Sunday, May 8, 2011

In which Elise and Caitlin visit KL and Singapore

Wow, so, I just discovered the "Stats" portion of my blogger account, and I gotta say, I'm super flattered that there are people from places like India and the Philippines looking at this thing.  Hi guys!  :-D

I'm posting late now because I just spent the last ten days in a whirlwind of exhausted traveling.  I almost forgot what it's like not to be in sleep-debt.  My awesome college friend Caitlin came to visit from Japan, where she's teaching English with, I kid you not, the "Peppy Kids Club."  She was here for two weekends, the first of which, we went to Singapore for ETA Nou Chang's bachelorette party.  Then we came back to my school for two days while she helped me out with classes, then we spent the rest of the time being tourists in KL.




Singapore was everything we were promised: it was clean, well-organized, full of amazing architecture, and ridiculously easy to get around in via public transportation. 
We saw a live band at a jazz club, traipsed through a great many shiny malls, and partied for Nou at a dizzyingly fancy club shaped like a ship at the top of a hotel.  It served cuisine-style appetizers and featured infinity pools that blended into the Singaporean skyline across the distance.  On the way back down the elevator, I couldn't stop marveling, "Multiple infinity hot tubs.  Multiple.  57th-floor.  Infinity hot tubs."

The only real downsides to Singapore were the prices (rich city = expensive city) and the fact that the swing dancers seemed to be in hiding.  I got very excited about dragging Caitlin and Elizabeth along to a social dance I could have sworn was scheduled for Sunday evening, but when we got there, the studio was just closing because of a national holiday.  Oh well, at least we got some KL dancing in later that week!  Caitlin came and took the beginner lesson, and I practically exploded with happiness from dancing with everyone there.








Between Singapore and KL, though, me and Caitlin made a quick two-day pit stop in Terengganu (far too quick, we later agreed).  I showed her around my school, and she helped out with a few of my classes, and we had dinner with Meg Perry and her turtle researching colleague.  The Chinese food we had was supplemented by the most hilarious menu I've ever seen in real life:

Engrish.com, here we come!

Back in KL, we became tourists extraordinaire.  We saw the Batu Caves, the Bird Park, Chinatown, the Petronas Towers, KL Tower, a small jungle-walk park, and the movie Con Air ("how could I live without you...").  We also spent a dorky amount of time browsing through the bookstores in malls, showing each other videos online, going out dancing with other hostel visitors, and playing cards. 


Sunshine Bedz Hostel, by the way, was fantastic - the manager/owner hung out and joked around with us all the time, and pulled some hilarious pranks on those of us who joked back.














So, that was my week.  Now it's back to plotting, I mean planning programs and activities and hanging out with the kids.  Later this week all the ETAs will be going to KL (again) for a MACEE mid-year enrichment program.  I hope that after this I can settle back down and start fitting in some weekend activities.



Since speech choir finished, I've had a lot of extra time on my hands, and I've also decided that I don't know my students nearly well enough yet.  I've taken to coming to their classrooms during prep time to just hang out and play games with the ones who don't have homework, or to help out the ones who do.  These have been some of the most entertaining times I've had on campus, and I've even invented a game or two on the spot, like Olympic Hangman (competitive team Hangman in two languages).

But, the more comfortable I feel here, the more I still seem to miss home and all of you there.  Yes, I do mean you, reading this blog: I know that if you care enough to check up on me, I care enough to miss you right now.  Please send me an email or a message, and I'll try to call you as soon as I can.

5 comments:

  1. Love that menu. Though even if they do serve "long pork", I doubt it's the chef's own flesh. And how did you and Caitlin manage to find the Wisconsin ladies' pants all the way over there in Malaysia??!!

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  2. I somehow can't find the Facebook message we had, and I can't find you on Facebook anymore so I can't respond that way. But just wanted to say thanks again for your help through the process! I was accepted and will be in Malaysia in 2012 =). Great to read about all the awesome things y'all are doing!

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  3. Wow, congratulations on your acceptance! Glad I could help! How are they treating you in terms of real, useful information about the program? (We've been pushing for better pre-departure communication for you guys.)

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  4. You can visit KL and have lot of fun. The post has given rlevent information

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  5. Thank you for such a fantastic blog. Where else could anyone get that kind of info written in such a perfect way? I have a presentation that I am presently working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.

    ReplyDelete