And two months later...

Yea, it's been a while. I've finally given myself time to sit down and do this because I got another cold. Since my last entry, I've done waay too much to be able to describe everything in detail so I'm just going to summarize with some photos...

So a couple days after SIS held its press conference on the government's sudden ban of one of their publications in mid-August, I went to a small conference of international GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Intersex and Queer or Questioning) activist leaders from Islamic countries, where being anything other than straight could land you in prison, or worse. It was really insane to hear people's stories from Lebanon, Nigeria, Indonesia, and other countries in which they have to fight a government that actively works to arrest and prosecute them. All the participants were so friendly and it was great to meet even more inspiring, passionate people.

Then a couple days later around August 26th, my friend Femi the other SIS intern from America, left to go back to Delaware to start classes again. She was really awesome to have there with me the first couple months, as she pretty much kept me grounded throughout the transition to Malaysia. Anyways, I really miss her. This was our goodbye party for her:

Then the week before Ramadan (in September), we threw a potluck party at the office to live it up before the month of fasting. After dancing the pocho-pocho (Malaysian line dancing) to the Pussycat Dolls for a while we all commended to stuff our faces until we couldn't move and have a pretty unproductive rest of the day.




I decided to go to Penang that weekend and visit my friend Damina who was entering the Malaysian bar that Friday. I got to spend my weekend with her and her friends from India and Iraq, both of whom were really sweet and extremely patient when it came down to my prodding questions about the meaning of the "Islamic state"...a concept I'm still trying to understand.

Anyways, Penang is about 4 hours north of Kuala Lumpur and is old colonial town from the times when the British were occupying Malaysia. It's said to have the best food in the country (which I can attest to) as well as the best architecture. Therefore, my whole weekend was pretty much spent sightseeing and eating the best curry puffs, shaved ice dessert and curries. It was amazing.















I also went parasailing~




Then when I got back to work on Tuesday, Ramadan had begun. It really wasn't that difficult or stressful for me to be here during the fasting month...except that I did feel inclined not to eat or drink in front of my coworkers who were all fasting. One thing I did learn however, is that women don't need to fast during their period. I was lucky to have at least one person with me to enjoy lunch with for 3 weeks of the month. After work, I would go break fast with some of the coworkers I've become closest to. We would wait just at the moment when the loud speakers would play the evening prayer and dig in. It was definitely more fun to stuff my face when I partly joined their fast by skipping my lunch too.



My housemate, Leonard threw a "buka puasa" (fast break) party at my house. This is a picture of my housemates and I.





Then midway through September, I took a trip to Singapore. I went to Singapore on a couple days' notice when I realized that my Malaysian visa was one week away from expiring. I guess I was a little bit too relaxed about it until someone told me that if I overextended my 90-day-automatic welcome in this country, I would not only be "removed" but also blacklisted so that I would never be able to come back here again. The next morning, I reserved a hostel and a one-way bus ticket to Singapore.


Singapore is only about 4 1/2 hours away from KL by bus. I got to the hostel at 1 am and, as quietly as I could, climbed onto one of the bunk beds in the room I shared with 12 Australian men. Waking up and getting ready in the gigantic, industrial co-ed bathrooms made me remember the good ol' days of living in the co-ed dorms, but overall it was a really nice hostel. It was a really clean place with free internet, free breakfast and a dozen free activities you could sign up for around the area. While these day activities were one of the main reasons I chose that hostel, I decided that all I wanted to do was walk around alone and get lost.

Photo of the hostel:


A Hindu temple, which was next to a mosque, next to a synagogue next to a Buddhist temple, next to a Church. God should throw a block party here!



Through the wisdom of my tattered, borrowed copy of the Lonely Planet Singapore, I was able to visit two great museums, see the Mid-Autumn festival, walk through the central shopping district where I saw the first sex shop I've seen in months (I'm pretty sure dildos aren't too halal) and generally get a good feel about the town.



View of Lower Clark Quay with all the fancy Western restaurants lining the river.


Here, I had a rest and a nice cold glass of beer and then continued onto the Asian Cilization Museum slightly buzzed.





Then I ate a durian ice cream sandwich (mm~) and later had an amazing vegetarian Indian lunch served on banana leaf.

After walking for about 7 hours that day, I was about ready to pass out to get ready to go back to KL the next morning. But when I was heading upstairs I decided I needed one more drink at the hostel bar to help me achieve comatose sleep. There, I met a brother and sister from northern Arizona on their Southeast Asia trip. After talking to them for a while they invited me to go out with them and their friend.

We ended up sharing a pitcher of Tiger beer at dinner (the local Malaysian beer which boasts that it won the "coolest" beer award in 2005) and heading to one of the biggest electronica clubs on Clark Quay, the Ministry of Sound.



The night as a whole was pretty good, though I think hanging out with this gang was a bit of a reverse culture shock. They kept telling me that they had heard all these bad things about Malaysia and how teeming it is with crime and rape cases, so that they were thinking of flying right over my third homeland and into Thailand. I tried to reassure them that I felt as safe here as I do anywhere else but for some reason they couldn't be convinced otherwise. I was little offended by the fact that they were saying to me that none of this place was worth visiting. Oh well. I guess it's their loss.

More buka puasa outings...


Then the last week of September, my parents, sister and my sister's boyfriend, Dave came to visit me. It was chaotic, busy, and really fun. I had no idea how much I'd learned about Malaysia or how well I've come to know my way around this place. For the most part, we walked around KL, ate good food, and stayed at my place. My family kept getting stomach sicknesses from the food or water here so we ended up not doing as much as I planned, but it was really nice to see them nonetheless. You can never plan for everything.

My family and I at the Batu Caves, a Hindu holy site.





This baby monkey's face is amazing.



My mom makes friends easily...


On the bus back home to KL.















Then we went to Redang Island, which lies on the northern east coast of Malaysia. We snorkeled, kayaked, karaoke'd, hammocked and ate. It was 3 days of heaven.











My parents exploring the low tides.



Leaving paradise...



Hanami and I, the day everyone flew home.




I'm just going to stop there for now. At least I caught up to October... woohoo~!!

I'll be posting on Hari Raya in the next couple days so check up again soon...

Peace.