'Merica

The sad truth is, Brian and I have been back on American soil for almost two months. Forgive us for the lack of posts from our adventures in Thailand, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave the white sand beaches for an internet cafe and alas, we left you with nothing. So I'll tell you this -- if you haven't been to Thailand, go there. It will be worth every penny. And by every penny, we don't mean very many. Minus a pricey, long flight there... you won't spend much at all. It's a guilt-free getaway of indulgence. Heaven. And if you have been to Thailand, let me know when you'd like to go again, because we certainly will be.

But for now, we've involved ourselves in a different sort of travel adventure -- the cross country road trip. A true staple in our lives. Be in back and forth from Estes Park, CO to Waynesburg, PA to Cape May, NJ -- Brian and I have logged many hours behind the wheel of my blue Subaru. Until this week.


It was time to switch cars and switch directions, so we packed up the sport red Nissan with the essentials; snowboard, guitar and Hint of Lime chips. I had to learn how to drive a manual... which I did... kind of. Enough. So clutch in, gear in first, easing out gently on the clutch and giving it just enough gas... we headed peeled out west for California, narrowly escaping Colorado's first major snow storm of the winter.

Sixteen hours and a lot of Starbucks later, we came out of the desert into a little land called Las Vegas. Being the novice Vegas-goes we are, Brian and I were happy to run into a good friend from home and seasoned Vegas patron. We indulged in a rum slushy to go and hit the streets for a casual wander through Sin City, politely turning down offers to attend -- and/or work at -- the classiest of adult entertainment clubs. And unable to afford the $500 minimum at the Blackjack tables, we stuck close the penny slots where I took the house for 17 cents. I don't think we are quite as inclined to return to Vegas as we are Thailand ... but we can check it off the list for this lifetime and IF I go back I think I'll make sure stay somewhere with a nice pool I can bunker down in all day and book shows, the family-friendly kind, for any post sunset entertainment. What happens in Vegas...

Seventeen cents richer, we pulled ever so smoothly (Brian was driving) out of Las Vegas and into the windy desert road toward the Pacific Ocean. A few hours later, we hit... traffic. And more traffic. But truly, I think we timed it well and snuck off the freeway into Culver City -- the best little neighborhood this side of the 405. After 16 hours on the road I couldn't have imagined a better welcome to California than the 20 minute bike ride we took the beach with my uncle Jeff leading the way. And that's when I was sold. I fell in love.

A mountain girl by nature, an Atlantic Ocean loved by nurture... and now swept away by the good looks and sweet talking ways of Los Angeles. It's a love triangle like never before. And if Brian's staying, I am too... or at least trying too. The kid has a knack for being liked -- and he already looks the part of surfer dude by day, up and coming videographer by night... well no, I guess that would be during the day too. Just different times of day? Anyway. So while Brian talks shop with every camera lover, movie producer and "guy in the business," I'm apartment hunting like my life depends on it. Which it kind of does, because the skiing has been crap in Colorado this winter and without that, I need something else... something awesome... something California... to keep me going. It's absolutely an adjustment -- the cost, the lifestyle, the 70 degree February weather... not to mention every employer on the block wants to see your head shot before considering you for an interview ... to be a journalist?? Welcome to the land of the beautiful people. I guess that means I have to shave my legs this winter. This could mean big things. So again... stay tuned... as Brian and Sierra travel.

The change up.

Internet has been a bit scarse the past few weeks as we've moved on from Malaysia and into southern Thailand -- and here we are in Krabi, just across the penisula from Phuket. But first, our final thoughts on the six weeks we spent in Malaysia --

1. A lot of great food -- fish head curry, mangos, papayas and coconut rice were among our favs.
2. Never, ever, ever let someone talk you into eating durian fruit. Consider yourself warned. From our experiecne, it was most likely the forbidden fruit in Eden -- and for good reason.
3. Good communication is the key to life.
4. While they may still suffer from some government corruption, Malaysia has found a way to put a Hindu temple next to a mosque, next to a Buddhist temple, next to a Catholic church next to a Gospel Hall and live peacefully. We should take notes.
5. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ [Colassians 3:24] At times, this was a really difficult/frustrating experience but we were blessed with the opportunity to serve others -- and really God -- whether enjoyable or otherwise.

And with that, we left Harvest Haven and rode the train back to the capital city where we dropped off our extra bags at a friends' and strolled around a few of the world's largest shopping malls. Our flight to Phuket, Thailand was delayed for three hours -- we ended up arriving on the other side in the middle of the night, just missing the last bus to Phuket town.

Lucky for us a hard-hustling British backpacker and his wife negotiated us into their taxi deal and we were off. Basically had no idea where we were dropped off... it was late... no place to stay... is this the Christmas story? Ha. We ended up crashing in a less than wonderful guest house on the outskirts of Phuket town. Just happy to be done wandering for the night, we slept soundly... kind of... and were off again in the morning to get our barrings. Banana pancakes and fresh OJ for breakfast helped. Bussed accross the peninsual to Krabi, took a "mini bus" to town and checked into Chan Cha Lay hostel. It's a great find -- looks like a beachouse fromt the 70s and is running us about $5/night. I think we'll take it. Been trolling around here the last few days, enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner of shrimp pad thai and mango smoothies.

Oh and by the way, this morning we rode elephants. Casually speaking. It was amazing -- no waivers, no safety instruction, not really even very much English... walked down a dirt road, up the bamboo stairs and onto an elephant. Trekked through the jungle for a bit and then escaped death when our elephant slipped in the river and (almost) down we went. Don't worry, Brian's camera didn't go under. Our tiny Thai guide had a good laugh but we were shaking... and close to bailing. Well, elephants are lucky here -- and luckily we survived being squashed/drowned. A few more days in Krabi to make it to the night market, eat more pad thai and climb the limestone cliffs -- and it's off to Ko Samui. Stay tuned -- as long as the internet can reach us...

Penang-a-lang

We had four glorious days of freedom and a little taste of the backpacker life we'll be living once we get to Thailand -- headed North a few hours to Puala Penang, an island off the West coast of Malaysia. We covered a lot of ground in four days, so this is our attempt to give you the short and sweet version of it... just keep in mind I write for a living. So it isn't that short, but it is sweet.

Night one, stayed at the Red Heritage Inn hostel on Love Lane -- ate stir fry and mushroom pizza at Micke's Place. If you're around the area, go there. Now. We bummed around Georgetown's historical district -- Fort Cornwallis, Town Hall, saw some gorgeous Chinese temples, Little India and Chinatown. Oh, and shout out to Sarah & Alex (as a unit), we stopped by a little gem on Chulia Street, the Reggae Bar. The beers were pricey, but the Rasta colors were bright!

Tuesday -- train ride up, straight up, Penang Hill in the pouring rain. Explored around the top for a bit, got lost in town on the way back down and ended up eating some questionable "vegetarian" lunch. Wasn't meat. Wasn't good. Wasn't sure what it was. Bus to Batu Ferringgi... couldn't find any of the places we had planned to stay at or eat at. Neither could any of the locals... still undecided if these places exist. Ended up splurging on an air-conditioned room with a bathroom IN it. Big news of the day. Cost us each $17 US -- the big buy of the trip so far. Stellar location, though -- just one block from the beach. Ate dinner in a giant wooden ship, called The Ship, and a bunch of Malaysians dressed like sailors watched us eat... we were the only patrons. 

We spent the next few hours trolling up and down the biggest night market to be seen. Literally miles of stands popped up out of nowhere and were gone again the next morning. It was like the boardwalk on steroids, on wheels, on a budget. Snagged some bargains for sure. So when you get a nice Prada handbag from me for Christmas... it's fake. And it cost me roughly $10. You're welcome. 

Day three -- enjoyed our "free" breakfast at the guesthouse. Warm milk and coco puffs? Maybe it's a cultural thing? Strolled across the street onto the beach - finally! Got offered "special price for you" from about nine different guys renting jet skis and parasailing trips. Thanks, we're good. We may or may not have spent a little time in the Holiday Inn beachfront resort. Only to be politely asked to leave as we obviously weren't dressed the part of rich, white, retired British folks. A.k.a all other guests. The pool did feel nice for that first five minutes. Oh, also -- sights you think you'll never see (but we did) -- multiple Muslim women in full burkas dangling from a parasail over the ocean. And on jet skis. Literally, only their eyes are showing, their husbands are shirtless and wearing swim trucks and their buzzing around the waves together. We were alarmed, let's get serious. Puts a whole new spin on things, really.

May or may not have gotten less politely asked to leave a few other resorts we wandered as well. We plead the fifth. Ate an absurd amount of fresh fruit for lunch and got our feet cleaned by fish at a spa. Google it, it's the new hot thing. Plus, it only cost a buck. Got a little sun on the poor-peoples' area of the beach and bused back to Love Lane. Red Inn again, Micke's again.

Woke up to a better breakfast Thursday morning... our $7 hostel tab proved much tastier than those coco puffs by the sea. Packed up and headed to Komplex Komtar to buy a bus ticket back to Ipoh. Arrival time on the ticket read 12 p.m. Arrival time in reality -- 1 p.m. Must have been that stop we made at the gas station (yeah, in our charter bus) to fuel up? Gas is cheaper here but it doesn't pump any faster. Anyway, made it back to Harvest Haven. 

Counting the days til we're back on the sweet, sweaty freedom trail to Thailand. Stay tuned. B+S

Spelunked.

To set the record straight, while volunteering in Malaysia has been an adventure, it’s no pleasure cruise on most days. Don’t feel sorry for us, we signed up for this and we are happy as clams to be here, but you’d laugh at the absurdity of some of the work we’ve been asked to do – And we are learning patience and tolerance and laughing along the way too. So believe you me when I say we truly treasure, we cherish, we bask in the glory of the lovely days we get to take a break from our chores and explore this beautiful country. Our little expeditions out are a drink of water at high noon in July, you know [Shout-out to Rachel Reppert, my dear Ugandan adventure queen]. Anyway, we know you’re not here to read about how many toilets we've cleaned, curtains we’ve hung, blades of grass we've mowed, weeds we have pulled or bugs that have bitten us. You’re here for the goods. So let’s get to it. Our caving trip.

Brian and I are roughly half-way through our volunteer work in Malaysia. We’ve been here for just over three weeks and soon we’ll be flying into Thailand for a little more adventure, a little less scrubbing. Harvest Haven is really starting to get busy – a revolving door of guests. We’ve started to see how fast time is passing here and feel an urgency to take advantage of our surroundings before we leave. Yesterday we had the opportunity to travel into the mountains in nearby Gopeng to explore the Gua Tempurung caves – the largest in peninsular Malaysia. For the extra lovely price of $22 ringgits, or $8 U.S., we paid for two tickets for the Level Three tour.

We followed our Chinese speaking guide into the side of the mountains on a raised catwalk that traversed up and back into the caves. We got grouped in with a class field trip… about 45 Malaysian pre-teens in front of us, all in matching uniforms. One of the first times I have felt significantly out of place in Malaysia… not to mention I was wearing a giant pink headlamp that I picked up at the market. May have left my real one at home, but this $2 wonder got the job done. As we wound up and down, back and forth over a mile of cat walk through the cave we ended up a sandstone slide that we had to “ride” down to get to the beginning of the true cave exploration – and luckily we were able to jump in front of the huge group of students. Essentially, there was a sandy floor at the bottom of the slide with a person-size hole right in the middle. Down we went. 

For the remainder of the tour we ducked and rolled and army crawled through a river that flowed through the caves. At times we could stand up completely, but other times I was genuinely worried my butt was going to get deflated by a stalactite as I shimmied my way under and through some tight spaces. About two and half hours and a few miles later, we emerged back into the daylight in the middle of the jungle. The end was surreal, the way it feels like you were definitely the first person to explore that cave and POP you’re back up top again to continue your rugged trek through the wild and untamed jungles of southern Asia… right to the parking lot. And so the adventure continues -- stay tuned.

Stomach Pains

So here we are again, back to what we were use to the quiet days at Harvest Haven before the conference began. All the directors and guests have made their way around the world to return to their homes as we anxiously await the next guest to arrive.

It has been a week full of fun outings and chances to make new friends. It was enjoyable having conversations with people of so many backgrounds.

 The other day we got to venture up into the mountains or should I say “highlands” where we visited strawberry farms and tea plantations. The Cameron Highlands is a great escape from the hot and humid weather of Malaysia. As we wound our way for two hours up into the hills it was not good for anyone who may get car sick but the views where spectacular.

Not to mention 10° cooler. Looking out over the jungle high in the hills was a first for us. The Highlands where a sight to see all the thousands of acres of tea plants look like they we pasted on the hillsides of the mountains and some in remotely steep areas. I feel bad for the tea picker that must walk those every three weeks for a new harvest.

We made a stop in one of the small mountain villages where we grabbed lunch at a local Indian restaurant. We spent some time walking through the market of shops and did our fair share of window shopping. After lunch we took what was supposed to be a short drive up in to the Boh Tea Plantation, but turned into a long one when made a wrong turn and found ourselves a couple miles back into the tea fields. Oops. It was cool to look out over the plantation and to have a taste of their tea at a local shop.  Cameron Highlands was a great success of a trip fun to spend a whole day out with the conference guests who we’ve gotten to know.

We’ve been in Malaysia for almost three weeks now and have fallen in tune to the slow paced days and the crazy time change. However, our bodies have found it hard to adapt to the food. The food is very tasty, trust us, and we always give everything a chance. From cow stomach lining to duck esophagus... Not so good. Some of the dishes are very tasty but we have found it hard to cope with all the deep frying that goes into every meal, something neither of us are used to. We're trying to avoid the fried food from now on, it's making us feel awful. Our stomachs have been through a different variety of food the past couple weeks, but despite that we are still finding our time here very enjoyable. I think a light breakfast of tea and toast in the morning will do us just fine, no spicy noodles, please!  That all for now, but we will surely keep you posted on any new adventures or crazy things we eat. 

Wild monkeys.

We have been spending the week with guests from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Scotland and Japan. Harvest Haven, one of seven Capernwray school's in the south pacific, is hosting the regional conference this year and it's been a truly cultural buffet for Brian and I. Of course, Brian was stoked to have some fellow All Blacks fans on hand for the World Cup victory this week and I've come to learn that a majority of the 30 people visiting this week have frequented Estes Park, Colorado -- my home town. Through conversations here and there Brian and I have found some amazing connections with people from around the world. Rajni, from India, has fillings from my childhood dentist... how we got to talking about teeth, I'm not sure...

While the group has been here, each night we have had a traditional dinner from each country. It's been exciting... and at times, interesting... trying food from around the region. Brian and I have always loved Asian-style cooking, but it's only been two weeks and we have probably consumed our weight in rice. We get to work in the kitchen a lot so it's a great chance to learn some new recipes. But I don't think either of us will miss cook and hand-washing dishes for 35 people, three times a day. I've also been spending some time hanging out with 9 month old Kezia who's parents are Canadian transplants to Japan. I think Brian's growing on her.

Yesterday, our whole group piled into a few vans and took an afternoon trip into Ipoh (the town we first took the bus to when arriving). We ate at a really neat open-air restaurant, Foh San -- meaning "heart's delight" in Chinese. Malaysia is made up of three different groups, the Chinese, Indians and Malays. While the three cultures have blended together, it's really interesting to see the clear separation between them, be in the food, religious preference (Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist) or even housing styles. The food at this restaurant was primarily Chinese -- we sampled a variety of prawn (shrimp) dumplings, beef noodles, cow stomach lining (really rubbery) and duck esophagus (crunchy... looked like honeycomb cereal). 

After lunch we headed outside of town to Gunung Lang, a nature preserve in the Dragon Mountains. Eagle Lake, which was man-made during the tin mining era, sits in the valley. For three ringgits, or $1 US, we took  a boat across the lake to a lush island on the other side. It was really lush and beautiful, tons of flowers and fruit trees and different animals -- fresh water turtles, monitor lizards (similar to komodo dragons, minus the deadly part) and WILD Macaque monkeys. For a lot of us, it was the first time seeing monkeys in the wild, so we took full advantage of being tourists... kind of made my think of all the elk back home and those poor people from Kansas and Nebraska who are witnessing nature for the first time outside of their fish tanks.

As the group leaves on Friday, there will be a lot of cleaning up to do in preparation for the next group coming in. The following weekend Brian and I are hoping to head North to Penang Island -- finally, the ocean. Until then, it's washing dishes, cleaning toilets, mowing lawns, moping floors and 88 degree weather. Oh, and rice. Wish you were here? Well, we love it.

Pink on the Inside.

We’ve been here just over a week now and have really started to get a taste of local culture – literally, a taste. We laughed about having spaghetti and hamburgers for dinner, but lately the food has had much more of a traditional flavor. More times than not, we love it. But when served something that’s harder to stomach, there is no shame in dousing it with sweet chili sauce. Chili sauce is to Malaysia what Ranch dressing is to middle class Americans. It can go on anything and everything, just like home.

This past Sunday we attended church with John, Joyce and Rachel at a Brethren church in Ipoh – a denomination that is led by elders, not a pastor, and where women don’t speak (so help me, Jesus). It was a simple building with wooden pews and a piano. We sang hymns, the elders took turns reading scriptures and a guest “pastor” gave a message on the importance of being hospitable Christians, even outside the church. The service last roughly two and half hours followed by a fellowship time where instead of servicing coffee and cookies – we had spicy rice noodles and tea. Everyone was incredibly friendly and curious in the way anyone would be seeing new faces in their congregation. Brian and I sat behind several elderly women during the service and I continued to watch them during the fellowship time – my theory was supported yet again – old church ladies are the same in every church, in every denomination, in every country I have traveled to. Dressed to a tee in their Sunday best and the chattiest of Kathys there ever were. It’s comforting to know that some things are universal.

Other things – not so universal. Like eating pumpkin flowers and chicken feet. The Malaysian/Chinese/Indian/Filipino version of pumpkin soup contained fried pumpkin flowers, boiled chicken feet and a little onion. The pumpkin flowers tasted mostly like carrots… and the rest like chicken stalk. I have eaten chicken feet before, in Peru, and it’s far from the worst thing that has happened to my little blonde head but it’s still slightly unnerving to see them floating around your dinner. To Brian’s request, we were also treated to a Malaysian road-side treat, chendol. It comes in a plastic bag (like when you buy a fish at Walmart) and is basically coconut milk, brown sugar, shredded flower that looks like little green worms and of course, kidney beans – all served over ice. Let’s get serious, it was weird. But when it’s 90° and 100 percent humidity and you’ve been working outside for three hours, the fact that it was cold sold us. And if you can get over the texture, it’s good stuff.

While so many things we are experiencing in Malaysia are new and different, so many things are the same. Yesterday, we were invited to have breakfast with John and Joyce in their home – a small apartment built into the school. Joyce cooked us bacon and eggs and they drank out of mugs that said “Abeline Dad” and “Abeline Mom.” I think I’ve given my parents similar mugs from Waynesburg University. And while there were a lot of traditional Asian decorations in their home, there were also family portraits and classically bad ‘80s photos of them with their children and really bad hair and enormous glasses. Apparently the ‘80s were a universally rough time for fashion.

And with that, I am continuing to understand that the human experience often transcends ethnicity. In all the richness of cultures around the world, there is an overarching human culture that oven gets overlooked, but when seen, is a stark reminder of the frivolousness of so many ways we divide and separate ourselves from those who seem so different. As much as I love traveling and seeing the world and exploring different ways of life, I love home too. And I love being reminded that home and the world aren't all that different and that well, we're all pink on the inside.