Sunday, 30 October 2011

Carpet Marriage

Since the instructors here are a. on leave, b. on course, or c. have meetings, our training this past week has been basically on hold, left until Karl returns on Tuesday to begin the exciting 'crash course' I keep telling you about. Owing to this, we've been going out quite a bit, spending money we really shouldn't and generally finding out more about Lumut, Manjung and Satiawan.

Frustration at his luscious locks (HA) led Adam to cajole Douse into taking us to the barbers. The fear on his face when he was actually in the chair was amusing, though surprisingly the shortness doesn't look too bad. We ventured into a Bundle shop after that, or a Japanese second hand clothing store, which Adam found great delight in. I, having no money and no interest in the clothing, grew bored and ended up wandering into the carpet store next to the barbers, the bright colours attracting me like a moth to a flame.

And so, this interesting conversation happened.

'Ah, come in, come in, no need for you to take your shoes off, come, come.' The manager, I realised upon a closer glance, had wandered into the barbers and stolen a hairbrush earlier. He'd already received the customary smile that being here recommends. 'You sure? I don't mind...' my voice trailed off, as he continued to wave his hand, standing up to do perform the classic, but ever so annoying, seller trick.

Not wanting to appear as though I wasn't going to buy anything (though I wasn't), I chanced upon the first carpet/rug I could see and began to stroke it, feeling the softness. 'That is a prayer mat.' He said. 'For Muslims.'

Ah. Not quite what I was going for. As it is, he didn't appear interested in selling to me, instead asking me where I was from: 'England! Such a lovely place, wonderful, wonderful.' At that moment, George passed by, having disappeared towards the knife shop earlier. In a fit of enthusiasm (as in having something else to say), I mentioned that he was also from England. Perhaps he heard me, perhaps he didn't, but he double backed and walked into the shop, leaving me sighing with relief - perhaps now the awkwardness would fade.

'So this is your...'

'My friend, we're working up at OB Lumut for the year.'

'And the other one?' The managed glanced over towards the Bundle shop, though Adam was nowhere in sight.

'He's another friend, part of the volunteer group we're with.'

'So they are not your husbands?'

Er, what? Suffice to say, the conversation grew steadily stranger, him apparently believing George was 25, refused to tell us what he thought my age was (his answer was 'young' though I don't know how that translates to 'being married') and then forcing us to guess what his age was (we still don't know), before telling us the ages of his sons and showing us pictures.

Eventually we escaped, heading off to another Bundle store which Douse claimed to be of more interest. The only thing I can say about that trip, is that by the end of it, Geordam - who had set themselves a quest to find the ugliest clothes, and then actually bought them - now own mechanics outfits. And by mechanics outfits, I mean the kind that you would expect gay porn stars to wear.

Anyway, while aerobics was fun-filled and amusing all round (it actually was, I'm not being sarcastic there), I feel I have thrown enough at you already, so shall depart to contend with the ant infestation in the bathroom. Wish me luck!

Emily

Monday, 24 October 2011

Langkawi Bonanza

Theme of the past week and a half has been basic relaxation - which after CC490 feels well deserved. Langkawi, made up of 99 islands, of which only 4 are inhabited (thanks Jo!), can only be described as a tourist resort. If you want to claim to have been to Malaysia, without losing out on home comfort's, Langkawi is probably the place for you. Otherwise...no.

Our journey there required a 6 hour bus drive, 1 hour ferry and 40 minute taxi to Pantai Cenang, the most famous beach area. In total, it came to 61RM or just over 12 pounds, giving you a true glimpse into how cheap Malaysia can be. Our first night was spent integrating - by this, I refer to getting to know the drinking scene, Geordam's favourite activity. As Adam is a Scot, you can imagine what he wanted to accomplish. Beer is not my thing, so Malibu and Coke became the drink of choice. By one, search for Shisha commenced (do not fear, it was not found) leading to us stumbling upon the 'Sports Bistro'.

It appeared fine. I was moving on to drunk by this time, but am surprisingly still not happy with spending money, so George bought me a drink, in an attempt to worsen my condition no doubt, before Lesley moved into the proceedings. He seemed drunk (he wasn't), challenged George to pool, claiming to be bad (he wasn't) and then tried to get us to return to his house with him (we didn't). George received a number of odd phone calls over the week, but that section of town was avoided for the rest of the week.

Langkawi is only recommended for short breaks. By the time 4 days had gone by, we were ready to leave. Geordam had rented a car, George driving us to the Cable Car (spectacular views), I'd gone to a Spa, caught up on Supernatural (I know, but what did you expect?), we'd eaten our body weight in burgers and ice cream, met some Glaswegian's at our hangout 'The Yellow Cafe', and oddly enough, I was missing proper Malaysian food badly.

The return journey was just as easy, though for some reason the same bus now took 8 1/2 hours, Taufik picking us up at midnight. The weekend was devoted to basically nothing, as training officially starts today. MJ, the programme coordinator, went through admin with us, then took us out to lunch with Shuq and Douse, before giving us the afternoon off.

Yeah, not what I expected either. Plus, despite the fact there are no Hindu OB instructors, we get Deepavali off. So the holiday continues!

Jumpa Lagi kiddies.

Emily

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Survival of the fittest

If you're looking for a tale regarding food poisoning and sea sickness, sunburns bad enough to peel and millipede bites large enough to cause pain, capsizing and general bad luck in all areas of life, you're going to talk to Geordam, because I had a rather awesome time.

Our 25 day course, known as CC490, involved 5 people - the bromance, myself, Alora and Thomas. Alora is a 21-year-old Canadian whose been travelling around Indonesia since June, with a perpetual habit of being late, but has an intriguing view on life and a passion for the outdoors. Thomas is a 28-year-old lawyer from Kuala Lumpur, sent by his company, who doesn't participate in outdoor activities but is a total sweetheart. As a whole, the course could be considered rather tough - the general number of participants being 15, to encourage teamwork and leadership skills effectively.

There were 6 expeditions in total requiring overnight stays - a kayaking expedition (2 days, 1 night), a trekking expedition (same length), a whaler expedition (3 days, 2 nights), solo camp (same length) and the final expedition, know by instructors' and participants alike as 'Hell', which was 4 days and 3 nights.

The course didn't get off to a particuarly wonderful start - Alora, Adam and George all got food poisoning from the kitchen (not sure how considering we were eating the same food...), with Alora forced to spend a night in hospital. As it was, we had almost a week to gear up for our first XPDC, an easy kayak to a beach on Pangkor, the island opposite OB. Monkey's are clever bastards. You leave sugar crackers on the table, they will get them. Of course, the sudden convergence on our kayaks with the sugar crackers raining down upon them was rather amusing, especially when we found that one of them had gotten a tad excited and decided Alora's kayak was a bathroom.

The trekking XPDC went well on the first day, Thomas needing some encouragement but pushing through. We set up camp by a waterfall, meaning a much needed rinse down occurred. I was given a parang, which after 6 expeditions I can in fact wield efficiently when chopping wood. The first time was more of a 'miss and bleed' situation. The second day started well, despite our instructor Taufik's refusal to help us with navigating. And the singing. He really loves to sing. Unfortunately, we got lost, missing the junction which would have taken us to our final peak. We escaped without having to climb back up because dehydration was considered a risk - but we were forced to do a 'musical drama' as a penalty. I'll spare the details.

The Whaler Expedition for most appears to have been a gut-churning experience of exhaustion. I found it rather amusing. The IiT's joined us, as 8 people are required for rowing, and we were forced to row 30 km, gaining wind only 6km away from Rumbria Island. The next day was a 42km job, and while we did receive the luxury of wind - meaning I slept until 12 - it wasn't strong, and we were forced to row until the mother boat took pity on us and towed us the rest of the way. Once you get into the head space, the rowing isn't too bad - a little monotonous perhaps, but singing livens up the place remarkably.

Solo was a time for reflection and meditation, but the first day basically involved me avoiding making a fire, and sleeping the day away. Despite my fear that I would not be eating, I managed to make respectable fires, large enough for me to cook Maggi noodles (Beware: can cause kidney failure). So, if stranded, give me matches and a candle, and fire shall reign. The second day could be considered more of a reflective time, but it turned out to be time for talking, as we all converged on the water van for an hour. Oops.

And then, Hell. It was tough. I've been cut to pieces on the rocks, got tan lines that look like colour charts, leeches biting my ankles, and the final track of kayaking nearly reduced me to tears, but the feeling of achievement was astonishing. We kayaked around Pangkor island, landing at Sharwal beach. Alora and I were sharing a kayak for that section, and we took the time to enjoy the scenery, the others getting more and more frantic as the current increased. Adam bailed out his boat using Alora's water bottle at one point, while George and Thomas literally went over the edge. The second day was fun until 12, being in a kayak with Thomas ensuring I could sing Disney songs without being hit over the head. Unfortunately, Taufik (perpetual liar that he is) compelled us to head straight over to OB - just 1 hour away. 2 hours later, no food, OB still not in sight, and a failure to remember the water sloshing in the gallon can...I was considering capsizing because I felt like the world was ending.

BUT I DID NOT. Inspirational quote from George kiddies: 'the hardest thing to overcome is the human will to give in'.

Trekking forced me into navigation mode once more, something I was more confident in fortunately, and thus we trekked up hills, down hills, around rocks, through the sea (not necessary and dangerous due to coral, but I have a lack of personal safety apparently), and through a swamp. As Geordam got angrier and angrier, I was reminded of year 4 and mud pits, thus causing a great deal of muffled laughter as swearing filled the air. A low did occur when a fire could not be made, and we became a man down the next day when Thomas found himself unwell, but as we saw the blue jetty, light filled our eyes and we danced wildly (note: I lie, we slept).

Thus, the course came to an end. We painted a bench for our watch project, cleaned the dining hall for community service, and watched Anchorman at our barbecue instead of doing our presentation. But we achieved, and we achieved 'commendably' despite the lies Taufik tells us, and despite Geordam's continued insistence for ice cream.

On a side note, I had some today. IT WAS AWESOME.

Emily