Reflections on Another Year

February 9th, 2012
Satit Bangna School

It’s hard to believe that an entire school year is coming to an end once again. I have had an amazing amazing past year and I’m really happy with my choice to come back to teach. I taught K1-K3 (ages 3, 4 and 5) as well as M5 (11th grade) and M6 (12th grade) English, so I guess you could say I’ve had the full spectrum. I love having the variety in my day though and I’ve learned a lot in having experience with such different age groups.

I think one of my top highlights of the year came a couple weeks ago as my M6s prepared for their last day of high school. It definitely brought nostalgic memories from my time at Wayzata and how it seems that time has absolutely flown by…can you believe it’s been almost 7 years since I graduated high school? Anyway, my M6s and I became really close by the time their graduation had come around. Our school is unique in that it’s so close-knit and it’s encouraged to really get to know the students; it feels like one family and that’s exactly what it was like with me and M6: one big family.

I quickly realized at the beginning of the year that these kids were exactly how I was in Senior year…they are worried about the future, they are starting to come to grips with the fact that they are growing up and the last thing they want to do is learn grammar. So, I made adjustments and tried my hardest to focus less on tenses and conjugation and more on speaking and communicating. I encouraged them to forget about being shy, to not be afraid to make mistakes and to feel comfortable talking openly about whatever was on their mind in class. It seemed to work, because by the end of the year I had gotten to know every single one of them.

I got to know a solid group of them outside school as well when they asked me to join their band as the lead singer for a couple shows at school. I had so much fun with them rocking out in a music practice studio for hours and hours. A concert was planned for the M6’s last day and the kids were all really excited. I think 7 or 8 bands were set to play (yea, there are that many bands in one school!) and had spent so much time preparing. However, due to some conflict of interest our school director told them it was a no-go. It was really difficult seeing them so upset and they approached me to see if I could help. I met with the director and administrative head about the issue and very respectfully explained the situation and tried to work out how we could best solve the problem. By the end of the meeting and another meeting (among many other meetings between director and students, etc) we had reached a compromise and the show was back on. I don’t really like going up against a director’s wishes, but I know how much it meant to the students and I think being able to mediate helped everyone realize where the other was coming from.


 

It’s hard to explain how amazing these kids are, so I’ll try to demonstrate through what happened on their last day at school:



Me with both sections of my M6 classes



M6 doesn’t really have a formal graduation like we have, but instead the whole last day is dedicated to them. In the morning the students stood in a big group while students from every other grade brought them flowers and presents. Then there was a speech from the director and some time for them to sign yearbooks (or friendship books.) A cool tradition they have is to have their friends sign their uniform so when they graduate they will have all their memories on the shirt they had worn every day to school.



After the blessing ceremony



Next up was the blessing ceremony. Basically all of the M6 teachers, administrators, etc. sit on chairs and the students come one by one to each teacher who ties a white string around their wrist and gives them words of good luck, etc. It’s amazing when one chapter is coming to an end, how many thoughts and images and emotions come at you all at once. I was going strong sorting out my white strings and ready to pass on some words of 'teacherly' wisdom to the students that I had become so close to. Then, the music started--you know like in a movie where you think you're going to make it through the intense scene until the producers put in that one song that changes everything. Well, the music started playing and the kids started coming and kneeling one by one. I thought I was going to hold it together until I looked up and saw one of my favorite students, who is in the band I played with, with tears in his eyes. Then the next and the next. Game Over. I did my best to get across my message: a blur of salt-water, English and Thai, wishing them luck and happiness and thanking them for an unforgettable year. It seems easy enough right? However, when 40+ teary-eyed students look up at you and say things like 'I love you teacher' and ''I’ll never forget you. Please never forget me' you really can’t help it. In a country where a bow takes the place of a handshake or a hug you can imagine how much it means when student after student asks permission to get up from their kneeling position to hug you. A lot of emotions in one day, that's for sure.



Our Band (Jiw, Me, Pae, Thur and Ming)



After the ceremony we had a really delicious lunch and got ready for the concert later in the day. I sang in two different bands (5 songs for one and 2 songs for the other.) It was so much fun being up there and jamming out; I sang everything from Blink 182 to Foo Fighters to a punk cover of ‘Girlfriend’ by Avril Lavigne to rapping in ‘Party Rock Anthem’ by LMFAO. What a cool way to close out the school year for them—there were loads of students from all the different years dancing and singing along as each band got up and played their sets. By the end there were mosh pits and water spraying and so much laughter it was hard not join in.

 

 

Mai, Pat and Win at dinner

Mosh Pit

That evening a big group of students and some teachers went out for dinner and we had a great time eating, drinking, reminiscing, etc. I got to have some one on one time with a few of the students who I'd gotten really close with and one of them, who's English took a magic turn for the better this semester (literally I could only speak Thai to him at the start of the year), looked at me and goes 'Teacher, I'm so happy. I’m not sure why we met. I’m in Thailand, and you’re in America. I think we were family in a past life and that we were supposed to find each other again in this life.' Another said 'Teacher you are the reason I don't miss school anymore. You make me want to speak English.' Another said ' Teacher I don't want school to be over. But now I think it's good because you are not my teacher anymore. You are my brother.'




Brothers: Thur, Pe Nathan, Jiw, David

So this wasn’t written to toot my own horn, although it’s hard not to feel pretty great about what they said, but instead to give some insight into my world over here. I've gone to dinner and played pool a couple times with some of the students since then and they call me Pe Nathan now instead of teacher which is how you refer to your older brother. I guess it’s just reassuring to me that I made a good decision when I decided to come back and it’s always good to learn that you did make an impact, because, trust me, there are some days at work where you feel like nothing you are doing is ever going to get through. However, when something like this happens, you realize that when people say ‘teaching is fulfilling and rewarding’ you can’t help but agree. I’ve been so lucky this year and I hope that I can continue to have experiences like this in the future!

A.S.I.A: The Departure

May 7, 2010
Bangkok, Thailand

A familiar hotel.  A familiar airport.  A familiar plane.  A familiar airport. And, back to the familiar hotel where it all began: the Century Park Hotel.  I have to say there is something so comforting about returning to a place and having the staff remember you and greet you by name and, after the whirlwind couple weeks we'd had, it was certainly nice to feel like we were home again.

Rather than head out into the city we decided to enjoy the view from the pool.  It was a beautiful set up with a shallow and sunny upper pool cascading into a deeper, more shaded lower pool.  We spent the afternoon laughing and rehashing everything we had done and, once you get down to it, we did a lot!  Granted, there were a few hiccups along the way, but those really make for the best stories in the end, right?

Our Final Happy Hour

After the pool we made our way upstairs for one final happy hour whilst being serenaded by a live cover band who invited us to join them for live karaoke after dinner.  We weren't too sure how we'd be feeling about that, but one can never tell with Mom and Soup on board :)  Dinner was amazing with steak and red wine sauce and rich potatoes which were all things I knew I wasn't going to be tasting for a long time without my parents around to foot the bill (Thanks Mom and Dad!!)



Mom Rocking Out to Live Karaoke



Stuffed, we waddled back out to the lounge to listen to the band and were finally coaxed onto the stage (after one or two B-52s) and rocked the night away.  Sue wouldn't get up and sing, saying it was better for everyone that way, but was a great supporter in the crowd as she swayed and cheered for me and then Mom.  I think we closed the night down with a rousing rendition of She Bangs by Ricky Martin and then realized we should probably get to bed if we were to make it to the airport on time.

The alarm always seems to go off 5 minutes after you fall asleep when it's time to go to the airport and so we went through our well-practiced motions of checking the room, finishing packing and checking out.  Our hotel gave us a wonderful goodbye and even packed us individual lunch boxes to take with as we weren't going to be there for the buffet in the morning!  We arrived on time at the airport and I got Mom and Sue off without a hitch (well, minus the tears from Mom, but we all knew those were coming!)  It's amazing how fast a trip can go and how much fun you can have.  I had such a good time hosting yet more visitors to my new home and I can't wait until the next ones (yea I'm talking to you readers) get on the plane to BKK!  That finally (1.5 years later) concludes Ann and Sue in Asia!

A.S.I.A: Top Chef Chiang Mai

May 6, 2010

Chiang Mai, Thailand

There we were up again at the crack of dawn with yet another adventure before us: a Thai Cooking Class.  We were picked up by a songtaew along with a few other people and headed off for the morning market.  On the way we were given a sheet where we got to decide which dishes we would be cooking and so our guides (named Kook and Nut) knew which ingredients to buy.

Spinning plastic bags to keep flies off the chickens

 

Which part of the pig do you want?



The market was hustling and bustling as we all got out, bombarded by a caucaphony of smells and sights.  Everything from herbs and spices to fresh curry paste, pig heads, whole birds, tanks of fish (some dead, some living) and loads of snacks.  Kook walked us around a bit and explained how certain things were made and what certain sauces were used for.  It was also really interesting to hear about the rice and how different prices determined different grains and also different freshness (for example, a bag in the back row was more expensive as was picked more recently.)  We then had some time to walk around and get stared at by the locals as we just as curiously stared back at their piles of innards and various bloody organs for sale :)  I think my favorite market device is this spinning contraption to which vendors attach plastic grocery bags that wave around over their food to keep away the flies.  Clever!



All the rice you'd ever need



Top Chef: Chiang Mai



After the market we made our way to an organic farm outside the city set against a beautiful, fresh air backdrop.  We took a tour of the very nice kitchen in which we would be cooking as well as of the grounds of the farm.  Many of the ingredients we were using in our food were actually grown right there and we learned what each thing was (things like kaffir limes, chilli pepers, various gingers, lemongrass, coriander, etc)  It was cool to see it from 'the farm to the table' so to speak, but I have to say we were all struggling a bit to focus with it being about 100 degrees outside.  We thought by heading north we had escaped the heat, but in our open air kitchen we didn't stand a chance.

My Masterpieces (Tom Kha, Pad Krapow, Red Curry)

We spent the next few hours preparing our various dishes including Tom Yum Koong and Tom Kha Gai (a creamy red curry soup and a creamy coconut curry soup), red or green or yellow curry, Pad Krapow Moo (fried pork with thai basil) and Pad Thai (a famous noodle dish) as well as dessert.  We did everything by hand including making our own curry paste; I think this is where the term 'someone put their sweat into this' comes from cuz with all the mortar and pestling I may as well have just taken a shower.  I learned that fish sauce is good with meats and soy sauce is good with veggies and tofu, I learned that even the smallest little chili can make your mouth set on fire, I learned that kaffir limes are too bitter to eat but their leaves are great for flavor and, most importantly, I learned that I am an amazing chef!

Our Kitchen

When all was said and done we sat down and sampled our meals and were all pleasantly surprised at what we'd just concocted.  It was enough food to feed a small village, so we ended up wrapping up the leftovers and taking them back with us for dinner.  Our journey home was fairly uneventful aside from the raucous posse of French ladies that had been cooking with us too--good entertainment value though.  As we were all too full to eat we made our way for some live music and happy hour downstairs before heading to the night bazaar.  We walked around for a bit to digest, bought a few knick knacks and made our way to a massage parlor to work out the kinks from standing up in the heat all day.  Not too shabby.

Chiang Mai is definitely a place to spend more than a couple days, but I think we really made the most of it!

A.S.I.A.: From the Islands to the Mountains

May 5, 2010
Chiang Mai, Thailand

One of the gates in the wall around Chiang Mai

It's amazing how drastically the landscape changes with only a few hour flight.  Rather than being surrounded by white sand and blue water we were greeted by majestic mountain ridges and lush northern jungles at the Chiang Mai airport.  A short songteaw ride brought us to yet another beautiful hotel, the Imperial Mae Ping, where we put down our stuff, freshened up a bit and made our way out into the city.

Teakwood Wat

Having been to CM a couple times before I had a pretty good grasp on some of the things we should see and brought Mom and Sue along on a walking tour through the city.  Despite being much farther north than we had been previously it was still shockingly hot as we were walking around.  We were sure to take our time and take ample rests/water breaks amongst the many temples and side streets we wandered.  Now, during this time the red shirt riots were in full swing down in BKK and a large population of the rioters were from the North, CM included.  While we were walking we stumbled across a small vendor stall with some red flags on it and beneath it was sleeping a small Thai woman-actually she looked dead.  A fearless Sue was able to rouse her and, after a bit of confusion as to why a group of tourists had woken her up, asked her if we could buy one of her flags for a souveneir.  She was more than happy to share with us and away we walked with some hand made protest flags (for free!) 



Inside one of many temples



I brought Mom and Sue to one of my favorite sites in CM, the women's prison/ rehabilitation center, for a quick look around-Sue brought some handmade table cloth to support the women :)  Our next stop was at a nearby massage parlor where some of the inmates are given jobs upon their release and where I've had a couple of my best massages in Thailand.  I must say it's a bit strange being massaged in a calm environment with some of the women looking a bit rough and tattooed, but they do a great job! (Unfortunately there was no impromptu comedy show as Mom was actually given the massage she had asked for) I treated Mom and Soup as a Mother's Day gift and after we were all tiger balmed up and relaxed we headed back to the hotel.  As was routine, we spent some time in the lobby with a happy hour special and background music provided by a young Thai girl and her khim (a small stringed instrument that you hit with mallets sort of like a you hit a xylophone.)  After a wonderful dinner we caught a bit of the Elvis look a like who was now performing in the lobby and then made our way to bed--after all, we had stayed up the entire night the day before!

A.S.I.A: All Day, All, Night

May 4, 2010

Langkawi, Malaysia

Despite it being our last day on Langkawi (oh, how we wished we’d had more time) we took full advantage of the morning sun down by the pool. Around lunch time we had At come pick us up and he agreed to take us on a half day tour of the island before we had to catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. It was the perfect way to end our stay as At drove us to many sites and was able to give us the lowdown on the history and life on the island.

Langkawi Cable Car

1st Stop: Batik. Langkawi is known for its very talented and traditional Batik artistry. We visited a Batik center where we got to watch the artists in action; basically Batik is the art of using cloth, wax and dye to create beautiful designs and motifs. An artist will use a small brush or pen to put wax on the cloth and then dye the visible fabric. In the end you are left with a painting like any other except it’s embedded in the cloth and is visible on both sides unlike paint and brush. We spent a good amount of time in the shop sifting through Batik paintings, clothes, sheets, etc. I had never heard of it before coming to Malaysia so it was really interesting to see it firsthand.

Langkawi Sky Bridge

2nd Stop: The Langkawi cable car. We hopped into our little cable car and made the 2km ascent up the side of Gunung (mount) Machinchang. It’s a bit daunting going up that high as there are points as you’re swinging in the breeze above the jungle at seemingly 90 degrees. Once you’ve made it to the top you climb onto the first observation desk and take in the sheer vastness of Burau Bay and the rest of the island. A short trek leads you up to the even higher second observation deck where you are even more surprised by all that lays ahead—I read online that some of the land in the distance is actually the South of Thailand! The highlight of the trip though was probably the sky bridge which is one of the world’s longest cable suspension bridges. As you walk along this bridge, which is literally hanging in the air, suspended between two mountain peaks (at over 2000 feet), you can feel the wind swaying you back and forth. It’s definitely not for those with acrophobia or vertigo, but the view is stunning and worth getting over your fears for! It’s like a layer cake as you look out and the blue sky meets the deep green jungle which rests gently upon the sea. Wow. Our descent was kind of scary as you are now looking straight down at the jungle below rather than up at the mountain top, but we thankfully made it down safely where At was waiting to take us to Stop #3.



View from the top of Gunung Machinchang

3rd Stop: Krafts Center. No it’s not a center sponsored by Kraft, but rather the way the Bahasa Malay language spells ‘craft’ (one of the words our racist taxi driver in KL was describing.) Here we spent a bit of time perusing the stalls and booths of all the artisans and typical paraphernalia—it seemed to be more geared toward tourists and as such we didn’t really come across anything original. We decided instead to head out and have At take us to one more stop before the airport.

4th Stop: ‘Black Sand’ beach. I use quotations, because the black sand beach was about 4ft x 4ft. It actually just looked a bit dirty as opposed to something unique. At told us, though, that the beach is unique, because the black sand isn’t the result of volcanic activity, as is the case in most of the world, but rather iron oxide. So, I guess we can check ‘see iron oxide black sand beach’ of our bucket list :) It was so nice to see the other parts of the island and At was very proud to show us around.



Black Sand Beach

5th Stop: Langkawi airport. We said our goodbyes and made our way inside the little airport. Realizing we weren’t allowed to bring liquid on the plane with us we decided we need to do something about our extra beverages. Not wanting to offend anyone, keep in mind it’s Muslim, Mom went to Starbucks and got some cups for us and we speedily finished up what we had. We dined at Malaysia’s finest for dinner, Kenny Rogers, which we thought was hilarious; in the middle of this small island off the coast of Malaysia we were eating greasy spoon American cooking. What a treat!

6th and 7th Stops: KLCC/KLIA: Being the ‘experienced’ traveler I am, I convinced Mom and Sue that we didn’t need to book a hotel for the night, because we could just get one near the hotel when we landed. That’ll teach me. We landed at KLCC and hopped in a taxi to the hotel we looked up online where the proceeded to look at us like we were crazy for not having a reservation and informing us that the hotel was hosting a convention and all the rooms were filled. Great. They were nice enough to call the discount hotel next to KLCC (which we found out was also full) and then offer us a spot on their free shuttle to KLIA (the int’l airport where they said was open for 24hrs and had a hotel attached.) Our hopes were soon dashed as the airport’s cheapest room was a couple hundred dollars which wasn’t worth it at that point-it was after 11pm and we had a departure at 7am.

Being savvy as we are, we wove our way through the other travelers who had either chosen or were forced to stay over at the airport and plopped down at the 24hr McDonald’s. We got some food and Mom and Soup got their coffee and we made the group decision to just stay awake all night. I felt horribly that I’d gotten us into this situation, but I lucked out that I was travelling with such easygoing people (I mean how many moms are willing to do something like that?!) Good thing they have such good experience with all nighters due to their nursing and the three of us ended up having a great night talking and laughing. There were definitely a couple of lulls in which we debated catching a quick cat nap, but it was nothing a good story or refill of coffee couldn’t cure. 5am finally rolled around and it was time to make our way to check-in at the other airport for our flight back to Thailand. Selamat tinggal Malaysia!

A.S.I.A.: Langkawi or Bust

May 2 and May 3, 2010

Langkawi, Malaysia

May 2, 2010

Our First View of Langkawi

Breakfast was nothing to write home about with cold hot dogs and some traditional Malyasian dishes which were a bit salty and fishy in flavor.  A plus, however, was that our hotel was within walking distance of the pier where we were to catch our ferry to Langkawi.  Whilst we were waiting for our boat to arrive we were met by yet another overly friendly man who took a liking to Mom; we thought Sue's Iranian man (who offered her a tour) was funny, but hs guy took the cake.  He had one arm and knack for talking.  You have to give him credit for his confidence, but I think what made us have to bite our lips from laughing was the fact that he kept talking about his arm and how due to his situation he had a special pass (laminated around his neck) that allowed him to ride the bus and other modes of transportation for free.  He even used the pass as a pick up line for Mom saying he could get her free rides too; at this point Sue and I couldn't even watch for fear of bursting out laughing. 

Jacuzzi, Pool and Swim Up Bar

The ferry finally came and we made our way to some seats only to be found once again by our new friend.  I think he realized Mom wasn't going to be travelling to Langkawi with him and he moved on a little bit into the ride.  We got of the ferry and were greeted by lightning blue water and warm tropical sun.  We walked through the duty free shops (which are a huge deal, because as a Muslim country, certain goods are heavily taxed on the Malaysian mainland) and made our way to a travel agent counter to book a hotel.  Malaysia is known as one of the countries with the most and cheapest 4- and 5-star resorts in the world, so we had a fairly large selection of very nice places.  We opted for a 4-star recommended to us by the agent and, man, were we happy about that!

Our Own White Sand Beach

We were driven from the port to the Holiday Villa Resort by an extremely nice man named At who helped us bring our bags inside and taught us some basic phrases to practice during our stay on the island.  The resort was absolutely beautiful with wonderfully cool rooms, and an incredible series of pools/jacuzzis, beautiful gardens and it's own private white sand beach.  Paradise.  After a quick bite to eat a Chinese restaurant up the road we grabbed our gear and headed to the pool.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered after our bus fiasco the day before.  We made our way to the swim up bar for a nice happy hour (how can you not be happy when you can have whatever you want without having to even get out of the pool!) and then to the beach for a perfect sunset over the water.  After some great pictures and washing the sand from our well-rested feet we showered and went do dinner at one of the resort's restaurants.  It's amazing how one day you can be so tired and exhausted and the next day you are in a state of complete relaxtion and everything seems to move calmly--if you hadn't guessed it that's how we felt that night and went to bed some very happy travellers.

 

May 3, 2010

Perfect Langkawi Sunset

Today was our full on, no plans, relaxation day.  We ate a nice breakfast after which we immediately claimed some prime real estate next to the pool for late morning/early afternoon ray soakage.  It got a bit cloudy around lunch time so we decided to do a bit of exploration near the hotel (a.k.a. Mom and Sue were ready to get some shopping in.)  There some really nice strips of shops featuring a cool mix of local and tourist-oriented goods and being the curious shoppers they are, Mom and Sue were actually able to get a store to unlock it's doors to let us in because they said they liked something in the window.  The people were really friendly and told us about their restaurant that was going to be opening for dinner later and were so happy and excited about us being there that we naturally said we'd come back later to eat dinner.

Traditional Malay Dinner

Continuing on with our theme for the day we headed back to the hotel for some more pool time and then some room time.  Don't you wish every day could be like this?  When hunger struck we kept our promise and headed back to the Sunday Bistro from excellent food and wine.  We were even treated with some dinner entertainment as an extremely rude and vocal group of Russians wouldn't stop complaining about their food.  Our waiter kept apologizing for them and how much time he had to spend with them (he said that groups of Russians and tourists alike come in all the time and order the expensive fish and then continue to send it back to the kitchen and moan about the service in hopes of getting the meal free.)  Who does that?!  The food was extremely good--I indulged in a traditional Malaysian multi-course meal--and the service was the same if not better, so were more than happy to sympathize with the staff.  In a state of food coma we waddled back to the resort for another night's sleeep.

A.S.I.A: A few hours doesn't mean 8

May 1, 2010

Kuala Lumpur-->Kuala Perlis, Malaysia

Petronas Towers

We woke up early the next day and headed downstairs for a filling breakfast before making our way to the famed Petronas Towers. When we got to the Towers we were all set to get our tickets to head up to the observation deck only to find that the rest of KL and its tourists had had the same early morning idea. After standing for a bit-and Soup being hit on by an overly friendly Iranian man-we decided instead to walk through the city to the KL Tower. Walking around KL you realize that it is an overall very nice city with clean streets and well manicured landscaping, however, it seemed to me more empty and less lively than BKK. Anyway, we finally reached our destination and took a free shuttle up to its base. Basically, the KL Tower is a giant communications tower that also has a revolving restaurant and loads of cultural activities, all while being surrounded by a nature preserve.

KL Tower

At the top we did a 360 degree walk around with a headset and handheld video guide that pointed out the various landmarks around the city. I'm actually glad we went here, because we were able to see the Petronas Towers in the distance and got some great shots looking down on the city. Included with our ticket was a walk through the cultural village so we spent some time taking a look at traditional houses, food and dances of the various Malaysian subcultures from throughout the country before we got a cab back to the hotel and then to the bus station.  As the main bus station was under construction we were driven to a massive tent in a parking lot outside the city. It was one of the most chaotic and insane places we'd ever been. You step foot in the tent and within milliseconds you're hounded by about 33098 people all trying to direct you to their bus and their destination. We finally found a bus that would take us to Kuala Perlis which they said was just a few hour bus ride that would get us to the pier in time to get the ferry to our actual destination, Langkawi.

Sue and Mom are happy listeners

Getting on the bus we were in fairly high spirits with spacious seats, loads of leg room and plenty of Dots for eating (think we ate about 25 boxes of Dots during the 2 week trip.)  We made a stop on our way out of the city where we were uprooted from our seats by some unhappy women, even though we were told that we could sit where we wanted.  Needless to say those women were not offered any Dots (although a bit later, after the steam had stopped pumping from our ears we realized they were actually really nice and helpful...still, no Dots.)  The bus ride was pretty smooth and I was so impressed at Mom and Sue being up for a cross country trek through Malaysia.  The scenery was really beautiful as we went from the city to some flat lands and suddenly up amongst the greenest highlands you could think of.



A view from KL Tower



We made a pit stop a little while into the trip and the 3 of us indulged with a bit of corn-in-a-cup.  I know, I know it sounds like a really exotic treat but it's pretty much exactly as its name states: corn with butter, sugar and coconut milk served in a cup with a small spoon.  It's one of my favorites and I'm pretty sure Mom and Soup are converts as well as we couldn't stop raving about it (and it's kind of an unwritten rule that you have to refer to it by its full name which lends to a bit more fun when discussing this relatively simple dessert.)  Anyway, I digress.  The ladies went off for a touch of rest stop shopping while I headed back to the bus and I'm really glad I did.  About 30 seconds after I got on the bus started to pull away and I jumped up to say they were still shopping, but the seat-stealing ladies were already on it (you remember the really rude and nasty ones from before :) )  The bus honked it's horn for about 2 straight minutes until we were able to see Mom and Sue sprinting through the parking lot in the rain and fog until they reached the bus and we could continue on our journey.

It started to feel like this was taking longer than it should as we realized that everyone else seemed to be getting off the bus except for us.  Then it dusk came, then sunset, then darkness.  We kind of figured that we probably weren't making the 6pm ferry when our bus pulled in after 9pm to a seemingly abandoned bus station in a seemingly abandoned Kuala Perlis.  Not seeing much other choice we made our way to the nearest hotel, the KL Seaview, which, according to its brochure, was at one point very high class--something had changed.  We were immediately greeted by the overwhelming odor of Durian fruit which can at times literally smell like a mixture of onion, puke and sewage.  I went out to help Soup with her bags and was met with an excessively overwaxed and sllippery ramp on which my feet slid right out from under me and I landed completely flat on my back on the hard ground (thankfully I'd kept my back pack on or I think I would have cracked my skull!)  In tears from laughing so hard we went back in to meet Mom and see our rooms, which weren't terrible; I mean what more can you ask for than aircon, enough clean beds to sleep on and arrows on the ceiling pointing us in the direction of Mecca...oh yea, this part of Malaysia is very Muslim.

Starving from our endless bus journey we ate at a pretty lively restaurant, Azira, which was serving local and very tasty Muslim dishes next door.  They clearly didn't get many foreigners in there, but we tried to blend in as much as we could, bobbing along as the locals stepped up to karaoke one after the other.  Our facade was shattered however, when Mom decided it would be a good idea to launch her chocolate milk across the table and spill it over everything.  Embarrassed we continued to bob along and speedily ate up before sneaking away to the luxurious Seaview for the night.