Diving Sipadan

Greetings from the Sulu Sea! 

After a few weeks in Kuala Lumpur full of Rotary activities and, gasp...applying for jobs so I have something to do upon my return to America, I set off for another quick adventure with my two Japanese roommates. 

We flew to Tawau, Sabah and hopped a ride to the coastal town of Semporna which was our base for two days of wonderful scuba diving.  Sabah is in East Malaysia, know more to the rest of the world as Boreno.  In Malaysia they refer to this area as East Malaysia because the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak only comprise less than half of the island of Borneo.  The bottom half of Borneo is the Indonesian state of Kalimantan and the small country of Brunei is also tucked in. 

We spotted a Rotary billboard in Tawau!

About to enjoy a seafood dinner on a nice evening in Semporna

Sipadan is a small island off the coast from Semporna and is touted as one of the top dive sites in the world.  The island formation rises 600 meters from the sea floor and was created by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone.  Shaped like a mushroom with a small island forming the dome, vertical sea cliffs drop off dramatically just meters from shore.  This beautiful island and underwater world was highlighted by Jacques Cousteau’s film Ghost of the Sea Turtles.      

I can see why Jacques Cousteau liked Sipadan Island

This island has a very unique history; there used to be five resorts on the island but in the year 2000 21 people (10 dive tourists and 11 resort staff) were kidnapped by Filipino pirates.  They were held for more than a year and slowly ransomed off for millions of dollars.  Our dive master told us he was working on the island during that time but happened to be leading a night dive when the kidnapping occurred.  He and his group surfaced when they finished their dive but heard people yelling “pirates!” from the shore so they quietly re-submerged and hid in a shallow area of the reef for two more hours before resurfacing to safety.  The island was also part of a territorial land dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia for many years until it was officially declared part of Malaysia by the International Court of Justice in 2002. 

In 2004, under pressure from conservation groups and others, the Malaysian government ordered all on-site dive operators to remove their structures from the island and operate from someplace else.  I assume that after the kidnappings, there probably weren’t many visitors that came for more than day trips anyways.  To further reduce impacts on the marine environment, only 120 permits per day are issued to visit the island which includes divers, snorkelers, and guides.  This means you definitely need to plan ahead if you want to dive there, and pay the price.  Many backpack type travelers show up only to be disappointed that permits may be booked out for weeks or months. 

Although I have only been diving in a few other areas before Sipadan (namely Koh Tao, Thailand and Roatan, Honduras), I believe the diving here lived up to its hype.  The diversity and abundance of plants and animals was amazing, and the underwater geography was mind blowing.  Literally vertical sea wall cliffs dropping off for hundreds of meters, never ending as you looked up and down!  We encountered sea turtles, reef sharks, and HUGE schools of fish including barracudas.  It was crazy being faced with and surrounded by walls of fish.  Diving at this location was definitely a memorable experience and worth the journey and logistics to get there.  My roommate Tomomi had an underwater housing for her camera so I can't help but share many of the great shots:

More on a Day in the Life of an Ambassadorial Scholar

As you may have guessed from reading this blog, our duties as Ambassadorial Scholars are very flexible, and we are forever grateful for that. Our mission is to serve as a catalyst of exchange of information and ideas between our host and sponsor Rotary Districts. Rotary in Alaska is much different than Rotary in Malaysia. By visiting, interacting, and presenting to Rotary Clubs, Rotaract Clubs, Inner Wheel Clubs, and other groups, my knowledge of how Rotary works and the spirit and pure energy of the people who engage in this organization has blossomed. Since Rotary Clubs reflect the cultures in which they exist (socioeconomic, gender, age, formality or informality, level of interaction), I have been exposed to many inside delights of the country that I would not have a chance to understand if I was merely a traditional exchange student at the University of Malaya. I have learned so much about everything from religion to government, to eating habits and, of course…how to be a passionate and engaged global citizen!

A pleasant afternoon spent at a Sikh temple experiencing a thanks giving prayer ceremony.

Any day that you get to wear a Punjabi suit is a good day.  Learning about
global religions with my Malaysian Rotary host counselor Kiren.

Through volunteering with clubs on service projects, I have enjoyed tasting the fullness of life, stretching my mind and perspective in new and extraordinary ways. It is through these opportunities that we are able to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. The joy of living in a foreign country is the luxury of leaving all of my beliefs and certainties at home and allowing myself to see everything I thought I knew in a new and different light. 

At this point I have to put a plug in for Rotaract, as I've seen this group in a new and different light in Malaysia and globally.  I'm sure I've mentioned this segment of Rotary a few times before in this blog, but recently it was great see how strong and vibrant this group is in Malaysia.  Rotaract Clubs are Rotary sponsored clubs for young adults aged 18-30ish and the title stands for Rotary in Action.  Rotaract's purpose is to provide an opportunity for young men and women to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical and social needs of their communities, and to promote better relations between all people worldwide through a framework of friendship and service.  D3300 Rotaract had their awards night recently and it was amazing to see all the energy that these students and young professionals bring to the community projects they execute.

Current District Rotaract Representative awarding the immediate past District Rotaract
Representative the coveted recognition of Rotaractor of the Year.  Nice work guys!

Congrats to the Rotaract Club of Kuala Lumpur for their numerous recognitions throughout the evening. 
Truly an inspiration for me when I head back to Alaska and re-engage with Rotaract there.

Of course the evening couldn't end without dancing!  Kudos to the organizing committee for pulling off such a great even with such large attendance (over 300 people!).  All the hard work paid off.

So far, by rough count, I’ve formally given over 30 presentations to Rotary Clubs and other groups. I’ve informally visited many more clubs and participated in Rotary in as many other ways that you can think of.  So here’s a few more flag exchange photos for you and highlights from recent Rotary related events and activities.

Sharing about Rotary in Alaska and Alaska's unique culture with RC Bandar Sunway.

Another Rotary get together with the wonderful Rotarians from RC Pantai Valley.

The strong women of RC Bandar Utama whom which I climbed to Everest Base Camp with.

My favorite Rotarian and birthday buddy, Kiren.

Joint presentation to RC Gombak with fellow Ambassadorial
Scholar Tomoko (also my dear friend and roommate).

Buses and Baguettes

As I stepped on board the bus, armed with two baguettes, I was happy to realize the relative comfort my 12 hour bus ride from Hanoi, Vietnam toward northern Laos would provide.  Unlike many other Southeast Asia backpack style travelers, I have greatly avoided long bus rides at any cost because of my highly motion sensitive tummy.  But as this was an overnight sleeper bus with fully horizontal bunks, I figured I could pop a Dramamine, put on my headphones and awake that much closer to realizing my recent dream of exploring Laos by riverboat. 

...but anything that helps me to sleep on long bus rides is OK :)  There were many signs like
 this one, sponsored by the German government, nearing the Vietnam/Laos border.

Unfortunately, although the bus looked and felt fairly modern, that didn’t penetrate to the engine itself.  I awoke at 11pm wondering why I was feeling highly claustrophobic and realized it was because the bus was stopped, engine off, meaning no air conditioning, and no opening windows, ahhh!  We were broken down.  I struggled out of my bunk to towards the front door as quickly and quietly as I could which was not an easy task as there were many people sleeping in the aisles.  Many forms of transportation in this part of the world employ “the bus is never full” rule and fit as many humans as possible for the ride to make more money.  My apologies to any random Vietnamese whose faces I may have stepped on while trying to reach the front door. 

Some cute kids, content to play with their squash, until the
excitement of a broken down bus came along.

After much banging and clanking by the driver on the rear part of the engine, which everyone else seemed to sleep through, we were on the road again.  But this scene repeated itself several more times at 1am, 5am, and 7am.  At one point the engine quit going over a pass, stranding us on a 9% incline on a blind corner.  Here I disembarked again and enjoyed watching the Hmong women with their long, black, beautiful hair walk and buzz by on motor bikes with the morning produce and a few pigs. 

We finally reached our destination on for that leg of the trip, albeit 6 hours late.  We arrived in Dien Bien, Vietnam (about 90 km from the Laos border) at 10am, 5 hours after I was supposed to have connected with another bus that would take me directly across the border to meet up with my travel companion and enjoy some river time.  I tried not to be too disappointed and thankfully found a guesthouse right across the street from the bus station where I could wash the journey off of me and figure out what there was to explore in this town I knew nothing about, and that apparently received very few foreign visitors.

A little friend I made in Dien Bien.

Dien Bien, I learned, is known for a famous battle where the French colonial forces were defeated in 1954.  This is one of the most remote parts of Vietnam and the region is very beautiful.   A random Vietnamese guy who befriended me on the bus with a bit of English offered to show me around as he was in town on business, something to do with concrete is all I could surmise.  We visited a cemetery, had tea with a local family that he was friends with, explored underground trenches, bunkers, and bomb sites.  So an unexpected delay turned out not so bad after all.   

Downtown Dien Bien.

Rotary May Recap

With many Rotary activities taking place in May, I thought I’d take the chance to catch up and share some photos of recent events and with some of my favorite people.  The Rotary International Convention took place in the beginning of May in Bangkok and you can read about that here, but it was also a busy month for my local Rotary district in Malaysia.

The Rotary Foundation (TRF) night was a great celebration of Rotary and its donors.  The Rotary Foundation is the non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International.  The Foundation is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends so share the vision of making the world a better place.  It’s a district wide event so I loved seeing many Rotary friends that I’ve become acquainted with from many clubs throughout my stay. 

Past President Dr. Sen, myself, and Tomoko.

Lovely Rotarians from RC Pantai Valley.

The fantastic members of my host club RC Titiwangsa.

The next day brought the re-dedication of the Rotary District 3300 Time Capsule.  This time capsule was established in the year 2000 with the intention of opening it in 100 years.  Enclosed are bulletins and memorabilia from all the Rotary Clubs that were established at the time.  Over the last 12 years, the monument has suffered from a bit of decay and vandalism so the district stepped up its efforts to re-vitalize it adding some stone pillars with Rotary information inscribed about the mission of the organization, and by adding a huge Rotary wheel atop the monument.  This transformed the site into more of an official square/park which will invite more people to check it out.  It’s quite impressive in that is located right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at Freedom Square, where many historical events have occurred in Malaysia’s history.  I don’t think there is any other major city in the world that has Rotary’s vision so prominently displayed for the public to learn about.  I’m thankful to be part of such an active district and have the chance to learn about Rotary and its many missions and programs.

Next, I had the chance to give a present to the Rotary Club of Cheras.  This is the only bi-lingual club in the district and it conducts its meetings in English/Mandarin.  Thankfully, when they have visitors, they stick to English J  It’s always easy to recognize Rotarians from this club because they have adopted a sort of uniform…green blazers!  At any event, you can always easily spot a Cheras Rotarian and start up a good conversation with them. 

Fellowship and attendance are serious business!

I didn't have a green blazer, but I tried to wear the greenest, most Chinese thing I owned, haha.

The next day I had the chance to meet and present with the Rotary Club of Seremban which happens to be the first chartered club in Malaysia.  The city of Seremban is about 45 minutes south of Kuala Lumpur and I always enjoy visit there and seeing many Rotary friends, including visiting my host counselor and her family in their home.  This is also the home club of the District Governor, although he was not in attendance that evening.  Its OK though as we've met many other times at district events.  One of the members was so kind to host me in their home that evening as I had to be at the airport super early to catch a flight to Sumatra! 

Last but not least, we had a special visitor…another Ambassadorial Scholar! Miss Kristen is from Texas and she has been serving as an Ambassadorial Scholar in Hong Kong. You can follow her fun and inspiring blog about her experiences at Kristen's HKB. I have found it great to be in touch with other SE Asia Ambassadorial Scholars to compare our experiences and learn from each other. She and her boyfriend made the trek to Malaysia for a short holiday before her term ended and she headed back to Texas. We were excited to host them and tried to show them as much of Kuala Lumpur as we could in two days!


The gang enjoying a fantastic fresh seafood dinner on our way
to witness Malaysia's best fireflies.  A very nice excursion.

Enjoying a various selection of local foods at a vegetarian food fair in my neighborhood.

There happened to be a big parade and celebration put on by the
Malaysian Tourism Association so we stopped by to check it out.

Trying to fit everything "Malaysia" on one float.  I find it amusing
that they include shoe shopping as one of the main highlights.

I’m off to share the culture of Alaska and what Rotary does up north with another local club, the Rotary Club of Bandar Sunway.  I’ve officially given presentations to more than 30 clubs and it’s been an honor to do so, they are always so welcoming!  Even if it’s just a small thing to share a bit of our cultures, I do think it goes a ways to help make the world a better place J

Two months and four days until I return to America, stay tuned!

A Very Special Visit with the Rotary Club of Medan Deli

A recent trip to Sumatra, Indonesia provided me with the opportunity to visit with one of the sister Rotary clubs of my host club in Malaysia.  The Rotary Club of Medan Deli was so kind to welcome me and show me around many of their service projects and sites of Medan, and of course include me in some wonderful fellowship and good food.  It’s always a treat to be able to visit a place and be shown around by locals.  Medan is only about a 50 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur and is a city of about 2 million people with five Rotary Clubs.  RC Medan Deli went so far as to re-schedule their usual weekend meeting to a different day so that I could meet everyone!  They kindly greeted me with a delicious vegetarian Chinese dinner and we shared information about our clubs and projects as well as our cultures.  They really welcomed me and made me feel like a true ambassador J 

Fellowship with RC Medan Deli members.

The next morning Rotarian Sui Kim greeted me nice and early for a local vegetarian noodle breakfast and then took me to the outskirts of the city to visit one of several clinics that the club built and helps run.  This one was a specialized optometry clinic as well as being a general clinic.  Daily they conduct eye exams and are also able to treat other ailments and give out prescribed medicines.  The clinic is on a sliding scale of pay what you can. 

The major activity that takes place here is cataract surgeries.  Twice a year a doctor comes over from India and in three days performs approximately 150 cataract operations!  This is an amazing and very important service as cataract prevalence in adults rural Indonesia is among the highest reported in Southeast Asia.  Cataracts are the primary cause of blindness worldwide, even though this can be treated with a relatively simple, cost-effective operation. Cataracts particularly afflict people in East Asia and South Asia. The main cause is high exposure to UV sun rays and in coastal areas the tropical sunlight reflecting off sand and water. Smoking, poor nutrition, and aging are also contributing factors.  I also learned how the club was able to apply for and receive a Rotary International Global grant to purchase supplies for these surgeries by partnering with co-sponsoring clubs in Taiwan. The ability to give 300+ people per year the gift of site is only one of the many great projects of RC Medan Deli.

Rotarian Sui Kim and the nurse at the clinic.

 

Next I joined Past President Sarkunadas to visit a second clinic.  This one was completed just six months ago in November 2011 and acts as a general clinic and also as a dental clinic on two days per week.  It was great to meet the doctors there that volunteer their time to help others.  Another great thing is that these clinics are built right in the communities that they serve so people can walk to ride a bicycle there and not have to travel long distances just for basic medical care. 

The volunteer dentist in the new clinic.

Soon after we met up with President Pa Bie Bie who is the driving force behind the Rotary club and also has his own charitable foundation.  He used to work in the palm oil industry and has now “retired” to full time charity work.  He gave us a tour of the home for the elderly that he is in the process of constructing which will open later this year.  Compared to old folks’ homes that I’ve seen in America, this one is turning out to be quite exquisite!  There was a lot of effort put into the gardens and landscaping including a meditation garden with shaded sitting areas, ponds, and fountains.  It was looking more like a resort than an elderly home, so the geriatrics that live there will definitely be comfortable.  

Past President Sarkunadas, myself, and President Bie Bie.

Constructing the meditation domes.

We were able to meet the landscape architect who explained to us his vision of creating a forest there.  I can’t wait to return in five years and see how it all looks.  Also included on the ground are housing for monks, a vegetarian kitchen and herb garden for them, and a Buddhist temple that will be used for ceremonies.  When it is finished, it will house about 110 people and include and community type center and maybe someday a school.

The visionary landscape architect with us in front of one of his creations.  He was fascinating
as he's also been a journalist, opera singer/composer, artist, and has lived in NYC and Texas and Jakarta.

One more of RC Medan Deli's projects to help the community.

Different community groups and members sponsored construction of some of the
units in the elderly home, including two by RC Medan Deli.

The great thing about cruising new places with locals is the chance to indulge in delicious and unique food that you would have never known where to find otherwise.  We were in a seemingly industrial area when they pulled over and walked right into what looked like someone house, no sign, no anything.  A few minutes later we were presented with some very yummy nagasari which is a steamed cake made form flour, coconut milk and sugar, filled with bananas and wrapped in a banana leaf.  Other delights were presented and I was informed that more was cooking and in another hour or two the place would be packed with people coming way out of their way from the city just to visit this place.  Who would have known?  Rotarian Sarkunadas, although I found out that it was his birthday, was then kind enough to take me to a vegetarian restaurant in the city which was buffet style, allowing me to try and bit of everything.  It’s always fun to compare type of cuisine with people from around the world as they are very interested in what is the norm in America.  I have to always remind them that I don’t indulge in the typical American diet as I am a vegetarian (with the exception of wild Alaska seafood J). 

Indonesia, even more so than Malaysia, is famous for its batik.  You can read a description of the craft in my earlier post here.  Batik actually comes from an old Javanese word meaning “to dot" and I decided I couldn't leave Indonesia without taking some back with me.  It’s a fine man who agrees to accompany a lady to the market for some shopping to pick out some batik pieces especially on his DOB, haha.  I tried not to take too long, but the prints, patterns, and designs were all so amazing that it was hard to choose!

Also, a big thank you to Past President Sugoro for coordinating my visit and arranging for me to stay in his guesthouse.  I hope that I can meet some of these lovely Rotarians again before I leave SE Asia.    

Displaying my new batik blouse with Past President Sarkunadas and
his wife over a yummy Indian meal.