Pulau Gemia . . . Or to the non-Malay, Gem Island

For the past two weeks Malaysia and Singapore have had a school holiday. What does that mean for Jeff and I? That the hotel has been absolutely overrun by large tour groups full of screaming children. In an effort to seek some tranquility and see more of Malaysia, we decided to take an overnight trip to Gem Island, which is about two hours north of here. Gem Island and Kapas Island (its larger, more popular neighbor to the south) are two of the best places to snorkel on the east coast of Malaysia. Kapas is the larger of the two islands and has several beaches and resorts scattered throughout the island. We read that it can be really busy on the weekends and school holidays, so we wanted to avoid that at all costs. Gem Island however is a private island that you can only get to if you are staying at its villa resort. We read that the snorkeling tended to be more accessible on Gem Isle, with less people around scaring away all the fishies.

To get to Gem Island, we drove north two hours to the fishing village of Marang.

From there we took a quick 10 minute boat right right to the resort's front dock. The island is really cool. It is basically a large rock with a few areas carved out for beaches. All of the villas over look the water and are situated on top of the rocks and the beach.Speaking of, the villas at the Gem Island Resort were awesome. I took a ton of pictures of the room because this is what I would love my bedroom to look like some day.

After lunch and a quick rest we rented some snorkeling gear and hit the water. We weren't really sure where to start, so we jumped in on the far isolated end of the island. This was when we encountered the large monitor lizard running into the bat cave (as noted in Jeff’s lizard post). There was a lot of older coral and some really cool fish, but there were also super tiny microscopic jellyfish constantly stinging us. We couldn't even avoid them because you couldn't see them!

Then we moved to the other side of the island where we heard there was newer coral. While the tiny jellyfish were still there, they were not nearly as bad as on the other side of the island. The coral over here was much more vibrant and colorful. We must have seen at least 10 different types of coral. With the different coral of course comes different marine life. On this side we saw "Nemos" and "Doris" (clownfish and palette surgeonfish for the non-Disney aficionados) and dozens of other colorful and interesting species (such as blue ring angelfish, many varieties of rabbitfish and the cool giant clams). Unfortunately we weren't able to get an underwater camera, so we don't have any cool pictures to share.

When we woke up Saturday morning, the sun was shining and it was just beautiful outside. We grabbed the cameras and took a ton of pictures on the beaches. Then we headed to breakfast and did a little bit more snorkeling in the newer coral. It was high tide this time, so we didn’t have to worry about our bellies scratching the coral surface at certain points. With this extra room to swim, Jeff would randomly take-off chasing a fish of his fancy leaving me in the dust (hmm, ok … what is dust in the ocean … fish poop?).

The Gem Island Resort also operates its own turtle hatchery. When giant green sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs, the hotel moves them to their protected sanctuary to keep them safe from predators. Then, when the turtles hatch they are placed two different tanks where they can grow and develop free from predators. Once they are big enough, the hotel lets them loose and hopes they will come back some day to lay eggs there again.

After that, we showered up and headed back to the Awana Kijal. While it was only a one night get away, it was definitely worth it to have at least one night of relaxation and amazing snorkeling.

Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia!

It's hard to watch TV, read the newspaper, or drive around the city without seeing some sort of reminder that 2007 is the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's independence from the British (we feel you Malaysia - it's been 231 years for us and we still celebrate the 4th of July). For the 50th anniversary, the government officially declared 2007 to be Visit Malaysia Year. The tourism board came up with an elaborate advertising campaign using the catchy slogan of Visit Malaysia 2007 (the ever so addictive Malaysia, Truly Asia advertising campaign already noted in a previous blog post is also part of this effort). They have really gone all out promoting the best that Malaysia has to offer. There's a pamphlet we found at the airport detailing a different celebration happening somewhere in Malaysia each week of 2007. Unfortunately none of the celebrations in Terengganu are happening while we are here. While we won't be here for the actual independence day (called Hari Merdeka) on August 31st, we still feel like we are part of the celebration just by being here in 2007.

While 50 years of nationhood is great, there is a far more important (okay maybe that is an exaggeration) anniversary this year. 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of McDonald's arrival into Malaysia. So let's celebrate the 7 red stripes, 7 white stripes, the yellow crescent moon and 14-pointed star by picking up a Shrek 3 action figure, available only at McDonalds. Badabadada ... I'm Lovin' It, Malaysia.

So if you are looking for a vacation spot for 2007 we highly recommend Malaysia!

Lizards! with Photos and Amusing Anecdotes

Hello everybody! Jeff here to bring you this installment of Animal Planet - Malaysian Style. This post is dedicated to the reptilians I encounter during my day to day routine.
The creature I encounter most often is the Common Butterfly Lizard. At work, these guys rule the complex. I'd see about a dozen a day. When they fight, the lizard will run on two legs (on the same side) while flaring out his chest and neck-sack. Every now and then, I will notice a large male trying to get frisky with an unsuspecting female. The resultant action would appear like fighting to the untrained eye, but if you pay enough attention you will see the difference. This one instance, a lizard had another lizard's head completely in its mouth. I couldn't tell if he was trying to fight, mate, or eat the poor chap. I scared the big guy off, potentially saving the life of the smaller butterfly lizard. Do I consider myself a hero? I'm just an average man, doing his job everyday. But to answer the question, yes. Yes I do.In the morning, you will find these guys patrolling for bugs in the grass. It is always exciting to see one dart and attacking an aloof butterfly as it hovers above the ground. If these guys were around in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, I have a feeling the Szalinski kids and the bratty neighbors wouldn't have lasted long. The Common Butterfly Lizard is a shy creature, but I was still able to take some nice photos. They burrow in the sand, which gives them a sort of prarie dog look when they pop-up their heads.

Next on the list is one of the largest lizards I have seen in the wild, the Malayan Water Monitor. This guy is huge (photo from our trip to Pulau Kapas). He is in the same family as the Komodo Dragon, but he is non-toxic. I'll normally spot this species as roadkill on the way to work. Every now and then you'll see a live monitor crossing the road. One morning as I left the elevator at the hotel, I walked over the grating covering the water drain. Splash splash splash! I look under my feet, and this lizard about 6 feet long head-to-tail is struggling to get away. It was pretty cool (as long as they don't figure out how to come up through the toilet!). On our recent getaway to Pulau Kapas, as Mia and I walked to the beach behind the spa, we noticed a monster monitor lizard. This guy was massive! He waddled lizard-style into an adjacent cave, as we must have startled him. As he entered the cave (pictured above), about a hundred bats started flying out over our heads. It was a pretty amazing site! Too bad we didn't have our camera or camcorder handy!

The next specimen is a common site for many of our readers, the Gecko. For the past two months, we have shared the Awana Resort with these creatures. Trying to identify the species, we are leaning towards the Flat-Tailed Gecko with the Spiny-Tailed Gecko and Four Clawed Gecko a possibility. In the early morning and evenings, you cannot miss the geckos as they distinctly scuttle away on the wall. Not used to having little lizards leisurely dwelling on the wall, my first instinct tells me its a giant insect or spider! However, after a while you get used to their movement and it is no longer startling. One of my coworkers showed me a cool trick for these guys. Apparently, these geckos go nuts for laser pointers. They think the red spot is a nice juicy bug! It's a full day of enjoyment sitting in your room and controlling the poor little gecko as he runs around chasing the laser trail. On a recent assignment in tropical Southeast Asia, one of my coworkers would use this trick as an icebreaker to help meet some local ladies. All you have to do is get the gecko to following your laser, and then run the laser right up some unsuspecting person's leg. I am not sure how many friends he made, but I can guarantee it was entertaining. Unfortunately, Mia and I do not own a powerful enough laser pointer to replicate this experiment.

The last creature I have encountered out here is the Yellow Striped Tree Skink (please don't snicker at his name, it's not his fault he 'skinks' ... um ... ok, that was dumb). So as I was leaving work for my normal lunch at the McDonalds, I notice this lizard creature on the ground. This was not the normal butterfly lizard as detailed above. I took a good look at him, until he skittled into the drain. The guard at the security gate wondered what I was looking at. He thought it was the 'sand lizard' (local name for the Common Butterfly Lizard), but I gave him the description and he had never seen that species before. Now curious, I looked online and discovered it was the Yellow Striped Tree Skink, which is rarely encountered in the wild as it is a very shy species. So now I got THAT going for me!

Beach Day!

After several weeks of non-stop working, Jeff finally got a day off this weekend. It was a school holiday here, so it was far to busy to go to the islands and go snorkeling. Instead we decided to make it a beach day and enjoyed the hotel's 8 kilometer long private beach. One of the other employees here with us, Greg, also had the day off, so he came along to play.

The day started off with ping pong and Tiger Beer. The boys had some fun while I took pictures.

The ping pong table is located just outside of the children's play area. Normally there is a hotel employee working inside the play area to prevent hooligans from entering, but she was called away long enough for us to run in and take the following picture:

We then headed to the beach, making sure to avoid the golf course and any errant golf balls.

We took many breaks along the walk to look for crabs and to play a little Frisbee.

We walked all the way down to this great rocky area full of small tidal pools. Jeff and I climbed on the rocks for some great pictures.

Then Greg and Jeff decided sumo wrestling in the sand would be a whole lot of fun!

We spent several hours like this just relaxing, having fun, and trying to get some sun. I'm not going to say who, but based on this picture and our tans can anyone guess which one of us works and which one sits at the pool all day?

Russian Pop Music

I know we are not in Russia anymore, but this was a blog I was thinking about writing in Russia and never did. We had a conversation at dinner the other night that inspired me to finally sit down and write it.

While in Russia we didn't have any English TV (although for some reason the last two weeks we were there Animal Planet changed to the UK version), so if we watched TV at all it was usually the music video channel, which often played American bands. In case you are interested, the most popular American artists in Russia (at least based on how often the videos were played) seemed to be Jennifer Lopez, 50 Cent/Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Akon, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and the Pussycat Dolls. The channel also played a lot music from other European artists. We didn't really think about what music was being played until one day it dawned on us that we only saw videos in Russian about one third of the time. Jeff and I could really only identify a handful of artists by then end of our stay. If you don't believe us you can check out the top video chart from Russian MTV and see how many of the artists Russian, American or European.

While we could only remember a few artists, our favorite by far was a "rapper" named Timati. We constantly saw a video with him and another artist named DJ Dlee that was rather amusing. If you watch the video I am willing to bet that the song will get stuck in your head!

Another artist that caught our eye was Dmitriy (Dima for short) Bilan. We could not help but remember Dima based on his unforgettable hairdo. Though it has waned in popularity in the US, the mullet is all the rage for stylish Russians (a fact that Jeff and I didn't realize until we walked around the metropolitan streets of Moscow). As you can see from pictures, Dima sports an excellent mullet. We also remembered him because this video reminded us of Rico Suave for some reason (who knows why). He has an official site in English located here if you are interested.

The other night we were at dinner with the couple here from Russia. The subject of pop music came up and Jeff and I mentioned that we could only remember a few artists. They both laughed and confirmed that Russia was lacking in the pop music area. The direct quote was "Pop music is the shame of Russia." I don't know if I would go that far, but it confirmed why Jeff and I didn't see quite so much Russian music on MTV Russia!

Imu Barbecue

Every time Jeff and I ride the elevator at the hotel we see an advertisement for an authentic Hawaiian style dinner every Saturday night down near the beach at the hotel. The pictures looked fun and we were definitely curious to see the Malaysian take on a Hawaiian tradition. Because Jeff was working such long hours we never had the chance to attend, but the crew recently started working shorter shifts, so Jeff and I made reservations for last night.

The formal name of the dinner is the "Banana Plantation Imu Barbecue." We didn't know what imu meant, but a quick trip to Wikipedia informed us that an imu is an underground oven traditionally used by Hawaiians to cook a pig (based on the pictures that's what we figured, but we wanted to make sure). We were curious as what would be prepared in the imu since Malaysia is a Muslim country and since Muslims do not eat pig.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best last night, so the hotel had to move the party into the restaurant where we eat breakfast every morning. Despite the change in scenery, there was still a festive atmosphere. We were greeted by a yummy tropical fruit juice drink and started to make our way through the massive buffet. The hotel did a pretty good job preparing food you would expect to see at a luau (although of course there were also a few traditional Malaysian dishes just in case you forgot where you are!). The focal point of the whole meal however was the meat prepared in the imu. In lieu of pig, they roasted a leg of lamb, and it was delicious! Of course the night wouldn't be complete without a stop by the very large dessert section. I don't know if it was an homage to American culture or just a coincidence, but there were more desserts there than I have seen the whole time we have been here! I was in a sugar lover's paradise! All in all, we had a really good night and for a moment there it almost felt like we were back in the US at a Hawaiian luau.

What is Petronas?

This is a question I have asked myself many times while here in Malaysia, and I finally have an answer. Before arriving here the only thing I knew about Petronas was that it was the name of the two connecting towers in Kuala Lumpur (completely random side note - my whole life I thought it was Kuala Lampur . . . oops!). I figured it was some corporation that was headquartered in the Petronas Towers or some famous Malaysian named Petronas. Well it turns out I wasn't that far off (okay, maybe I was on my second thought!).

In driving around Malaysia I have seen the Petronas name everywhere, so I finally decided to investigate what it was all about. Jeff informed me that Petronas is a gas and oil company owned by the Malaysian government and that "Petronas" was actually short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad. Jeff drove me to his plant on his last day off and we certainly hit the petroleum district! You couldn't drive 10 feet without seeing a building or a person with Petronas emblazoned on it. Jeff explained that the company controls all of the gas and oil production in the entire country, and let me tell you there is a lot of it! Now it makes complete sense to me why the towers in KL (that's what everyone around here calls Kuala Lumpur) are named after Petronas!

Who Doesn't Love a Layover?

The layover. Unfortunately in today's travel market it's almost unavoidable if you are traveling more than a few hundred miles. In our travels Jeff and I have had many layovers in many different airports. Some were excellent while others were, well . . . lets just say less than enjoyable. Since we do so much traveling I check the Travel section on MSNBC.com almost daily. Today I came across an article that I could really relate to: the Best Airports for a Layover. As I read the article I noticed that Jeff and I have been to the majority of the airports listed - most of them in the past few months!

After reading the article I clicked on the link within the article to get the actual list compiled by Forbes Magazine. If you are planning on doing any international travel any time soon I would definitely check it out. In case you are too busy (or lazy!) to click on the link and see the pictures, here is the list along with Jeff and my experience with the airports:

Changi International Airport, Singapore - We both flew through here on our trip to Malaysia. I got in at around 12:00 at night and walking through the terminal was like a breath of fresh air. There were all these gorgeous native plants and little ponds everywhere that just seemed to put me at ease.

Hong Kong International Airport, China - Jeff flew through here on his way to Malaysia (I went through Tokyo). He agrees that it is a really nice airport.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas - We flew through here on our way to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. The terminal was really nice and it had a TGI Fridays so we were happy campers!

Zurich Airport, Kloten, Switzerland - Never been there - if you have feel free to share your experience!

Munich International Airport, Germany - Never been there either, so if you have, share away!

Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea - Jeff and I flew through here on our way to Ulsan, South Korea. Honestly, I don't remember being all that impressed with it, but I also don't have a negative opinion of it!

Central Japan International Airport, Ise Bay, Japan - Never been there, so let's hear about it if you have!

Luftansa First Class Terminal, Frankfurt, Germany - We have never been in the first class terminal, but we have been in the Business Class Lounges. Let me tell you, they look NOTHING like that picture! While there were a few beverages and some snacks, there was no elegant food and seating was cramped and hard to come by. I guess we are in need of an upgrade!

In the article they also mention the Doha, Qatar International Airport. While the first class lounge there may be nice, the rest of the airport is quite possibly the scariest/busiest/least organized airport I have ever been in! Thank goodness they are building a new larger one - hopefully that will be an upgrade!

While these places are awesome, there is one that I have seen on previous lists of this kind that I think should be included: Schiphol International Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands. I have flown through here several times and there is so much to keep you occupied and entertained. If you ever fly Northwest/KLM to Europe you will likely end up here.

In closing, to all of the airports out there making the layover better for all of us travelling fools, thanks for keeping it interesting!

Hail to the King!

On Thursday, April 26th, Terengganu (the state in which we reside in Malaysia) celebrated the Sultan of Terengganu's inauguration as the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia). The election of the King of Malaysia is a very unique process (not to mention the fact that it's unique just to elect a King). In Malaysia there are nine Rulers, known as the Conference of Rulers, who are essentially the leaders of nine Malay States. Though there are 13 states, the governors of four of those states are excluded from participating in the election of the King (for more information on why, read the link above for the Conference of Rulers). Every five years the Conference elects a new King, but not on an arbitrary basis. Basically the Kingship is passed from state to state every five years, and the new King is the Ruler in power when it is his state's turn for the throne. This is a very abbreviated version of the process, and if you click on the link above you can get more detailed information. 2006 was Terengganu's turn in the schedule, so in November the Sultan of Terengganu, Mizan Zainal Abidin, was elected as the new King. He officially took the throne on Thursday, so there was much celebration in Terengganu and the day was declared a state holiday.

Selamat Datang ke Malaysia

"Selamat Datang ke Malaysia" means "Welcome to Malaysia" in Malay, the native language here in Malaysia (though English is widely spoke as Malaysia used to be a British colony). The phrase is seen everywhere, and honestly, its just a lot of fun to say.

We are staying on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. For those of you who don't know about the geography of Malaysia (and I know there are a lot of you out there based on questions I have received), let me give you a quick lesson. First, Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia, not too far north of the Equator. It consists of two main parts: first the peninsula, which is shared with Thailand, and second, the Borneo part, which as you may guess is on the island of Borneo, and is shared with the countries of Brunei and Indonesia. Malaysia itself is divided into 13 states, two on Borneo, and the rest of the peninsula. We are staying in the state of Terengganu in the town of Kijal.

The hotel we are staying at, the five star Awana Kijal Golf, Beach and Spa Resort, is incredible. They have tennis, golf, a fitness center, a pool, a mile of beach, nine restaurants, a really helpful business office, and one of the coolest lobbies I have ever seen. As far as entertainment and amenities go, this is by far the best hotel we have stayed at yet. Here are just a few pictures we snapped from around the hotel:

Part of the open air lobby.

Path along the top of the beach

The beach (the body of water is the South China Sea)

View of the pool from our floor

Giant chess anyone (I will leave out the Harry Potter reference)?

No Giant Chess? Okay, how about Giant Chutes and Ladders?

In addition to the great hotel, this job is a lot of fun because there is an entire crew of six employees here. Plus, one of the other employees is traveling with his wife, so I have had someone to hang out with while the boys are hard at work. It has really been a nice change of pace to have people to hang out with and to be social with. Just being able to go to dinner with someone else really makes a difference!

All and all, I am really enjoying my time here. Jeff has been working really long hours, so I think he appreciates being able to come back to such a nice hotel!

Malaysia Truly Asia . . .

. . . the mountains and the sea. Malaysia Truly Asia. We are guessing that many of you have never heard this little ditty, but for at least the past 9 months this jingle has been a highlight of a commercial promoting tourism in Malaysia and has aired regularly on CNN World. When Jeff returned from Saudi Arabia before our wedding he sang this song non-stop, and I had no clue why he was singing about Malaysia. He told me about the commercial and about how it was on all the time and also about how it was just one of those jingles that sticks in your head. After hearing Jeff sing it all through our honeymoon I was curious if I would ever hear the actual version (as opposed to Jeff's rendition). Well luck would have it that as soon as we arrived in South Korea I too got to join in on the Malaysia Truly Asia fun. And let me tell you I started singing the song just as often as Jeff had been! Since then we have seen the commercial on a regular basis in both South Korea and Russia. In case you are interested in seeing it, you can access it here. Just select "TVC - Malaysia(30's)" from the drop-down menu under the "Europe/America Campaign." Disclaimer: Jeff and I take no responsibility if the song gets stuck in your head!

So I am sure you are wondering why I am writing about a commercial (or you are wondering why I won't just state the obvious), but Jeff and I are heading out to Malaysia. Actually that is not true, Jeff is already in Malaysia, and I am heading out there tomorrow. When we left Russia we thought we were heading back to Ulsan, South Korea at the end of April, but when Jeff went back to work we learned that in fact we were heading out to Malaysia . . . in four days. Unfortunately, those who know my legal side know that I have been trying to schedule a time to get officially sworn in as an attorney since I was in Korea during the mass admission ceremony. After nearly six months of trying to get the swearing in scheduled I was slated to get sworn in at the exact time we were slated to leave for Malaysia. Obviously I couldn't miss this meeting, and unfortunately Jeff couldn't delay his departure, so Jeff flew out without me last Tuesday. Since I knew there was no immediate reason for me to leave I decided to book a flight to visit my parents in South Carolina for a week and then fly out to Malaysia. I returned from South Carolina last night and leave for Malaysia tomorrow morning.

I haven't been able to talk to Jeff much since he left, but if Malaysia is anything like the commercials I think we are in for one heck of a good time!

Oh, and as a side note, we promise a Moscow blog soon, but as you can imagine things have been a little chaotic around here!

London Calling

I know this is post is incredibly delayed, but hey, better late than never :) While on my quick visa trip to Guildford, England I was able to spend a day in Central London. Now anyone who has ever been to London (and I am guessing there are quite a few of you out there) knows that there is no way to see London in just one day, but I did my best to see as much as I could.

After taking an early train into Waterloo Station I started my day by heading over towards Westminster Abbey. The weather was as I would expect it to be in London . . . rainy and chilly. But I wasn't letting the weather slow me down - I was on a mission to see as much of London as possible before my afternoon train back. On the way to Westminster Abbey I saw my first big sight: the London Eye (note that this picture was taken later in the day when the rain cleared up).

The Eye wasn't open yet, so I kept on moving towards Westminster Abbey. On the walk across the bridge I saw probably the most iconic London sight, Big Ben and Parliament.

After stopping for a few pictures I walked another block or two and ended up at Westminster Abbey.

I went inside and took a tour, which was incredible, but unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures. After a quick stop in the gift shop I headed out towards Buckingham Palace. The route brought me across the British Horse Guards, which I hadn't actually intended to see. However, I saw a huge group of people staring at something, so I figured I would cross the street and check it out. I got there just in time to see the changing of the guard, which was a pleasant surprise!

I then headed through St. James's Park and followed the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walkway, where I caught my first glance of Buckingham Palace.

I had hoped to take a tour of the palace or catch the changing of the guard in front of the palace, but unfortunately the palace was closed and the guard changes every other day and I was there on the wrong day.

However, this opened up some more time in my day, so I was able to walk around and see more sites. I stopped by Trafalgar Square next . . .

. . . where they were taking down the Lion's Scarves. I didn't know what that was all about, but I did some research when I got home and learned that knitters from all over the country knit the scarves as a major charity project.

After seeing Picadilly Circus and Downing Street I decided to get off my feet and return to the Eye for a relaxing ride. The views were amazing and I posted a ton of pictures on our Yahoo Photo Site. I then started to ride the Tube to see a few far lying sights. I am sure that many of you know that I love the Harry Potter books and movies, so I had to take a train into King's Cross Station.

Though no trains were loading at the time I was determined to get on the platform and take a picture of the wall all Hogwarts students must run through to ride the Hogwarts Express. I was promptly yelled at for being on the platform, but I got my picture :) A few interesting facts for Harry Potter fans. First, the wall they run through is actually between platforms four and five. Second, the station only has 8 platforms, so there is no platform nine and three quarters. I also took the Tube to London Bridge so I could take a picture of Tower Bridge.

I think many foreigners believe that Tower Bridge is London Bridge (or at least I always thought it was), so I learned something! After Tower Bridge I was exhausted and had to head back to Guildford to make sure I could get my passport so I could return to Russia! However, I left London feeling like I packed in as much as I could. I can't wait until I get to return to see so much more!

Back from the USSR ... errr ... Russian Federation

We are back home! Jeff was released from the job in Ryazan on Friday and Saturday we headed to Moscow for a little bit of work and a little bit of sight seeing. We will definitely be posting pictures and a blog about the trip soon. We left Moscow on Wednesday afternoon and got back here on Wednesday evening.

We're not sure how long we'll be back or where we are off to next, but we will let you know as soon as we find out!

PS - Watch out for Mia's London post with pictures ... coming soon!