Waterpark

Yesterday we went to the giant park with the mini Golden gate bride and played in the water park. The water from the fountains and stuff weren’t on so we just ran in the water. Then a guy came and said that the park was closed. So we will go back the day after tomorrow. We walked to the local bus station to catch a bus to Miri city. We went to the Imperial Mall. I didn’t like the mall as much because it wasn’t like home. So we didn’t spend much time there. We caught the bus back to the hotel and I stayed up till 1:30 am on the computer.

This morning we woke up late and went downstairs for breakfast. When we were done we left for the bus to take us into the city. We went to the movie theaters there and watched UP again. Today I tried not to eat at all for Ramadan. I’m doing well so far. Tomorrow Assame’s staff will take us to Lambeer. Which is a town an hour away from Miri. We will have a BBQ there. The day after tomorrow I am going to try no eating and no drinking for an entire day. I’ll try.

Miri

We are in Miri still and are having so much fun. The manager of the hotel is very friendly. Last night he took us on a drive at 10:00 pm to the first oil well in Miri and their big park. At the park they have a mini golden gate bridge that is for walking and they have a giant public water park and, many parks. Tonight he invited us to drive to the beach but we didn't go because my dad had to drive Assame's (the manager) car. Today we went to the park, and walked. It was a pretty simple day. 

Today-Resting

Today we are resting. We got so tired walking yesterday Before we came here- to Miri we were in Kuching. Kuching was really fun. It was the closest thing to home. It was pretty much a Malaysia Las Vegas. There was Lion and Alligators spraying out water and fountains all near the river water front. Across from us there was Astana an old fort and a little island were there was always firework sounds. We stayed at the Kuching Waterfront lodge. That was good service. But the best place we stayed at was also the second cheapest. The Telang Usan hotel. The rooms are nice and he manager was very nice too. I never had a manager from a hotel tell my family that he was concerned about us getting lost we wanted to walk somewhere to eat, so, he had one of his workers drive us there- no extra charge.

While in Kuching we went to see orangutans. They get so close to you. It was really fun.

Yesterday, Niah

I decided to have mom and dad teach me Japanese. I love it! The first few words are really easy. Today we have to wake up early at 7:00 am to go to Niah. We are going to Niah because Niah has many Jungle treks and caves. The jungle was very pretty. There was fallen trees, caves and bridges that we walked on over the water. We walked for so long. My feet started to hurt.

When we finally reached the cave. We saw a cave that was someone lived in 40,000 years ago. It was really cool. When we got home we rested and ate dinner at this giant market that was packed because Ramadan started yesterday. Ramadan is when the Muslims eat once at 4:00 am and don’t eat or drink again till night time for 1 month. I could never do that.

Borneo

                Tonight we are going to leave on a plane to Borneo. This morning we woke up at brunch time and we set out for some food. Our first stop was "Little India." We always go there because "Little India" is the only place that has stuff going on. Sometimes for a "before breakfast" snack, we'll go to the Rainforest Bakery which is on our street. Dinner time is the only time we really walk around our street. Nothing's going on around there in the morning. There is this juice lady who runs all the tables at the food stands. My dad thinks she is a night mare. All she does is stands around and yells at people. We went to this Indian resteraunt for lunch. It was really cool, but my dad didn't like it as much because you ate with your hands- rice and all. We ate on banana leaves too. Not much to write about today though- a lot coming tomorrow.

Penang

We have arrived in Penang, Malaysia and we are searching for some Penang curry. What's weird is that in Thailand you can order Penang Curry, but in Penang, no one has it. Tomorrow we are flying to Borneo, Malaysia/ Indonesia. Half is Malaysia and the other half of Borneo island is in Indonesia. it's good because we have to be in Indo by September 15 for a friends 50Th b-day! We are flying air Asia which has never been in a crash. Which is good. We are going to leave to Borneo because it has one of the last standing rainforest's in the entire world! We went to "Little India" today and had lunch there. It was really good. I LOVED there mango lassy's which I first had with my aunt at a Indian restaurant in Los Angeles. We also visited a mosque which is a Malaysian, Arab, and Muslim church. We had to cover all our skin to go inside. Not really a lot going on- but I had fun.

Another Tiring Day

Yesterday was by far the worst but most interesting day on our trip. It started with packing everything into our packs once again then taking a taxi to the pier. Thailand's taxis are the most fun, but most illegal. What they do is put benches in the open bed of a truck stuff your bags and you onto the benches then they zoom to wherever you need to go. When we reached the pier we stayed at a free Internet cafe called "Cafe Del Sol" which had pretty good food and nice drinks. We were there for about and hour and a half waiting for our boat. Then we walked (which felt like a long way) to the last pier on the beach. We then waited for a half hour noticing that our boat was a half hour late. When we got onto the boat the man took our bags and had us sit under. There were rows of seats under and so we picked a row of four. As soon as I go to my seat I could feel the throw-up coming. The smell made me want to puke. After I got used to the smell, waves became 3 meters high. I never used to be sea sick but that time we were going up and down up and down on the waves I began to barf in my bag, on my DS case and only some actually got into the barf bag. My throw up was the tomato cheese sandwich I ate which was pretty yummy at the time. When we got off the boat we took a bus to the train station and on the bus I felt car sick. Luckily, I survived the car ride. As soon as we reached the train station we headed to get something to eat. Next door to the station was a nice, cheap

August 3, 2009

Instead of writing about yesterday I am going to copy-paste a email explaining everything I did yesterday. I sent the letter to Madison Shaw and Tabitha Hayworth(two of my friends). The picture for this post is what I also attached to the letter. Here it is-

I am in the island Koh Tao which means Turtle Island. It's pretty, but not as pretty as Koh Nang Yuan which has super white sand and the clearest water I ever saw. They also let you rent their scuba equipment to go snorkeling. They have colorful fish and coral everywhere. The coral is very pretty but when you scratch yourself on it, it hurts like a bee sting! It's supposed to hurt like that though. Out of all people I was the victim to that vicious live coral. Today we might go back to Koh Nang Yuan. Here is a picture of Koh Nang Yuan.

-Maya