get a breathe of fresh air.  We came to the right place!

Number 8:  We arrived in the Cameron Highlands from Kuala Lumpur and were able to find a hostel recruiting guests at the bus stop.  After being welcomed with a cool air breeze, we took Lonely Planets advice and hopped in a van to take us to a guesthouse only to find that it was full.  The driver said he'd take us to their "other" new guesthouse to see if it had rooms available, we were a little hesitant because often drivers receive a payment for bringing guests to the guesthouses so they tend to only have their best interest in mind rather than being a nice, friendly, helpful guy.  We showed up at "Number 8 Guesthouse" which seemed to be all under construction during the day and threw our stuff into a dorm room.  The price was right but we quickly realized it was a bit of a shady situation.. our hostel was down a dark dirt road, no locks on our room door, no key, no safety box for our passport, and we seemed to be the only guests there.  We were in such a time crunch because we were trying to make a countryside tour that leaves in five minutes, so we left our big bags, brought our valuables, and ran down the street to the travel agency to make the tour.  Since we hadn't paid any money yet, our plan was to check out a few hostels down the road on the way back from the tour and sneak out of "Number 8", but all were full so we settled on what we had.  Turns out, we weren't the only people staying there, just the only western ones! **Nothing got stolen and we were fine and I don't think this place was as shady as we originally thought.. it was VERY clean!  Reggae Mansion in KL spoiled us**

Butterflies, strawberries, and tea.. oh my!: Our country side tour was a good and quick way to see the main sights around the Cameron Highlands.  We had a guide and were loaded us into a janky van with three other couples.  Very couple-y tour.. actually, we came across many couples while traveling Malaysia, we were one of the few only girl duos that we saw!  Go us!  On the tour, we were taken to a butterfly farm (which included a section of other huge rain forest bugs), tea plantation, strawberry farm, Buddhist Temple, street market, honey bee farm, and flower garden.  We had time to admire the rolling hills, sip tea, dig in on chocolate covered strawberries (as well as strawberry shakes), taste honey, and see the most vibrant colored flowers I've ever seen.  

Aloo Gooooobi: Its not a post about somewhere in Malaysia unless I mention what we ate!  Well, at dinner time Fiona and I ventured out to the one main road to find something tasty for dinner.  As the sun went down, the temperature dropped only a few degrees, probably into the mid 60s, and I was CHILLY!  Keep in mind, I have been living in Thailand, probably the heat and humidity capital of the world!  This was the coldest weather I have felt in the past year! I had on my leggings under my jeans and my sweatshirt (which luckily I threw in my bag as I was running out the door in Khon Kaen) with my hood up.  At that moment, I wished I had mittens, UGG boots, and a snow hat to warm me up! To others, the coolness was probably a refreshing change from the heat but I was barely functional.. shivering and shaking our entire walk to dinner.  We found an Indian place to get food and I think this was our best Indian of the trip! Fiona taught me that I LOVE Aloo Gobi, a dish made of potatoes, cauliflower, and Indian spices,  and Chana Masala, a chickpea dish, so thats what I ordered every time we got Indian.  I think Indian may be the Mexican food of Asia for me!

Although it was very touristy, the Cameron Highlands was a nice break from the city!  If it were a little warmer, I probably could have stayed longer.

Nummy chocolate covered strawberries!

Looks like a leaf.. its a bug!

Kuala Lumpur!

Next stop.. Kuala Lumpur!

I was a little nervous for the Malaysia part of the trip, I didn't know much about Malaysia and before I bought my Lonely Planet I didn't even know that they were a Muslim country.  Me being my picky-eater self, I also had NO idea what they ate in Malaysia and couldn't help but be wary as we crossed the border, which by the way Singapore into Malaysia by bus was the smoothest/easiest/friendliest border crossing I've ever experienced!  We decided to head to Kuala Lumpur, the capital, as our first stop in Malaysia.  

Reggae Mansion: We scoped out hostelworld.com before our arrival and narrowed our hostel options down to two and decided we'd make home base at whichever one was easier to find.  Luckily after taking the metro and walking the streets of Chinatown, we came across the amazing Reggae Mansion!  I think staying here was one of the decisions we made on the trip.  Reggae Mansion is a brand spanking new hostel in the heart of Chinatown, its only two months old and is unlike any hostel I've ever laid eyes on.  Fiona and I stayed in a 24 person room but the beds were built into the wall and each one had its own under-storage and privacy curtain.  The rooms were ACed, clean, and very comfortable.  The hostel even has a restaurant, cinema, and rooftop bar! They are in the process of building a large rooftop jacuzzi and I may need to go back to KL in the future just to check out.  The thing I liked the most about the hostel was they held activities every evening to get guests mingling with one another.  Tequila Thursdays as well as a club crawl!  On Wednesday night, they loaded everyone in the hostel van and took us down to experience the Malay club scene in another part of town. Sure was fun!

Food: I have to say, Kuala Lumpur opened my eyes to a new world of food!  I had tried Indian food in Singapore, and Fiona and I made it our mission to get to Little India in KL to get more legit Indian food.  After walking the streets in the pouring rain, ducking cover under old building ledges and gazebos in front of mosques to avoid being completely drenched, and getting lost and being redirected by the Mormon Missionaries, we found a little hole in the wall place to grab a bite.  The food was delicious but the atmosphere was interesting.  Fiona was strategic about the table we sat at to be sure we didn't over step our female boundaries (not picking the center of the room table) and we weren't too sure if other customers gave us unwelcoming looks because of our western-ness or if we were doing something wrong.  Either way, the food was good and we left with happy tummies.  That night, I tried SUSHI for the first time! And I enjoyed most of it! Okay, I tended to stay away from the super fishy ones, but I did try and like fish balls.  After, we knew we had to try a traditional Malay dessert so I chose to order the "ABC", a cup of shaved ice with flavoring as well as numerous other toppings, like red beans, creamy sweet corn, peanuts, jellys, and pine nuts.  Interesting combination and I probably wouldn't order it again. Who ever thought I'd be so adventurous.. Indian, sushi, and mystery dessert all in one day!

 Sights: Along with becoming familiar with the surrounding food stalls, shopping streets, bars/clubs,  we did visit a few sights around Kuala Lumpur! One day, Fiona and I did our very own walking tour of historical KL, hiding from the rain in the historical museum and racing past city hall.  We visited the Petronas Towers one night, the huge landmark of KL and the tallest twin buildings in the world.  We went to a mosque and were instructed to put on the body robe and head veil provided.  We went to a ten story shopping mall that was fully equiped with a Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Baskin Robbins, Bowling Alley, and Theme Park!  Lastly, we went to the Batu Caves and climbed up 200 steps to see a temple that was built inside a cave as well as the huge Hindu shrine out front.

We enjoyed KL so much (probably the Reggae Mansion even more) and extended our stay, making our time in KL four days.  I was pleasantly surprised by what KL had to offer and wouldn't mind going back again!

Batu Caves

Reggae Mansion Rooftop Bar

Singapore!

I'm back from my trip and I had an AMAZING time! I made it to seven cities, three islands (four if you count Singapore), and three countries! 

First stop... SINGAPORE!

My overnight bus from Khon Kaen to Bangkok went very smoothly and I made it to BKK bright and early and had more than enough time to make it to the airport as well as Subway to grab a sandwich to hold me over for breakfast and lunch.  My JetStar flight went very well, I slept for the entire two hours of the flight, and landed in Singapore late afternoon.  Fiona's flight from Australia was delayed a few hours so I waited in our meeting spot in baggage claim until she arrived. A bit jet lagged but still excited for her first trip in Asia, Fiona arrived safely and I was SO happy to see her I was nearly brought to tears.  After we got Fiona's backpack, we grabbed a cab and headed to our hostel "Pillows and Toast" in Chinatown.  We grabbed some cheap noodles for dinner and had an early night since we were both exhausted from our full days of traveling.

Fiona and I had planned to only spend one full day and two nights in Singapore because its a very expensive city.  Fiona coming from using the Australian dollars for a month was more use to high prices, but I on the other hand have lived on Thai baht for a year and found the prices for food, accommodation, and transportation outrageous.  So we made sure that our one day in Singapore was jam-packed!  We had free breakfast at our hostel, toast, and even made some sandwiches to have on-the-go later in the day. Armed with our maps and Lonely Planet, we quickly learned how to maneuver our way around town using the MRT.  We spent the day running around Little India exploring temples, Chinatown checking out the market, and went on an expedition to find the Henderson Wave Bridge.  We made a special stop at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple which not only had an entire floor dedicated to teaching visitors about the history and life of Buddha, but it also houses what is believed to be the sacred tooth of the Buddha.  **Sidenote: Did you know Buddha was conceived by a white elephant holding a lotus flower in its trunk entering his mothers womb? And that at birth, Buddha took seven steps in each of the four directions (East, South, West and North) and that lotus flowers appeared with every step? Learning something new every day..**  

That evening, we found ourselves being the only westerns exploring a Chinese food court where all eyes were on us, and ultimately decided on getting some Indian food from a different street.. the first time I've EVER had Indian food and I loved it!  I didn't know what any of the dishes were but I told the man I just wanted veggie dishes and not spicy and he handed me a plate.  After, we took a good look at the night life around Clarke Quay right on the Singapore River.  So turned off by the high price for drinks (around 15 US dollars which is nearly 500 Thai baht!), we decided to slightly splurge for ice cream instead.. chocolate ice cream with cookie dough, the first time I've had cookie dough in a year! Back home, cookie dough is probably one of my five basic food groups!  We had our bus tickets booked to head to Kuala Lumpur early the next morning and after scoping out the various restaurants, bars, light up fountains, the reverse bungee ride, and city lights that the area has to offer, we walked back to Pillows and Toast so we were rested up for Malaysia! 

Singapore was never too high on my list of places to go while I was in Thailand, but when I began brainstorming on ideas of where to go for this break, I figured since Singapore doesn't require a visa fee and it was convenient to fly to, I may as well make the stop!  After I bought my Singapore and Malaysia Lonely Planet and began looking into things to do, I was SO excited to visit Singapore!  Its an extremely unique place; one degree above the equator, Singapore is a country and city all on one island! Singapore's first language is English but is a place where so many different cultures come together. What I was most excited for though was that Singapore is a first world country! That means clean, no stray dogs, clean drinking water from faucets, trash in trashcans instead of in the streets.. everything I miss about living in a first world country!  Singapore even goes as far as to fine those who bring chewing gum into the country as well as those who jaywalk.  Good food, beautiful city, lots to do (including Sentosa Island which has a Wave House and Universal Studios, if we were ballers we would have gone there), (minus its SO expensive), I loved Singapore!

Henderson Wave Bridge

Little India

Fantastic Friday: ANNND I'M OFF!

Nearly 12 months ago, I boarded a plane at LAX bound for Bangkok.  When we stepped foot off the plane onto Thai soil, I looked at Jenna and said “well, there’s not turning back now!”  A year later, I never guessed that I would still be here! Both Jenna and Jess are sticking to the original plan and making their way back home to America in October.  I sometimes second guess myself if I’m making the right decision to stay, but I know in my heart of hearts that I am. I know next semester may be more of a struggle since my best friends in Thailand, especially Jess, will be home in America but second semester is full of many breaks and long weekends, giving me lots of travel opportunities.  And the past year just FLEW by, five more months is a piece of cake.. hopefully.  :)

Three good things

Not my fruit lady but it looks exactly like this!

• Every day at lunch, Jess and I walk out the main road to 7/11 where our fruit stand lady is posted.  For 30 cents, I can buy a large chunk of pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe, guava, and watermelon!  I’ve realized that the fruit isn’t as spectacular during the rainy season (now) as it was a few months ago, but this week its been pretty tasty! I tend to go through phases, where I LOVE pineapple and get it every day. Now I’m in my watermelon phase, SO delicious! I can make my very own fruit salad for a dollar!

• Along with OCOP this week, we had an end of the semester party today!  My Friday of teaching today was SUPER easy, we played on the playground instead of morning calendar, ate snacks instead of teaching theme, and watched up instead of math or science.  If only my days were like this everyday!

• In a few hours, I will be boarding my bus from Khon Kaen to Bangkok! Then around noon tomorrow, I should be on my way to Singapore! Fiona and I have plans to meet at the airport as her flight arrives only 30 minutes after mine. We have our hostel booked and a vague plan for Malaysia.  I’m SO excited to see her and SO excited to start two weeks of traveling! I'm still not finished packing and cleaning up my messy room so I better get to it!

I’ll be sure to share my adventures when I return mid October! Singapore and Malaysia, here I come! 

PS Farewell to Jess and Jenna!!! I can't wait to see you both when I come home!! (I'm already making an East Coast trip plan and spending time with Jess and visiting Amish country is on the top of the list!)

Last week of the semester!

A little early for a "Fantastic Friday" but this is a busy week with a lot going on!

It took us eleven months, but Jess and I finally made it to the Khon Kaen city temple!  Last weekend was our last weekend together, so we figured it was now or never!  We walked an hour, climbed many flights of stairs, and made it to the top of the nine tier temple overlooking Khon Kaen! It was really fun to check out a new part of Khon Kaen that we've never explored before, we felt like we were traveling!  Jess and I have talked about going to the temple for months now, so we both felt very accomplished that we actually made it there. 

On Saturday night, some of the foreign teachers got together to have a sandwich party to hangout with Jess before she leaves Thailand.  The sandwiches were DELICIOUS and one of the teachers even made a bean dip with cheese!  Another teacher put together a homemade apple pie! It was the most delicious farang meal I've had in months! I LOVE CHEESE!

Today at school, we had "OCOP", or "One Class, One Product". Each class in the Kindergarten created a product to sell at the arts and crafts fair! I spent all week coaching two of my kids, Lemon and August, a sales pitch in English to present our product, the "fancy ruler".  Not only did OCOP mean I had to teach less today (wahoo!), it was fun to see the kids proud of themselves for the crafts they created and enjoy shopping at the other booths.  Lemon and August ROCKED their lines, they marched up on stage and were the only students that didn't need a teacher up with them feeding them lines, and they both spoke very loud and clear into the microphone! I'm so proud!  We sold out of our product very quickly and made a profit of 500 baht! We'll spend the money on snacks for the end of the semester party on Friday.


This week seems a bit longer than normal, but thats because I'm counting down the days until my trip.. 3 days!! :)

Fantastic Friday: Bugs and Hugs

Finally, the end of the week and another "Fantastic Friday"!

• On Monday after I tutored at Central Plaza, I went to the ground floor to do a little grocery shopping for the week.  As I walked by the small arcade in front of "Tops", the grocery store", I heard a small voice squeal "TEACHER CHELSEA!!"  I then see little Lyching, the smallest child (by far) in my class barreling into my legs to give me a mighty hug.  Most of my kids that I run into out of school are usually very shy and avoid saying "Hello Teacher Chelsea" like they are avoiding the plague.  Or maybe they think the same thing that I did when I was a child, my mom reminded me how I was shocked as a kid when i ran into a teacher at the grocery store or Blockbuster, "teachers arn't real people.. they sleep at school, right?!"  Well, little Lyching made my day and talked all week about how she saw Teacher Chelsea at Centran.  She's one of my favs.

• On Sunday afternoon, Tan's mom drops him off at my apartment where we have an hour and a half of special class.  I typically have some worksheets and games prepared to practice his conversational English.  If we have time, I'll end the last 15 minutes or so with a fun video that we can talk about, like "Planet Earth"!  Recently, Tan has been getting caught up with some of the "naughty" boys in the first grade at school.. it just so happens that this group of naughty boys were the very same boys that were in my KG 3 class last semester, they knew how to push my buttons!  But Tan always behaves very well in Special Class with me, and I actually look forward to our time together on Sundays.  He's a jokester and seriously cracks me up!

Looking thrilled

"Chelsea, you know what we have to do before we leave Thailand, right?" Jess asked me.
*long pause* "Uh oh, What?"
"EAT BUGS AT THE NIGHT MARKET!".     

• I desperately tried to chicken out but after Jess and I had some pad thai at the night market last weekend, she purchased a small bag or grasshoppers for us to try.  Its true, she leaves Thailand in just about a week and our experience wouldn't be complete without willingly eating a bug or two, an ant or fly in our soup doesn't count.  Armed with our camera to take video to prove we did it, we each ate a grasshopper.  I have to say, it was crunchy and tasted similar to a potato chip, minus this had legs and antennas.  Not as bad as I thought, but i wouldn't do it again.  Not too intimidating in the picture, but considering how picky I am, this was huge for me!  Jess and I can now leave Thailand prepared to be on an episode of "Fear Factor".

HAPPY FRIDAY! :)

Welcome to "Fantastic Fridays"!

In order to encourage myself into a weekly blogging routine, I decide to start  “Fantastic Fridays!” where I’ll share with you some of the good things that happened to me throughout my week. My inspiration? While I was the TA for the Wellness (ED 191 W) class at UCSB, which focused on being balanced, positive, and proactive as well as other life skills that enhance well-being, we often referred to the article Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions.  The authors focus on three psychological interventions that increase individual happiness and decrease depressive symptoms. 

Which brings me to, the “three good things in life” journal!  As instructed in the study, I have been trying to keep a three good things journal for months and months, and finally I’ve been sticking to it!  Every night before I go to bed, I write down three good things that happened to me each day and a brief explanation/ cause of each.  Awesome things are happening to me all the time, everyday, even in between the bad and stressful things that happen.  It’s easy to ruminate on the things that didn’t go well (got my blood taken at the hospital today due to new work permit regulations.. I HATE needles!  Kids were running amok, Thai people staring/glaring on our morning ride to school); we are usually much more unpracticed at remembering the good things and savoring them.  So I’m changing that about myself!  The study shows that keeping a gratitude journal can increase happiness,  and also shows that people who kept the journals felt better about their lives and are more optimistic as well as make progress towards important personal goals.  With that said, why not keep a three good things journal!  And why not share some of my weekly highlights in Thailand with you! 

Interested in the other two interventions? 

• Writing a gratitude letter/gratitude visit: write a letter to express gratitude to someone who has done something important and wonderful for you, yet who you have not been able to properly thank.  Then, deliver the letter personally and spend time with the person talking about what your wrote.

• Using Signature Strengths: Take the test on VIA Signature Strengths to identify your signature strengths.   Using your top strength in a new and different way every day for a week has shown may make people lastingly happier.

Okay okay, on to the good things!

•  Last weekend, a group of kids performed in competition at the small mall next to my apartment, Saturday was the tug-of-war and Sunday was the cheerleading competition! I was able to run over there and see my kids wave their pom poms to Madonas “Like a Virgin” and the popular club song “Boom Shake Drop” by Pitbull. They did amazingly and it honestly brought tears to my eyes, I was SO proud of them! They ended up getting third place overall and won 3000 baht (almost 100 dollars). Watch the video and see for yourself what my five year olds can do after skipping class every afternoon for a week to practice.

• When I first arrived in Thailand, I had a really hard time with the food. I was very stubborn and Jess basically had to order food for me and force feed me.  Well, that is definitely not the case anymore because I’ve discovered what I like! I’ve been trying to cook in my room more often and have attempted to cut out meat from my diet, so I now cook tofu! I also try to not use dairy, so I use soy milk!  The meat and milk here really weird me out.  BUT here is one of my favorite dishes, Som Tam!  It’s a Thai spicy salad made from unripened papaya, tomato, lime, peanuts, fish sauce, and plum sugar. This is one of my favorite Thai dishes, I get it every Monday after tutoring at the mall and Jess and I learned how to make it at our Chiang Mai cooking course. My som tam this week was especially delicious!  Free of dried crustaceans and no spicy pepper, just the way I like it.

Fiona and I in our IV days!

• In about two weeks, I have two weeks off of school and I have had a solo trip through Malaysia and Singapore planned. I was really looking forward to traveling completely solo for a few weeks for the first time (expecting a mini "Eat, Pray, Love" adventure, yada yada), but I just got word that I have a friend joining me!  Another one of my Gaucho friends, Fiona, is spending some time in Australia traveling and visiting family before she starts grad school in January.  Her Aussie roadtrip ends just about the time that my semester break starts, so the timing is perfect!  She’s going to fly from Australia and meet me in Singapore, then fly back with me to Thailand after Malaysia where we will meet up with another Gaucho friend for a few days!  Fiona is so awesome and I know she’ll be the perfect travel buddy.  I’m MUCH more excited for this trip now, traveling solo is cool but traveling with a friend is even more fun!  (Mom is also really relived that I wouldn’t be running around Malaysia solo for two weeks anymore.  If it had been the original plan, I bet she’d be sitting at the computer white-knuckled for two weeks!) Its Fiona’s first time traveling SE Asia and I expect us to have an amazing adventure!

•  These kids are always making my day

TGIF!

Countdown until October break: 14 days!!