Monday, 14 December 2015

Holidays: Vietnam & Cambodia

It's been a long time since I last updated you on my Malaysian adventure so there's a lot to tell. The last few weeks of school before the holidays were very quiet as all the students had exams and once they were over they started to go home bit by bit. This meant we had to say goodbye to the wonderful form 5s which was sad but I wish them the best of luck for the future. 

Our long, end of year, holiday began at the end of November and will last 6 weeks. It began with a long bus journey to KL where we attended the National MRSM English camp. This involved all the Mara schools from across the country coming together to focus on improving students' written English. It was a fun filled few days where we stayed in dorms, participated in morning aerobics and enjoyed many activities focusing on improving writing skills. I was in group 10 ( or Perfect 10 as we named ourselves) and we ended up coming 3rd overall so I was very proud of the whole team. It was great to meet students from other MRSMs and also see all the other volunteers again. I also learned a lot myself and now have many new ideas of writing activities to use in the classroom  for the new year. 
English Camp- Me and Perfect 10

Once English Camp was over the real holidays began with a night out in KL. This was as good as ever, I will never get tired of this beautiful city. However this fab night was followed by a not so fab night on the floor of KL airport prior to our early morning flight. I can safely say the floor is not very comfortable and has a strong aroma of feet!

KL with the girls

After a good few hours of attempted sleep we decided to head up to the check in desk where disaster struck. We were basically told that we could not enter Vietnam as we did not have a pre paid visa and we were not leaving by air. With one hour until boarding time the five of us started to panic- A LOT. Luckily the boys were on the same flight as us and they had come up with the solution of booking a bus to show we were actually leaving the country within the aquired time. We headed down to find a computer and after a high charge and lots of stress we booked a bus and ran back to the check in desk. Luckily this was enough to let us on the flight to Vietnam and start our holiday. Not the best start but it was taught us a lessons to thoroughly check visa requirements before getting to the airport!
Busy Vietnam

The first thing that's apparent when you get into Vietnam is the traffic. Millions of motorbikes weave in and out of the cars trying to get from place to place and it's absolutely hectic. This meant that crossing the road was extremely difficult but by the end of the week we learnt to just walk and don't stop for anyone. We were staying in a little hostel in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. The hostel was pretty basic but fitted the bill and was in a good location so we could easily walk everywhere we needed to. When we were in Vietnam we ate a mixture of traditional Vietnamese food and western food. I really enjoyed some Vietnamese dishes like pho but it was also nice to have a pizza again- even if it wasn't quite  the same as one from home!

Me and Emily in our Vietnamese Hats

While we were in Vietnam we did lots of exploring of the city. Me and the girls' favourite thing to do when we get to a new city is to check out the markets. The Ben Thanh Market in the centre of Ho Chi Minh was huge, selling everything from food to material. Here we picked up lots of little souvenirs and even managed to get a tailor made Baju Kurung to wear to work! 
In our new tailor made Baju Kurung 

During our time in Vietnam we also took a trip to the local cinema to see the new James Bond film Spectre which was very good, and in English thankfully! Also to get a more historical feel for the place we visited the national War Museum in the city. I didn't know a lot about the Vietnam war before going so it was a very insightful trip and the museum was filled with some very moving images and dialogues of both soldiers and civilians. The Nightlife in Saigon was pretty decent too. We sampled many bars and clubs but the best night there was 100% the pub crawl where we all had to wear matching hats dancing through the city from one bar to the next! On our final night in Vietnam we headed to the tallest building and had a few drinks up at the Sky Bar. This was a fab end to a good trip, spent with the best people. Although I enjoyed Vietnam I didn't love Ho Chi Minh and if I am ever to visit again I would definitely head to the north of Vietnam as everyone we met said that was a lot cleaner and friendlier. 


Sky Bar in Ho Chi Minh City 

Once our time in Vietnam had come to an end we headed to the bus centre to find that in our panic at the airport we had ordered a VIP mini bus to get to Cambodia. I certainly wasn't complaining though because it was just the five of us in this cute little bus which handed out water and snacks and even had free wifi!!
 
Bus Banter

From the moment we entered Cambodia, benath a beautifully pink sky at sunset, I loved it. There was just something about the country which had a much more pleasant feel to it. The people were instantly a lot more friendlier and I felt a lot more welcome than I did in Vietnam. 
Our first stop in Cambodia was Phnom Penh. Here we stayed in the best hostel- 11 Happy. This hostel has the nicest staff, fab food  and the best rooftop bar around. The main reason people go to Phnom Penh is to see the Killing Fields so on our second day there we hopped on a tuk tuk- the main method of public transport in Cambodia- and headed there. Firstly we visited the S21 prison in the centre of Phnom Penh where we got an audio tour explaining all that happened there and described all about the Khmer Rouge Regime. I had no idea the atrocities that went on in Cambodia just 40 years ago and seeing it all in real life was very eye opening. After we had finished at prison and dried our eyes we headed out of the city to the Choeung Ek Killing Feilds. This now acts as a memorial to all those that died there and as a museum describing more about what happened. It is basically a mass grave of around 9,000 totally innocent people who did not deserve to die and there is definitely a great feeling of remorse as you walk around, being careful not to step on bone sticking out of the ground. What's even worse is that the Feilds are surrounded by such beauty ,which seems so wrong for a place of such tragedy. This was a very emotionally draining day but I am glad I got to see what happened first hand and pay my respects to the people of Camboda who have gone through so much suffering. 

The Killing Fields 

During our time in Phnom Penh was also took time to check out the markets. Central Market here was huge and is definitely my favourite one yet, which means I spent even more money on things I probably don't need but look cool. The poverty was also very prevelant  in Cambodia, much more so than Malaysia, with children begging on every corner and even approaching your tuk tuk when you are stuck in traffic. It's such a shame to witness and I woul definitely like to do some volunteering in Cambodia  if I ever get the chance. 

Phnom Penh- Central Market

After a good few days in Phnom Penh we hopped on the bus again, this time heading for Siem Reap. The bus journey was very long and tiring so we just ate some nachos then headed straight to bed once we arrived. In Siem Reap we stayed in the Mad Monkey party hostel which was great fun, it had a beach rooftop bar and a pool! However everything in Cambodia seemed so much more expensive compared to Vietnam and Malaysia because they use USD- this didn't stop us having a good time tho. 
Mad Monkey Hostel

The best thing about Siem Reap was visiting Angkor Wat and all the temples. We did this on our first day there and rented a tuk tuk to show us around the best ones. All of the temples were extremely beautiful and unique. They were just so different to anything I've ever seen before, it was so fun exploring them all. My favourites were Ta Phrom- the temple where Lara Croft was filmed- and the Bayon temple, as well as the infamous Angkor Wat itself. We planned the day around getting to see Angkor Wat at sunset so we were rushing around some of the other temples in order to see the sunset which were told was unmissable. However when we eventually got there although the temple was pretty cool the sunset was very underwhelming and there was no bright orange sky- in reality it just went a bit darker haha! Nonetheless it was still an unforgettable day! 



Angkor Wat

We also went on a 'cultural booze cruise' in Siem Reap which was one of my favourite days to date. This included jumping into the Tonlè Sap lake, feeding crocodiles (which was the worst part as they were kept in a dirty, small container and was not very animal friendly) and watching the most beautiful sunset with great people and a few beers (yes I now drink beer- it's cheap haha!) Bundles of laughs were had and it was a very enjoyable day! 

Booze Cruise

The rest of our time in Siem Reap was simply spent relaxing by the pool and exploring the city. I really loved Siem Reap, it was probably my favourite place so far, and would love to go back one day! All in all Cambodia was a beautiful country to visit and I would highly recommend it to anyone! 



I am now halfway through my long holiday and loving every second! I will continue to try and keep you updated as best I can as I continue my travels. I just want to wish all my family and friends a lovely Chritstmas and New Year- hope Santa is good to you all! ❤️

Sunday, 25 October 2015

Trip to KL and the Annual Dinner

We have been pretty busy the past week so I thought a little update on the blog was needed. Malaysia is known for the amount of holidays it gives so we weren't that surprised last week when we were told on Tuesday that we had Wednesday off for the celebration of the Islamic new year. To celebrate this we went with the form 5s for a fun morning on the beach. This was a very enjoyable morning playing games, splashing in the sea and listening to a motivational speech (even if it was in Malay and we couldn't understand a word!) 

Form 5 girlies

We love the beachhhhhh

Last Weekend we took a trip to Kota Tinggi as we were in need of some new Baju Kurungs as this is what we teach in everyday. We took a bus from Mersing which was very blowy with all the windows open but ran smoothly nonetheless. When we arrived we headed straight for the ATM as we needed cash. However what should have been a simple task turned into a lot more when Hollies card got stuck in the machine and the bank next door was shut for another hour while they were praying. The machine was not giving back the card and no matter how many times we, and everyone else who came in, pressed cancel it was not coming out. Then we noticed a McDonald's across the street so had the greatest idea to get a take out and sit and eat it in the bank until it opened again. Thankfully after about an hour and 20mins the staff from the bank came back and Hollie got her card back in one piece. Even if we did get a few strange looks sitting on a bank floor eating McDonald's on a Saturday afternoon. 

Form 3s busy at work 

This week we have been super busy especially because a lot of teachers have been away on courses and have been busy marking exams so we had a lot of classes to cover. As well as this we had the responsibility of taking over some of the Form 3 programme. This is what they are doing from now until the holiday since they have completed their exams and are just waiting for results. This was super fun as we were allowed to be a lot more creative and have more fun with them as there was not the constant threat of exams looming. We did many activities over 3 days including an enterprise, apprentice themed activity. This was where we got the students into teams and they had to create, advertise and pitch a brand new chocolate bar to us. This was a very successful activity with lots of artistic and unique ideas all pitched very effectively. We also did drama activities and debating with the form 3s which was very enjoyable and at the same time still increased their English skills! 

The winning team

After such a busy week we decided to let off some steam by going for a weekend in KL with Catherine and Emily, 2 other Malaysia vols. It Was fab to get to experience the hussle and bustle of KL again, it so very different to our project, and also to see the girls. We had a fun time exploring all the malls and also spent a lot of time in Chinatown which was super cool and the food was absolutely delicious. We did however struggle getting around as the monorail is very confusing especially when you are on the wrong side and there is no bridge to get to the other side! It took us about an hour and half one night to get from our hotel to where we were going haha! However we still had a hilarious night in KL which was well needed and has got me really excited to go travelling at Christmas. 

The joy when you find British flags in KL


Food in Chinatown

A teacher kindly agreed to drive us back from KL on the Saturday so we would be back in time for the annual dinner on Saturday evening. This was a fab event for the form 3s and 5s with catered food, speeches and dances. Everyone dressed up and looked lovely and all in all it was a very pleasant evening. I was even persuaded to wear a hijab for the first time which was exciting, I don't think I suited it very well but it was interesting to see how it felt on and truly feel what it's like to be a Muslim girl in Malaysia. 

Annual Dinner '15


In our pretty Baju Kurungs 

Hope you enjoy hearing what I get up to here in Malaysia, I'll keep the updates coming! 

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Stupid Stitches!

After such a fabulous holiday in Penang and Langkawi it was definitely a shock to the system to be back teaching at 7.40am last Sunday. We have been pretty busy these past few weeks in the classroom and as exams have started here at MRSM Mersing we have been trying to help the students with their grammar prep before their English exams. The main focus of my lessons in the past few weeks has been writing as this is the area students struggle the most with. However although they have been enjoying their lessons and completing all the work it does leave me with a huge pile of marking at the end of the day, which is like being back at school and having homework all over again! But you do feel a sense of pride when you see students learning, developing and improving their English so it is worth it! 

Always got time for a wee selfie 

If you read my last blog post you will know I had a fall in Langkawi which meant when I came back to Mersing I needed to find a clinic to take my stitches out, once 10 days had passed. I was told there were 3 clinics in Mersing to choose from so it should have been an easy task- 'should have' I stress. So on the first Friday back we planned to go into Mersing by taxi and get them out. We walked down to the school gates and on the way called a taxi so it would be there by the time we got to the gates, as we didn't want to wait in the blistering heat for any longer than we needed to. However when we got there no taxi was to be seen, so we waited and waited but even after half an hour no taxi had turned up. We called the company again and got a very rude woman who said she was on her way so we waited some more. But after an hour of waiting no taxi had come and we were melting. Our last resort was to get the security guard to order a taxi in Malay for us and as if by magic the taxi appeared in 5 mins!! Clearly that taxi company didn't like British people! However it was just my luck that when we did eventually get to Mersing every single one of the clinics were closed and I couldn't even get my stitches out. I think our KFC was well deserved that day. 
Comel (cute

After all the hassle with taxis we decided on Monday to just ask the teachers for a lift into Mersing as my stitches really needed taken out by this point. Thankfully Mr Saiful, an English teacher, came to our recuse and took us into Mersing where I was able to see a doctor. However here came more trouble as once the doctor had started taking my stitches out he realised that only some of them had been put in right and half of the wound had not healed properly! This was not exactly the news I wanted to hear after the struggle I had to get to the clinic but it just means I will be left with a bigger scar on my foot and it will take a little longer to heal- at least I will have a lasting memory of Malaysia on my foot now haha! 
The stitches are finally out!

At the weekend we were taken to the market in Mersing by a few of the teachers. This market is a weekly one which comes to Mersing and sells lots of delicious Malay food and clothes. We had a good look around and then bought some food, including some fresh doughnuts which we had been craving all week, and headed to the beach to eat it. It was not too hot and the fresh sea breeze was very nice so we had a lovely evening just chilling by the beach. This is one of the best things about living in Mersing I think, even though we can't swim in the sea it so nice to be able to just watch and listen to the waves and look out to all the surrounding islands. 

Doughnuts!!!

Form 3 Boys 

On Saturday we went on a teachers outing Bowling in Kluang, a town about 2 hours from Mersing. This was very fun and it was probably the most western thing we've done since we've been here- and we still sucked at it! The teachers were all very competitive with cash prizes and departments fighting against one another. The languages department did in fact win, even with us on the team, so we were happy and everyone had a very enjoyable day. Some of the teachers even brought their children along and I had a great time playing with one of the little girls called Adeline. Even though she didn't speak English we played all day and night, chasing each other and singing all the frozen songs! She was adorable and it was nice to play with younger kids since we spend so much time with the older ones.

Bowling with Adeline 

I am still loving my time here and it truely feels like home now. We have some great students and teachers surrounding us and I am slowly becoming accustomed to the heat, bugs and spicy food however monkeys still terrify me. Missing everyone back home but I'll see you in 10 months:-) 

The Sunset in the Dining Hall

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Holidays: Penang & Langkawi

Last Wednesday we set off on our travels to some Malaysian Islands. Our first stop was Penang which is situated off the north west coast of Malaysia so we decided the best way to get there was to fly rather than a 16 hour bus! We were flying from Senai airport in Johor Bahru so took a 3 hour bus there. This bus blasted Arabic music, smelt like pee and we woke up to people shouting 'WHOA WHOA' as the bus must've took a corner too fast and nearly swerved completely off the road- we were soon to find out this was just a taster of what's to come. We did eventually get to the airport alive although we were 6 hours early so patiently waited for our flight. When we got to Penang we were all starving so headed out to grab some chicken fried rice (Nasi goering Ayam) which is ten times tastier than the stuff you get from a Chinese takeaway back home! 

Penang Nights

The next day we got up and set off to explore Georgetown. Georegtown is Penang's main city and is actually a World heritage site so there was plenty for us to see and experience- even if walking around was difficult when there are no pavements and Malaysians drive like lunatics! Penang is a true representation of Malaysia's melting pot of cultures and religions. This is particularly shown through the Street of Harmony where all 4 religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism worship alongside each other in compete harmony and have done since the 18th Century. This was a very beautiful and reassuring thing to see especially with so much tension and war, some of which is centered around religion, happening around the world. That evening we headed to a part of Penang called Gurney where we had heard the street food was especially good and oh my we certainly were not disappointed! Gurney hawker food stalls are a sea of delicious Malay and Chinese food packed with locals and tourists eating day and night, if you are ever in Penang you must go and try everything!! 

Kapitan Keling Mosque- Street of Harmony, Penang

Gurney Hawker Food Stalls

Mmmmmmmm

On Friday we ventured up Penang Hill. We picked possibly the worst day ever to do this as the haze was super bad which did ruin our views and made it harder to breathe up there. Nevertheless we still took the train- more like roller coaster- up and looked around. I even got some henna done on my back up there by the nicest Indian couple! However there was yet another incident with a monkey at the top which ended in me running as fast as I could in the opposite direction! It was very beautiful up there and I would recommend visiting, it was just a shame our views of Georgetown were not as good as they could've been! 
At the top of Penang Hill

The last few days in Penang were spent exploring Georgetown as we looked around museums, parks and ate plenty of tasty food. We were also in yet another transport incident when the taxi we were in didn't look when turning out and smashed into an oncoming car, resulting in the taxis bumper falling off- we definitely didn't have much luck this holiday! Everyone was completely fine though and we were just rushed into another taxi and taken to wherever it was we were going. 
One of my favourite things about Penang was the street art. Every street you turned onto had a different painting or metal sculpture giving the city a really interesting vibe. During our time in Penang we met up with some more volunteers and went out for a few drinks. We went to a great place called canteen which was fun and had a great band playing. 

Penang Trick Art Museum


Street Art

After 5 days in Penang we hopped on a 20 minute flight to Langkawi. Langkawi has a very different feel to Penang- it is a tropical paradise, a nice relaxing change to the hustle and bustle of Georgetown.  Langkawi is extremely beautiful with bright turquoise seas and white sandy beaches. We spent most of our time there sunning ourselves and relaxing- We even went to a Thai spa one day. 

Beach on Langkawi Island 

Fun in the sea

The best part was getting together with all the other volunteers, who we hadn't seen for about a month, and finding out how they are getting on and how their projects are. The nightlife in Langkawi was not too bad, however we did end up in the same places every night! The best night there was spent swimming in the sea during a silent lightning storm- something so magical it will stay with me forever. 

Silent Lightning Storm

Sophie and I in Langkawi

Out in Sunba

However the partying did go too far one night and ended up in me going to hospital after I stupidly fell in a water feature! It was dark and I just didn't see it so I fell and cut my foot pretty deep. I thought it was fine and just wanted to carry on but after everyone around me, including a doctor, told me to go to hospital I ended up with 6 stitches in my foot. The next day when I was at the pharmacy picking up my painkillers I asked them to clean it up a bit and put a new bandage on it. This was not the nicest experience as my foot was extremely painful and when I stood up I could not have felt worse. It took me two steps out of the door before I passed out. The thing I remember waking up to is a crowd of Asians freaking out around me- apparently they were more shocked than anyone! I had no idea where I was and physically couldn't walk. I was put in a wheelchair and taken for some tests- couldn't have picked a better place than a clinic to pass out in to be honest:') After the tests I found out that my blood sugar levels were extremely low. This combined with the pain in my foot caused me to pass out. However after a lemon ice tea and some Oreos I felt soooo much better. I can't thank the girls (Sophie, Hollie, Catherine and Emily) enough for looking after me so well and feeding me McDonald's in my time of need hahaha! My foot is still sore and I am still on painkillers but I feel a whole lot better now- I just need to remember to look out for water features!!

My poor foot

Just passed out- still smiling!

Our journey home was a task and took us a total of 32 hours! When we got off the ferry in kuala perils we found out that the bus we were planning to get directly to mersing was completely full, as was the later one. So we waited for 3 hours for a bus to KL where we were told there would definitely be a bus. The bus to KL took 7 hours and we arrived there at 5 am. We then went to buy a ticket to Mersing and all 6 buses up to 5pm were completely full. So our only option was to wait in KL bus station for 12 hours- which was especially fun when you have a swollen foot with 6 stitches in it. The haze in KL was so bad we couldn't even leave the bus station- I'm surprised I never lost my marbles by the end of it. We finally arrived back in Mersing at 11pm- 12 hours later than we should have been. It's safe to say I was certainly thankful for my own little bed last night. 

Holiday fun

Nonetheless I still had an amazing time in Penang and Langkawi, with some fabulous people, just chilling, eating, partying, swimming in the sea and duty free shopping! It was so nice to experience a different part of Malaysia and I can't wait to go back to these beautiful islands one day.