Magnificant Malaysia

Malaysia is a unique country, filled with a variety of ethnic backgrounds, religions, and geographical layouts.  Unfortunately, we indulged in only one of those many topographical layouts- the metropolitan.  Although, I felt somewhat removed from the city life, despite the tall buildings and the city buses bustling through the streets.

Within an hour or so of exploring the metropolis it became quite apparent- Kuala Lumpur is GREEN.  Not surprising for a city whose country owns the world’s oldest rainforest.  But seriously, there were vines, and flowers, and trees up shooting from every corner and decrepit building.  It was beautifully magnificent- how a country can show its true blend of colors through incorporating and meshing tropical rain forest with city life.

Flowers scattered the streets.

Palm trees outside a mosque in city center.

Following a sweaty walk through town, we headed back to our hotel for our long anticipated reunion with Kate (see “See You Later, Alligator). With a mixture of exhaustion and stupidity…

(Side notes: On the overnight flight down to KL, Brandon immediately passed out.  I, being a caring girlfriend, gave him one of my 2 precious Benadryl- I promise I’m not addicted, only on overnight flights- and watched him sleep peacefully for the first hour, upon which time I passed out dutifully, and upon which time he disobediently awoke to gape at his sleeping beauty for the following 5 hours.  Side note 2- we didn’t set our watches back upon arrival in Malaysia, so after 2 anxious hours of waiting for Kate, we were determine that she had missed her flight, something that we wouldn’t put passed her)

Diversity.

…we headed to the pool for some R&R, only to be greeted by a group of Malaysian male models posing fully clothed in the hotel pool.  Somethings in life we may never understand.  Needless to say, cracking jokes and admiring the flamboyant-ness of their coach encouraged the time to fly.  And Kate came!!!

Fully clothed... not exactly models.

We sat, bright eyed and bushy tailed, through story after story of Kate’s Asian adventures- from crazy Vietnamese tailors, to 30 hour bus rides, to falling for her dive instructor- anticipating what was to come.  But of course we didn’t want to waste our precious time, as we had memories to make.  So we headed out and made our way to Little India.  After exploring and a few purchases of make-up, hiking pants, and a purse we were ready to pursue China Town- the largest market in KL.

Flagging down a taxi, we hoped in and announced our destination, only to get dropped by the SAME market that we just left.  Worthless.  Nonetheless, we made it to China Town, decorated in colors and knock-off goods.  A few purchases and a light dinner later, it was time to call it a night.  A hard learned lesson- in KL, alcohol is disgustingly expensive, especially when compared to other goods and the prices in beach towns (knowledge base contributed by the seasoned traveler, Kate, who had just spent a week on the beaches of Malaysia’s west coast).

With a full day ahead we took on local transportation and made it to the Batu Caves, learning that it IS in fact possible to enter another country without crossing a border and a passport stamp.  Whatever that Little India market brought the night before was soon to be erased from our minds.  THIS was Little India.  Lit-er-ally thought I was in India.

Batu Caves!

Between the trash scattering the street, the Hindu attire (this was a Hindu shrine so this was expected), the orange painted, bald heads, our minds were in India.  Oh and somehow when 2 blonde chicks, accompanied by a wondering, amateur photographer, visit the Batu Caves they immediately become celebrities, which in photos translates to a lesbian couple with millions of adopted children.

First set of adopted children.

Second set of adopted children.

But nevertheless, it was a very different experience.  The worshiping, praying to hundreds of burning candles, throwing unknown objects into fire pits, walking up hundreds of steps on your knees, touching the first step before climbing, drinking fresh coconut milk, kissing elders feet, will forever be ingrained in our memories of India Malaysia.

Old lady blessing others.  Some even kissed her feet.

Walking up hundreds of steps on his knees.

"Praying."  Actually paying more attention to the foreigners.

Refreshing coconut.

Minus the passport stamp, I’ve been to India.

So in a 15 minute taxi ride we made it back to Malaysia and in time for dinner.  Over our Malaysian dinner we began craving another country- Singapore, a mere 5 hour bus trip away.  Kate, having visited all SE Asian countries, with the exception of Singapore and Indonesia started engraving the idea in our brains.  Having almost all of KL marked off, why not?!

So the research began.  A 5 hour bus trip turned into a 6.5 hour bus trip, which turned into an hour plane flight.  Or at least the idea of an hour plane flight.  If you recall back to the FFF on Malaysia, I noted that less than 0.83% of Malaysians use the internet.  Let me be the first to confirm this fact.  Without the internet, its kinda hard to purchase a last minute plane flight to Singapore.  So we searched.  We went left, and right, and back left.  No computers!  Let alone the internet (which we had to explain to some people).  Strike out.  And the idea floats awayyy…

At the National Mosque.  Really amazing and beautiful.

Petronas Towers from the Menera Tower.

Perfecting the jump shot.  Singapore here we come!

Realizing to live in the moment, we headed over to the Menara Towers, which overlook the largest twin towers in the world, the KL Petronas Towers.  After a few snapshots we noticed a few Koreans and decided to play mind games and began speaking Korean amongst ourselves.  Noticing a few blondes speaking Korean sparked a conversation, a conversation which led to the idea of stealing the internet from the Apple store in the local mall.

Cha-ching.  After splitting, reconvening, and avoiding an awkward computer salesman whom I had to convince that I wasn’t American-Korean (some people…), we decided $100 was well worth the 18 hours we could allot ourselves in Singapore.  But yikes, the mall was closing. So we purchased our tickets stealing the internet from a closed computer store at 10pm for a flight to Singapore at 6am.  Good night Malaysia, hello spontaneity.

FFF(23)- Pyeongtaek Port

An international center all over the boards, the Pyeongtaek Port is one heck of a worldly city.  After the international port was built and opened in 1986, this city began to make its mark in Korea.

Not only is Pyeongtaek Port located just west of Camp Humphreys (the Army base in which Brandon is stationed), but it is also home to some of our (U.S.) seamen.  Furthermore, PT Port is Korea’s closest port to China, a mere 350 kilometers from China’s mainland (good thing Korea’s on good terms with China! Whew!). 

Although this area “apparently” (and I use that in quotations because my lack of blogging has lead me to already knowing this information) has a rather urban feeling, the government is working towards making the city an environmentally-friendly and aesthetically pleasing city, especially as the port is striving to become a leading center for trading within Northeast Asia.

Regardless of how the port looks, I’ll be looking for some Chinese goodies!

**Note:  Having written this long after I should have, I’ve decided to report “back”.  The city is actually already quiet appealing, with parks and art shows left and right.  A number of families bring their adorable Korean babies out to enjoy the land and the harbor.  And no, I didn’t happen to find any Chinese goodies.  It seemed as if there was an abundance of automobile goods that were being imported and exported on our Sunday stroll.  But good thing we're nearby, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on our Sunday outing and we’ll be returning, especially since Black Betty rolled just fine!

WWW (18) Park and Port

First, let me apologize for the delay.  I promise I will make up for all of the long lost WWWs and FFFs that I’ve failed to produce over the past 3 weeks.  School just started and things are crazy.  Yes, I’m making excuses.

Now let’s get back to business.  We’ve got lots of Korean to learn.  And let’s just pretend I wrote these on time and I’ll be talking in the present/future tense.  No need to remind everyone that I was lazy to busy to write.

Living so close to the Pyeongtaek Port, it seems as if it would have been a sin if we hadn’t checked it out once before our time in Korea dwindled to an end.  With a relatively warm Saturday approaching(nothing compared to the Elon springs, but for a Korean “spring”), we’ve vowed to get out of the house and not let another lazy Saturday roast in the warmth of the heat lamp, so to Pyeongtaek Port we’ll go!

Now PT port isn’t far, but it isn’t a bus ride away either, so Black Betty (Brandon’s ’96 Daewoo Prince) it is.  We’re really not keen to taking her out for more than 45 minutes, as she’ll probably breakdown and leave us on the side of a Korean highway with limited Korean.  Not so fun.  But Black Betty will make it to PT Port… hopefully! 

And although directions are good, it’s always important to be able to read the street signs.  The two most important Korean words for this Saturday are “port” and “park”.

Korean: 공원

Korean Pronunciation: gong won

English Meaning: Park

Korean: 항

Korean Pronunciation: hang (long a)

English Meaning: Port

Hopefully we’ll make it there safely!

FFF (22)- Is this an emergency?

As most of you have probably already caught wind (seeing as how I like to notify everyone when I’m suffering), I caught a pretty nasty disease in Vietnam.  After a trip to the international clinic, $175, and a handful of meds later, I still had that damn disease.

If I have any medical advice for anyone in the States, it’s to finish ALL your meds.  You know when you’re doctor prescribes you 10 days of antibiotics for a simple cold and after day 5 you start complaining, wondering why you have to down pills for 5 more days after your cold has “passed”?  And then you wonder why a week later you somehow get another cold, twice as bad as the first?  I’ll promise you it wasn’t that snotty child hugging all over you.  If you would have just taken those extra 5 days of goodies, then you could have avoided the pain.  Literally.

Quick biology lesson- During those first 5 days of antibiotics, the weak bacteria are slowly being knocked off.  Your body begins to feel a little better because most of those little buggers have burst and passed through your system.  But those few tough guys are still hanging around.  In those latter 5 days, the antibiotics would have (typically) killed off any strong bacteria.  So when quitting halfway through the strong bacteria have time to multiple and begin taking over your body twice as bad the weaklings that your first 5 day supply killed off.

Being a part of the complaining party, I decided not to question the Vietnamese doctor when he provided a 5 day antibiotic prescription.  Not to mention, I didn’t want to be a rude guest of his country.

A mere one day following my last dose of antibiotics, I began having a fever, chills, muscle weakness, and excessive fatigue.  After calling in sick and sleeping until 2pm, I awoke with abdominal pain, followed by extreme diarrhea.  It literally hit me twice as bad as the first round.

I was so dehydrated when Brandon returned from work (in a 5 hour period since the diarrhea began) that walking was impractical, fainting a viable possibility with every movement, and speaking nonexistent.  Carrying me down four flights of stairs, into the car, and into the hospital Brandon got in his workout for the day and I began to see the light of hope…

Until I learned the ins and outs of Korean응급실.  Following blood tests, X-rays, IV antibiotics and fluids, the doctor said he could give me a one day prescription.  Excuse me?  A FIVE day prescription didn’t take care of these bad boys, what do you expect a ONE day prescription to do?

Well then he rudely informed us that he was only a 응급실 doctor and that I would have to come back tomorrow to see another doctor.  Severely frustrated from his tone and the lack of understanding of the Korean healthcare system, we were saved by a Korean-American soldier who saw the irritation and decided to lend a hand.

But from his translation, the only thing that I remember (and for valid reason) was:
“Is this an emergency?  If this is a real emergency, then why didn’t you go to Seoul?”

WHATTTT?!  Well to answer your first question, I’m in the emergency room.  To answer your second question, I would have died of dehydration on the 2 hour trip up to Seoul.

So the 응급실 in Korea is slightly different than the 응급실 in the States.

Going out the 응급실 the same way that I went in- draped over Brandon’s arms- I vowed to never go to the Korean 응급실 after 6pm, upon which time it basically shuts down.

To quickly wrap up the story up, 2 visits to the internal medicine doctor between the hours of 9am and 6pm, and 10 more days of prescription later, I think I’ve finally kicked this thing.

Lessons learned:
응급실 Doctors are grumpy
The 병원 shuts down after 6pm
응급실 are much more expensive than seeing a doctor between the hours 9-6
A 응급실 is not really for emergencies
Take antibiotics for the full 10 days and question any doctor that tries to give you less

WWW (17)- Hospital

Hospital- a term that I learned pretty early on in my Korean career, not due to illness, but attributable to the fact that Kate lived next to the now nonexistent Jamsil Hospital and Nolan lived IN an abandoned hospital.  But unfortunately, what’s another passing year without a trip to the hospital?!

Korean: 병원
Korean Pronunciation: Pyeong won
English Meaning:  Hospital

Korean: 응급실
Korean Pronunciation: Ung gup shil
English Meaning: Emergency Room

Korean: 여기가 아파요
Korean Pronunciation:  Yogi ga a pa yo
English Meaning: It hurts here.

If possible, avoid the응급실… read this week’s FFF to understand.

FFF (21)- We're Going Streaking!!!!

If you haven’t caught on already from the overly exploited Old School movie quote, following graduation, Korean students like to go streaking.  For you old folk out there, this constitutes taking all (or nearly all) your clothes off and running through public streets.  And like in the U.S., this is illegal in Korea.

But why streak through the streets following graduation?  Yeah it might seem like an attempt for attention or just a way of expressing one’s elated state.  However, there’s a simple explanation for the disrobing: All Korean students are required to wear a uniform, specific to each school.

Following the졸업 ceremony, students have the freedom to do whatever they wish with their uniforms.  Some pass them on to siblings, some put them away in a drawer as memorabilia, others decide to publicly rip them off their bodies and express their freedom.  To each their own.

Now I’m not giving them high-fives for this, but I do think it’s pretty freaking hilarious.  Aside from the completely butt-naked streakers, I say let them run around in their skivvies.  Free will!  Underwear is just as revealing, if not more, than bathing suits.  And if they’re valiant enough to nakedly run haphazardly through the iced streets of South Korea, then props to them.  I have a hard enough time handling the cold with 4 layers on.  You go girlfriend/boyfriend!!

Anyway, I came across this fact as my teacher geared up, shortly following graduation, with five fellow teachers to patrol the streets of Songtan, South Korea, insuring that none of my little babies are half naked.  When first hearing this news I was literally shocked and asked her to repeat, making sure nothing got lost in translation.

But then I realized, I teach hormone driven teenagers, who will do anything to feel rebellious.  Luckily, no Jangdang Middle School students were found exposed post-graduation, otherwise that could make for a really awkward situation for both teacher and student.

Here’s the sole (no pun intended) English article that I found on the subject.  She explained that students partook in this last year up in Seoul, so it seems that this article missed out on a few naked bodies.  Enjoy!

Last Year's Streakers 

WWW (16)- Graduation

In light of my 3rd graders moving on to high school, here's a few graduation words:

Korean: 졸업
Korean Pronunciation: jol awp
English Meaning: Graduation

Korean:축하 해요
Korean Pronunciation: jook ha hae yo
English Meaning: Congratulations

Korean: 행운을 빌어요
Korean Pronunciation:  haeng oon uhl bil aw yo
English Meaning:  Good luck!

Unfortunately, I was unable to actually observe graduation, so this week's Fun Fact will not indeed compare and contrast American and Korean commencement.  But I do promise that it will contain facts that are a bit more intriguing...

FFF (20)- Vietnam

Tall and skinny like a Pepero!

General Vietnam Facts

Vietnam is tall and skinny- 1,031 miles long and only 31 miles across as some points.

The currency of Vietnam is the "Dong"- my children would love this fact.

At about 60%, the most common family name in Vietnam is Nguyen.

Vietnamese eat rice more than any country in the world- I find this tantilizing as I already think Koreans eat an abundance of rice.

Instead of greeting each other with a "Hello", they often say "Where are you going?"  I guess they like to get straight to the point!

When talking with an elder, it is viewed as respectful if you avoid eye contact.

To look humble in the eyes of a Vietnamese, refrain from saying "thank you"- deny all compliments and you're considered polite!

Vietnam War Facts- I apologize, but I literally stole these from the U.S. Wings website, as they p rovided very informative facts.  I did help by eliminating some and including what I believed were the most interesting.  At the bottom there are two common myths proven wrong.  Please visit the website for more facts and myths answered!

2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam.

Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation.

240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.

58,148 were killed in Vietnam.

Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.

Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.

As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served.

74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome.

Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.

There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study).

Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.

Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.

Myth: The common belief is that the domino theory was proved false.
Fact: The domino theory was accurate. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism.  

WWW (15) Vietnamese

안녕 베트남 Ahn nyeong Bi etuh nam... In other words- Hello Vietnam!

With the biggest threat of fish sauce and a wealth of Asian squatters, I might as well tape these words to my forehead.

English:                                                                                                

I am allergic to fish.

I am allergic to finned fish.

Shellfish is okay.  I can eat shellfish.

No salmon, trout, anchovies.

Vietnamese:

Tôi bị dị ứng với cá

Tôi bị dị ứng với cá vây

Động vật có vỏ là được rồi. Tôi có thể ăn đồ biển

Không có cá hồi, cá hồi, cá cơm

Some much needed prayers will probably be needed this week.  YIKES!

And some must knows:
Hello- hello (I find this kind of interesting... and maybe don't believe Google Translate)
Thank you- cảm ơn bạn
Yes- vâng
No- không có
Bathroom- phòng tắm