Ramadan and Rainforests

Mixing work with travelling has made for a good balance between seeing many places and experiencing more depth of each place, especially their culture and natural beauty. My time in Malaysia so far has been a series of many ups and some downs, but overall I've been very lucky to experience lots of the rich culture and nature that Malaysia is blessed with.

I wrote last from Singapore, where I'd been visiting my dear friend, Shwetank and rediscovering my favourite areas from my student days, while catching up on errands in one of the most convenient cities in the world. It was so good seeing Shwetank and catching up with him. Originally from India, he went to uni in Singapore and since then started his own successful consulting firm, which now employs many people. However, he soon plans to leave the firm in the hands of a partner while he goes to Dubai to join another of our Indian college buddies named Akanksha, and help her manage her social media consulting company. I'm so proud of these two for all they've accomplished since our student days.
 
From Singapore, I caught a six-hour bus to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, where I met up with my next work exchange host, a woman named Susi who runs an Islamic school for girls in her home. Susi is a single mother who runs the school on donations, but takes no salary. The 27 girls (aged nine to 14) who live and study at Susi's primarily learn the Qur'an and about Islam and the prophet Muhammad, foregoing regular school for a few years at their parents' choice to get a solid handle on their faith. My role while staying with Susi, her two-year old son, ten-year old daughter, and the girls was to teach English once a week, practice English daily in casual conversation, and help Susi with the plants on the property.

Class time

I stayed during Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam when Muslims abstain from all food and drinks from sunrise to sunset, which turned out to be a fantastic time to learn about Islam. When I first planned to come to Malaysia at this time, I hadn't realized it would be Ramadan, and when I discovered the timing, I was selfishly disappointed. I love Malaysian food and feared being deprived of trying new dishes. But in actuality, once I finished sulking, it turned out to be a special opportunity to learn about Islam through experience and, in the end, to try heaps of delicious foods, many of which are only made during Ramadan to break the daily fast. In fact, every evening in neighbourhoods across Malaysia, special Ramadan markets are set up with an endless assortment of homemade food and treats, which people buy and bring home to their families to break the fast at sunset.

One night while staying at the house/school, a KL TV station came to film the evening prayers and breaking of that day's fast, which was broadcasted live. They brought yummy foods and many others from the community joined us. I was the only non-Muslim there and wore a head scarf to blend in more. Another evening, Susi and her ex-husband, Muadz brought me along to their daughter Mia's Qur'an recitation competition. Many Muslim children and adults strive to memorize as much of the Qur'an as possible, and competitions are popular. A good recitation, always sung in Arabic, is beautiful to listen to. Mia ended up winning the competition and after evening prayers there, we broke the daily fast with all the participants, their families, and the event organizers. Again, I was the only non-Muslim there, but was warmly welcomed.

Evening prayers the night the TV station came

Breaking the fast that night

Although they didn't expect me to fast, I tried my best to join the girls, successfully fasting a few times, but mostly eating sparingly during the day (in my room out of respect). The girls enjoyed teaching me about Islam and trying to convert me. Although I was often left out of a big part of each day since they pray five times a day and had classes for much of the day, from my stay there I gained more understanding of Islam and respect for their devotion.

With Mia after she won the Qur'an recitation competition (Susi on my right)

After my time in peninsular Malaysia, I headed to Borneo Malaysia, the half of the country I've never been. I started out by doing a few dives in one of the world's most famous dive locations, Sipadan, known for its gigantic sea turtles; many types of sharks; huge schools of big fish like barracuda and bumphead parrot fish; sea caves; and a dramatic underwater drop-off covered in colourful corals of all different shapes. The diving was fantastic, but I got reminded that you get what you pay for when I chose the cheapest place to stay and ended up with dodgy accommodation (complete with rodents) and sketchy dive equipment. I also got infected tonsils and stomach issues while there, slowing me down a bit. However, the ups outweighed the downs with a few magical dives and enjoying the simple island life, playing soccer one evening with a bunch of young local boys and watching the sunset with a few young local girls and women another night. It was also fun to visit with the international crew of divers from Australia, France, India, and China.

Watching the sun set after a day's diving

After the ocean, I headed to the jungles, starting with a visit to an orangutan rehab centre and then a few solo hikes in a rainforest reserve, where I had one of my most surreal nature experiences ever. While walking along a secluded trail, dense with brush and vines, I heard rustling high in some trees a ways away and saw leaves tumbling down. Somehow, my instincts told me it was orangutans even before I saw them. Sure enough, when I trained my binocs on the trees, I spotted a male orangutan face. And then there were two more, a mother and her baby scrambling about the tree tops. It's very rare to see a male and female together since males are solitary for most of their lives, so I still don't know if I can believe my eyes as to the male. But the mother and baby were very real and I watched them for some time, completely enchanted, before the mom spotted me and asked me to leave by standing on a branch, holding another one above her with her baby clinging to her, and making shewing noises while shaking the branches. She seemed distraught with her baby there (plus I'd lost sight of the possible male), so I listened to her and carried on my way, feeling like I'd walked a few tiny footsteps of childhood heroes like David Attenborough and Jane Goodall. 

Rainforest green

The next jungle adventure involved joining up with a rustic jungle tour that brought a group of us up a river to their basic camp in the jungle, where our shared huts, on stilts above frog-filled shallow water, were open to the elements with no doors or windows and housed our mattresses on the floor covered by mosquito nets. While there, we did day and night trekking and went on boat trips up and down the river at dawn, dusk, and nighttime to spot wildlife. We saw all sorts of animals, including proboscis monkeys (the ones with the huge, funny noses), macaques, estuarine crocodiles, civet cats, brightly coloured kingfishers, many unique insects, and several types of hornbills, eagles, and owls. My favourite sighting was a gibbon, which we found one morning swinging with its long arms and hooting its distinct call. It was amazing to live out my dream of exploring Borneo jungles, but I admit I was extremely happy to take a hot shower when we got out of camp where we'd had only river water to bucket on ourselves each day after hours of sweating in hot stickiness.

Out spotting

On the river

Pig-tailed macaques

Swinging gibbon

Sleeping oriental dwarf kingfisher at night

Sleeping stork-billed kingfisher

Tree frog at night

Jungle camp

From the jungle, I headed towards Tamparuli to meet up with my next work exchange hosts, Tina (Malaysian) and Daniel (Australian), who own a large, rural property hugging the hills that's surrounded by gorgeous views from different parts—distant hills, large valleys, small towns, a river, and the ocean 20km away. Tina and Daniel live on the property and are preparing it to accommodate paying guests as well in the near future. The property also has dozens of mature tropical fruit trees and plants, some I've tried before (like pineapple, durian, jackfruit, bananas, and rambutan) and others I've never seen or heard of (like tarap and bambangan). My biggest job while here has been rescuing pineapple plants from jungle weeds with a machete. I thought plants grew like mad in New Zealand, but Malaysia is on a whole different level given its intense sun and tropical downpours. It's also quite a different experience working physically in tropical temps when even sitting still one perspires. After a drippingly hot day's work, it's been nice to visit with Daniel and Tina (and Dan's mom and stepdad who are visiting from Australia), sit and take in the stunning views, enjoy Tina's delicious cooking, and feast on all sorts of fresh, organic tropical fruit.

View to wake up to

One reward after a day's work

A pineapple section before clearing...

...and a section after

Daniel and Tina's place at dusk (view from my sleep-out above)

Beautiful way to end a day

After my stay with Daniel and Tina, I'm off to visit Kinabalu National Park and the Bornean state of Sarawak before heading to China and Laos.

That's the news that's fit to print. I've been accumulating quite a few non-publishable stories as well, which I look forward to sharing with you in person one day :)