Baby Sea Turtles!

Well, I did my part to save the world last night by helping to release baby sea turtles into the ocean.  Unfortunately, their chance of survival is very low (1 in 1,000), thankfully places like the Bubbles Dive Resort are aiding in turtle conservation.  The following turtle information may not be news to some of you, but I have learned a lot about sea turtles in the last 2 days so I’ll share with you here.  There are 5 species of sea turtles in the world (green, leatherback, olive ripley, loggerhead, hawksbill).  The leatherback turtle is the largest of the species and can grow up to the size of a small car.  Malaysia used to be a prime spot for leatherback turtle nesting, but in the past several decades human and other impacts have made the leatherback only a legend here.   

Fortunately, green turtles still nest on the Perhentian Islands and there are some very ecofriendly resorts aiding in conservation efforts.  At the small resort we are staying at, they basically watch for nesting turtles, and as soon as they lay their eggs, someone will dig them up and incubate them in a sandy environment away from the beach.  This seems counter-intuitive, but egg survival is very low due to many factors including human poaching (they like to eat turtle eggs still in some areas), animal predation (lizards, small rodents, etc.), infestation of the nests by ants, and fungus.  Each nest can contain up to 60 eggs and they incubate for 50-60 days before hatching.  Once the babies emerge, they are taken down to the beach under the cloak of darkness and released near the top of the beach and watched to make sure they make their way to the water.  The trek from the beach to the water is important because when the crawl across the sand it leaves and imprint on their soft underside and this will somehow tell them where to come back and mate/nest when they are adults, similar to salmon returning to the stream where they hatched.  The babies have enough energy to swim for 72 hours straight upon which, if they survive that long, they find some sort of undersea baby sea animal oasis of sea grass and live in and around there for 5-6 years while they learn to feed and become big turtles.  They don’t start to reproduce until they are 17-18 years old, and then only every other year.  If you know any turtle experts, or if you want to volunteer and fall in love with baby sea turtles, come this way!  To view more adorable baby sea turtle photos and learn more visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Bubbles-Dive-Resort/289556186343.

Baby green sea turtles.

I am on holiday on the island of Perhentian Besar for 5 days.  Not to brag, but it’s pretty much tropical paradise.  I hopped on a trip with my new friend Q’Juan and her brother and cousin.  They were coming here to get dive certified and I decided it would just be nice to lie on the beach, relax, snorkel, and sunbathe to get rid of my glowing white Alaska skin that makes me stand out even more that other Caucasians in Malaysia.  We drove all night from Kuala Lumpur (about 9 hours because of traffic due to the holidays) to the northeast coast of Malaysia, and then took a water taxi to this secluded beach resort.  The “resort” is small (less than 20 rooms), friendly (lots of families), and not connected to any other beaches.  Besides thoroughly enjoying some recreational reading, and napping in the hammocks, I also got daring today and decided to go on a small hike through the jungle.  I was drenched within minutes due to the humidity of the jungle, but the view of the clear blue water from above was worth it.  I didn’t get attacked by any monkeys but I was afraid to stand still for too long with the multitude of ants seemingly everywhere, it sounded like thousands of tiny bubbles popping when I stopped to listen to them crawling around on the jungle floor.  I also enjoyed a ½ day snorkel trip to 3 different locations seeing every colorful fish you can imagine, a sea turtle, and blue spotted sting ray. 



Q'Juan and I after enjoying a dip in the warm warm waters.



View from my hammock.

Jungle trekking.

Glad I didn't grab on to this one on my way down.

View from the top.

Holidays and Little India

There are Malaysian flags EVERYWHERE in celebration of Merdeka (Malaysian Independence Day).

Street around the corner from my apartment, I live in the "Little India" part of the city.

They redeveloped this area last year, making the streets one-way and adding decoration to the area with these arches and street designs.

Large fountain near my apartment, it has about 20 elephant figures.  Worshiped by Hindu sects, Lord Ganesh is the "remover of obstacles" and it identified by his elephant head. 

Tuesday through Friday of next week are recognized as public holidays in Malaysia.  Two holidays happen to fall back to back this year, Hari Raya, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan, and Merdeka, which is Malaysia's equivalent to 4th of July, celebrating 54 years of independence this year.  During Hari Raya, most Muslim people journey to visit their extended families outside the city so Kuala Lumpur will become very quiet.  It is said that you will be able to dance in the streets because there will be no traffic.  I will be taking advantage of the extended holiday by taking a trip to the Perhentian Islands off the northeast coast of Malaysia up near Thailand to relax with the turtles in tropical paradise before my university classes start the following week.

Since these holidays are happening at the same time, I've heard that the celebrations for Medeka will be scaled down some and the main events (parades, etc.) will take place on September 16th, which is known as Malaysia Day.  This day commemorates the establishment of the Malaysian federation in 1963.

The bottom 3 photos are from my neighborhood.  I live in an area known as the Brickfields, which is the "new" little India area of Kuala Lumpur.  This area was redeveloped in 2010 and was dedicated in a ceremony by the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and India.  It is a convenient area to reside because it is within walking distance of KL Central which is the main public transit hub for the city.  I can easily hop the light rail to the university from here or head to most other parts of the city. 

Only day 4?

Its hard to believe that I've only been here for four whole days.  We have definitely kept busy!  Sunday consisted of exploring the city with our roommate Menal who has been living here for 3 years, from Saudi Arabia, attending university working on her Master's degree in Family Economics.  I'm not really sure what that study is yet, but I'm sure I'll find out more details in due time.  When I refer to "we/us/our" it mostly means myself and the other Ambassadorial Scholar, Tomoko.  You can probably guess that she's from Japan.  Most of our time has been spent together so far. 

Sunday we started to learn how to use the public transit which consists of buses, light rail, monorail, and commuter trains.  They are not interconnected all that well, but I think it won't take too long to get the hang of it.  We went to some of the main centers of town including Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC), where the Petronas Towers are located, and KL's Time Square and other major shopping/entertainment areas.  The streets in KL are definitely not on a grid system, so it will take a while to figure out walking between different areas, mostly navigating by landmarks.  I can find my apartment by public transit, but not very well by car which was evidenced when a kind person who has never been to our apartment offered to drop us off last night and we got lost on one way streets!  We have had the pleasure of being taken around to appointments in the city by private driver's who work for some of the Rotarians who are hosting us.

Yesterday (Monday) was very busy with Rotary activities.  We went to a Rotary Club meeting for lunch at a fancy hotel called Shangri-La, and then to another dinner meeting with the club that is hosting me (Rotary Club of Titiwangsa) for dinner which lasted until 11pm.  Everyone is very very happy to meet us and so kind offering to have us to their homes and excited to share Malaysian food and culture with us. 

10+ floos of escalators in a shopping center.

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004, they are still the tallest twin towers.  Petronas is a Malaysian oil and gas company.

Roomies and I enjoying some air conditioning.

View from the 18th Floor

View from one of our balconies.

Main living area.

My roomate from Saudi Arabia has 2 cats, this one's name is Katkot which means baby of the chicken.

This one is Dabdob, meaning baby of the bear.

View looking down from second balcony.

View from second balcony.  I like the "little" purple building in the middle.

I spent my first full day in Malaysia at a mega mall.  There are lots of those around here aparently.  One of our Rotary hosts who is also our landlord took us out to buy all of the random essential things we might need.  It was really crowded because it is a holiday time here and all the stores are having sales.  The week after next everyone has Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off because it is the end of Ramadan and Malaysia's country day, like our 4th of July.  I have been invited on a trip out to some tropical islands!

6,636 miles from Anchorage

Through great pressure from my family and friends, and a reasonable obligation to document my adventures for those who have supported me, I officially enter my first blog post!  I'll be sharing my experiences with you while I'm living 6,636 miles away from my most recent home (Anchorage, Alaska), in my new home for a year...Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Talk about a change in climate!

No promises about how much I'll update, I'll try and hold myself to it (you should pressure me if I start to fail).  Through time I'll fill you in on why I'm here and what I'm doing!  Signing off from my new home on the 18th floor of a 20 storey apartment complex.

Dunia Kecil=small world in the Malay language.