Lectures and culture and junk

Hello all! Today is mostly to share photos, but at the same time I know that I want to let you know about what I'm up to first! An overview of the past 2 days in the form of a CHECKLIST! *so efficient* See some other posty thing in the photos tab (if I can figure that out) for the pics.

Yesterday

1. Went out for roti (naan bread) breakfast across the street, and accidentally ate dessert first in the form of iced mango. Have I mentioned yet that they don't have distinction between breakfast, lunch, or dinner? What you eat at one meal you eat at another. The first day here we had curried boiled eggs, spicy noodles, KFC style chicken, and prawn shrimp served up. Needless to say we were shocked and slightly embarrassed at the fact that nobody really wanted to eat it. The food we expected to have for breakfast was actually dessert, and what was meant to be breakfast felt more like dinner. Our stomachs are just going to have to deal!
2. Because it took us so long to get out of the place, we were late for our first class. Like CHAMPIONS! Luckily, everything here runs on "Malay time", which is directly translated as "Meh, who even cares."
3. First lecture! TREES! And stuff. And ecology. And how tropical forests are things which are here. And how. 
4. A scheduled discussion on our assignment work was cancelled, so after 12:30 we had off for the rest of the day. What did we do? So glad you asked! We hopped on a bus and went to the Queensbay mall. What were we expecting? Good question! Dreams of cheap knockoff clothes, neato small shops, cheap electronics (you know, the works) filled our tourist heads. What we got was Le Chateau, Forever 21...to sum up, I spent the evening wandering blank-eyed, wishing I was in the bush. I found a kindred spirit in Kayla. We devoted a large chunk of time to finding some authentic food, choosing to skip the TGI Fridays that attracted the others.
5. On our way back to USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia, where we're current located), three buses passed us by without stopping for so much as a how-do-you-do. "Teksi" it was! Luckily, it was only RM5 or $1.75 each. 
6. Sleeping. After the Indonesian karaoke downstairs stopped. Wowza, it was loud, and off key, and loud. And late. And loud...

Today

1. More abnormality - ate spiced noodles for breakfast, but they wanted to feed me prawns. Then I threw vodka (smuggled onto campus - it's illegal to have alcohol in the school grounds) in the nostrils of the chef, laughed at his lack of height, and fed his eyebrows to my pet orangutan.* He burped up hairballs. It was great.
2. Then, a bus! To Georgetown, north of the university with a group of Public Health students from the University of S. Florida. Those lucky jerks - they weren't even phased by the weather. We did a world religions walk, interrupted by the best Indian food I have ever eaten in my life! The coolest part is that you eat with your hand, your right specifically (no need to go into what the left hand is used for). Then we were off to Little India! We took on full acceptance of our burden as tourists! There were dozens of Chinese temples, mosques, a Hindu temple, and a Pentacostal church thrown in for kicks. I also heard that there was a Jewish cemetery nearby, too! It was so weird, expecting tension but not picking up on any. Good work Malaysia, five stars. ✪✪✪✪✪
   In lieu of visiting the Penang museum (apparently rather boring), a bunch of girls and I went and got some mahendi/henna on our hands. The artist was amazing, doing each one in about 7 minutes or so just out of her head. Imagination? Yes, yes indeed. I can't imagine what it must be like to have this done for your wedding! Sitting still...for hours...sounds awful to me!

*Warning: do not attempt at home. 

As point #4, going to a night market, is yet to come, I'll leave it untouched until maybe tomorrow, or even the day after. Who knows?! Might as well get as much up here as I can before the internet goes the way of the dodo. 

But I do have some bad news - we might not be able to visit the orangutan sanctuary. There's been a dry spell here, and the sanctuary is on an island which is unreachable unless it really begins to pour. If you know a rain dance, please, for me, get that groove going. 

Photo Post 1

LIZARD!!!!!!!

Stop One on Religions Walk: The Chinese Mansion

I was a huge fan of these portraits - each over 7' high - of the ladies of the house. The second one was a real looker! Look at those deep set eyes...shrivelled lips...pointed cheekbones.

I want these window coverings. Lots.

This is a "lovers chair", designed so that you don't strain your back while looking longingly into each others' eyes. Worked for me!

This is the opium chair. Meant for classy lads with harmless drug addictions.

It's a plant. I liked it. So now you can like it too!

  

Apparently women were avid gamblers, and were also known to be quite the cheaters! 

The first location we visited was an old Chinese mansion with an attached temple. The temple was infested by bats. If you get defecated on by one, it is considered very good luck. (Un)fortunately, we managed to avoid that one tradition...

...this gold lion hasn't fared as well as we did.

Then we were off to Little India!

These Mosques make so much noise in the morning, but hearing the call to prayer is beautiful and really mellows out the emotions. It's just enough to make you forget the heat.

The next stop was a Hindu temple. The carvings were amazingly bright and vivid. It was a huge shift moving from the serenity of the Chinese shrines to the mixture of scents and sights that make up Hindu legend.

This, for those who don't know, is durian, the "king of fruits". It smells like a mixture of wet dog and rotten vegetation, but apparently tastes delicious. I'll let you know tomorrow after our visit to a tropical fruit farm!

Speaking of food...we eat and drink A LOT! This is my new favourite drink, for no other reason that the fact that is is called "Kickapoo Joy Juice". I'm fairly sure the "kick" is just the large belch that awaits you after you down an entire can!

For lunch, we ate at a small Indian food place. Which served coconut water. In coconuts. How cool is that?! The food was the best I've ever tasted, and it was a true rarity in the fact that us vegetarians new for a certainty that we could eat it. Most things here have hidden fish broth, prawn paste, or chicken fat lurking between rice noodles, ready to pounce on our intestines!

Last but not least, we got henna'd! Really beautiful stuff, and every one of us received a different design. This is mine, and luckily enough, it is my favourite of the bunch.

Day Numero Uno!!! Spiel time.

First things first. It is hot here. It is ludicrous just how much humidity is going on. Not that the wet is bothersome all on its own, though. As anyone who has spent any time in a humid country knows, it is the reality of non-evaporating sweat that gets you. There is simply more water in the air around you than there is on your skin. 


However! This makes for fantastic biota. Just on a quick jaunt around the campus today, we were lucky enough to see some water monitors (Varanus salvator - pictures to follow), bats, geckos, weird pond fish, some amazing birds including the crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus), frogs, neato insects - all amazing! I have unfortunately attracted some not so neat insects. It appears as though my dorm bed may have bedbugs. Which love to drink my blood. Unnerving. 


Fortunately, Penang is a great city. It is a state of Malaysia as well as a city and island, and due to some crazy history (which I learned a good chunk of in our first 2-hour lecture this afternoon), it has huge diversity in terms of ethnicity, tradition, and especially religion. There is wonderful mixing of Chinese, Malay, and Indian culture (and cuisine - yumm!!!) similar to what can be found in Canada, but with an extra few hundred years added on for good measure; a melting pot left to simmer.

Not much else to report on today - it was mostly filled with orientations and confusing tours of the massive campus. Seriously, everything is so spread out here! The food is amazing and uber cheap (we ate out for ~11 ringgets or $3.50 CND each), as well as delightfully spicy. It's fun being the only one at the table not crying from the spice. Thanks for the practice, da. 

Whelp...this was an enormous post. I warned you about the spiel. Maaf, dan selamat malam! 

Mid-travel gripe fest!

Here's the deal. I'm in the Taipei airport. I've been travelling (or in layovers) for more than 24 hours. And I have crossed the dateline. Needless to say, I am sleepy tired and my internal clock is throwing a hissy fit. That, and I realized that I accidentally packed my antimalarials in my checked baggage, so I'm already off to a terrible start with my medicated regimen.


In other news, we're commune more comfortably within the group. Slowly and very much bit-by-bit, but we'll get there eventually. I'm sure by the end of the six weeks, there are going to be more chummy feelings. But as for now, there has been only travel...and communal griping. Oh man...but one of the other girls is reading 50 Shades of Gray, and I literally have no idea how to handle it. Because that cover may look swanky with its grayscale photo of a folded tie, but I know what's in there. The truth cannot hide from me!!!


Ahem. Let me compose myself. There are some sane things going on too! The Taoyuan Airport certainly knows how to be interesting, if not downright quirky. During our post 13-hour flight dazed wander, we stumbled (literally) into a Hello Kitty children's nursery - with upright intentions, I swear!

Apparently Pingu is a big deal here, too! Beyond the cartoonish charm of the place, there is of course a wealth of neat technology shops and cultural dioramas about the native peoples. All in all, not too shabby!

Post edit: Between all of the girls here, there is the entire series of "Shades of Grey". I never knew Biologists were into such...graphic...romance. 

Pre-trip

A mere five days before we set out from Victoria, and wowie am I ready to get out there! I only have to repack my backpack, buy a pile of things (including numero uno on the list, antimalarials), and register for the coming school year. Considering that up to this point I have taken a slurry of vaccinations (Dukarol for TD and cholera, tetanus, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, hepatitis A, and polio off the top of my head) and prepared for the academics of the course, what is left is quite doable!

As this is mostly a test post, and I have yet to further my adventure beyond vaccinations, here is a picture of what I am most excited for:

What were you expecting? A cityscape?