An advantage of living in Korea is our proximity to other countries in this part of the world. And an advantage of working at a Christian school is having opportunity to join organized mission trips throughout the year. Having a 3 week break at Christmas seemed the perfect time to go with a team to Malaysia.
After our arrival, our team spent the first week in the city of Tawau (south east part of the island) to help lead services and encourage fellow Christians in area churches. Pastor Fred, native to Malaysia who established over 50 churches in the area, arranged our itinerary and graciously served as tour guide. By the second week, I ventured to the other part of the island to get in a week's worth of vacation before the next school semester starts mid January. All in all, this schedule enabled me to experience Malaysia from the 'local' perspective in Tawau and as a 'tourist' in Kota Kinabalu.
Our team consisted of the pastor family and four of us from TCIS. Here we are in the downtown region of Tawau. Beside me is Jim Armentrout, Hannah Mukri (pastor Fred’s wife), Sandy Armentrout, Colin Mukri (Fred’s son). Other photos in these posts include Heidi Buchegger and Fred Mukri, other members of our mission team.
During our time in Tawau the four of us foreigners were able to stay in a 3 bedroom condo, complete with pool, fitness center and one confused rooster that crowed continually. The poor rooster did its job by waking us up at 5 a.m. but then crowed the rest of the day! I'm just glad it knew enough to stop when the sun went down so we could get some sleep at night =) 
What can I say about Malaysia, except that I found a fantastically beautiful country both in nature and people! I was most impressed with the warmth of the Malaysian people. I can’t tell you how many new friends I made on this trip in just two short weeks. Most everyone we met were so friendly and wanted to learn about Canada and the U.S., as I was intrigued by their stories. Here are some shots of a young man named Meritz selling electronics at the local market, a plantation worker we met New Year's Eve (see next post), Jonathan Tse who is music minister at an Anglican church in Kota Kinabalu and, of course, new members of my family Hosea and Colin Mukri.
Malaysia is a country of vibrant color, an endless sea of palm orchards, laid-back schedules, incredibly cute kids, rich food, exotic plants, dangerous animals, constant temperatures (never dips below 28C throughout the year) and drivers who drive on the wrong side of the road.
Coming from a planning and architectural background, I am prone to take an interest in how the Malaysians build and design their living space. An interesting observation was construction workers wearing straw hats to shield from the sun rather than hard hats! I guess over exposure to sun rays and heat exhaustion is more of a danger to them than anything falling from above.
I found jungle infrastructure equally fascinating where most of the older buildings sit high above the ground on stilts. Raising buildings helps protect them from flood waters and wild boar that roam freely. The poles that hold up these structures are from the Belian tree which is termite-resistant wood and are square (not round) so snakes can’t climb into the upper living space.
It only dawned on me a few days into my trip that all the restaurants are completely open areas, like big patios. No doors to speak of... and why would these restaurants need to be enclosed because it’s always warm here both day and night.
I'm not sure how easy it is to get these food items in North America but they are sure easy to find here, including smoked stingray, fish lips, chicken feet, bishop’s nose, wild boar (cooked in bamboo sticks), shrimp the size of lobster (literally about a foot long) and a green vegetable only grown in this part of Malaysia called 'fern'. I particularly enjoy the fruit juices of watermelon, guava, papaya, star fruit and coconut (presented in its own shell). A famous dessert here is 'ABC' or 'CBA', depending on the choice of fruit and vegetables you want in a mixture of ice and milk. A perfect ending to cool down from the spicy food and warm temps.
As the restaurants are open-air, so are many of the markets and shops. Just open the overhead door to the street and you’re open for business. The more modern department stores, however, resemble stores in the west complete with escalators, discount bins, customer service and checkout. I wouldn't exactly classify me a 'bargain shopper', but I was pretty proud when finding 36 western-name-brand toothbrushes for $3.50! I think I have enough toothbrushes to last me for the year 2008. Good thing toothbrushes don’t have an expiry date =)
To add to my shopping experience, I enjoyed hearing 'Frosty the Snowman' over the store PA system with outdoor temperatures of 35C, along with a 3 minute broadcast of Dr. Dobson talking about raising children and a word of advice from store management not to buy on impulse but rather make sure you compare shop! I can't even imagine announcements encouraging shoppers to compare shop in western stores.
