Day 3 in Malaysia

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(note: this is one of my pre-scheduled posts set to appear at 5:00am EST each morning I am in a port city. I will post follow-up information about each trip once I am able to get back on the computer.)

I'm not yet sure what I'll be doing today. I'm playing it by ear and seeing what other people will be doing today.

Update:

Emily (the nurse) had left me a note on my door last night saying that she was planning on going to the beach area where the other people were and she wanted to leave at 8:30 am. Since I had gotten in at 3:00 am, I was hesitant to go that early, but I left her a note back saying that I would go then if she wanted. I got up at 8:00 am and found another note from Emily saying that she wanted to sleep later so when I called her to figure out a time, we just decided we would go whenever we were both awake.

Later in the morning, we decided we would try to leave at noon. We took a cab about a half an hour away to an area of the island called Batu Ferringhi and went to the Holiday Inn where our friends were staying. We knocked on their door but no one answered so Emily and I decided to walk around a bit and then see if they were there later. It was super humid and really hot though so we didn't last long and we had decided to go jet-skiing and parasailing on the beach that was by the hotel.

nurse Emily on her jet-ski

me on my jet-ski

We got jet skis first for a half an hour (my first time doing that and it was fun) and then Emily did her parasailing first (they just took you on a short loop...it lasted a few minutes) and then I did it (this was also a first for me). Basically when you are ready to land, the boat goes by the shore again and the guy on the beach yells to you to pull down hard on the left hand side strap so that the parachute will steer you to the beach. You then get closer to the ground and the guys on the beach kind of catch you and you have to hit the ground running in order to land. It was fun and not a big deal - it would have been nice if the parasailing part lasted longer though.

nurse Emily getting ready to parasail

me parasailing

After we had finished jet skiing, John Paul found us on the beach and told us that the rest of the group was back from wherever they had gone. After we got done with the parasailing, Emily and I joined them at the pool and had something to eat and then we headed back to the ship with Kristen (the assistant field office coordinator).

nurse Emily, AV coordinator John Paul and assistant field office coordinator Kristen

AV coordinator John Paul enjoying some "ice kachang" (shaved ice with corn, beans, syrup and other stuff all mixed in)

Emily was going to go with the Global Nomads Group people to observe the broadcast tonight and since I didn't have anything else to do, I said I'd go again too. Since people were planning on going out after that for Joanna's birthday, I figured it would be better to just go with the group and then we could all leave together after that.

Global Nomads Group director Mark facilitating a discussion between classrooms in the U.S. and a group of Malaysian students

Global Nomads Group broadcast (screen on left is a classroom in the U.S. and the screen on the right is our location in Malaysia)

After the broadcast, about 8 of us took two cabs to an area where there were restaurants and we had a group dinner there and a birthday cake that was bought at a local store a day or so earlier.

dinner in Malaysia (left to right: Global Nomads Group director Mark, video editor Jon, nurse Emily, assistant field office coordinator Kristen, Global Nomads Group editor Joanna, a student, me, ethnomusicology professor Julie, Global Nomads Group documentarian Ben)

We ended up stopping in a club that was nearby there too and by the time we ended up back to the ship in our beds, it was about 4:30 am.

Global Nomads Group director Mark and nurse Emily waiting for the tender boat back to the ship after our night out in a club