Have you ever seen turtles?

Have you got a couple of weeks to spare and you dont know what to do? Well, two weeks is enough for you to get to Malaysia and check out the SEATRU program. From what I understand, Malaysians now pay RM200, board and food inclusive. Foreigners pay USD 150-200 depending on student Status.

All of this for....

1. A private island get away in Redang itself, dreamy starry nights ..... (I actually mean it, the public cannot get access to where turtles lay eggs, that is why it is called a turtle sanctuary)

2. The opportunity to sun bathe and swim with the sharks, explore the jungle, watch hermit crabs.

3. Turtle tagging, learn about conservation efforts but more importantly, save these cute little hatchlings from predators such as lizards and sharks and what not! These are hatchlings that have just survived their first test of growing up, crawling 1 metre plus out of their nest.


I will never forget what an adult turtle's breathing sounds like. It was totally human like and a turtle is huge!!!!! But Ill leave it to you to find out.
Those little piggies in the bath tub: "If you enjoy sunbathing, you'd enjoy our company. See you later mate!"

Smell the roses

Have you ever taken a moment to appreciate where you are and what you are doing now?

I can tell you that my beautiful pictures are always when I am happy ........


and usually in Malaysia....

Balik Kampung

When I was there... something that really moved me in many ways. As a Western Malaysian, I have been to many countries out of Malaysia, to stretch as far as Italy, but I have never been to Sabah. And Sabah is a real darling (even to a person who is allergic to the word "exercise")...

I witnessed kids who go to school with no school uniform because they simply cannot afford it, walk for about 6 hours to get to school from Banjaran Crocker, live without a single highway/ road for a few km in sight, it was overwhelming! Thanks to that, you get kids who gawk at you because you are one of the few hundreds of people that they see every year who do not belong in their village. (Think about it,how many people do you see out of your neighbourhood per year?)

This is my third phase, the community phase! And I probably did quite well getting close to the local Sabahans. We taught English, built boats together, had our baths in the yellow/ brown river of Kinabatangan... and our duty was to clean the lake! Do you even know what it means?

1. A lot of teamwork. You get into mud, you get out of mud.

2. (Usually) The men get into the bog in the water and use a parang (long sword) to chop the "weeds" into some nice pieces.

3. The girls will usually stay on land and help coordinate ropes and the net. Ahoy!

We were pretty pleased with the end result, unfortunately I do not have pictures. Imagine a field of weed as BEFORE and a lake as an AFTER.

Leech notes!
There are buffalo lice in the water (they swim around, YES YES YES!) and like the name suggests, they are super suckers! The yucky part is that they tend to target warm areas of the body... so you know.... its either in your socks or underwear!



The good part is that I've read recently that this buffalo leech is used for medicinal properties, transferring blood and what not during plastic surgeries in hard to get areas such as the ears. There is a market for lice and you can actually breed and sell them like chicken!

Alpha 1! Alpha 2!

Testing survival in the jungle is an uphill task, especially for someone like me because of my allergy to the word exercise *Atchoo* My favourite time was probably MEAL TIME!! This was taken when we were at the scuba diving centre.... You even get a license, talk about a productive gap year!

When we were on that island, life wasn't just always scuba diving and no work. On the OTHER side of the beautiful island with coconut trees and beautiful water, was a very dirty beach called Gaya Beach. I will never forget the name of that beach because I will never forget how 3 hours of picking up rubbish at the beach breaks your back.

However when we get to the beautiful side of that island, it's play time!!!
I honestly do not remember much from this phase except watching Rahim (Sabahan) climb up REALLY REALLY high coconut trees.... a tiny insect bite swelling up to the size of 1cm disabling my whole leg.... plus napping at noon..... or playing with water (I'm almost allergic to sea water btw)

This was also the phase we conquered Mount Kinabalu but I cant seem to find any photos atm. BRB

3 months in the jungle

After my A Levels, I also went on a Raleigh expedition. It was not just an opportunity to get away from Penang, it was THREE MONTHS AWAY from Malaysia! Anyway, I did 2 months + of fundraising, working at a Japanese restaurant... if you are trying to imagine me all cute in kimono and stuff.....

In my first jungle experience, we were cutting down some of the forest wood, to build a strategic walkway so that students and visitors can learn more about the different species of everything in that jungle. As mini as it is, it probably occupied 40k square feet? It was hard work, imagine the hot sun ...... girls and boys having fun shovelling......
Btw, the mugs do not contain alcohol.

After a hard day's work, we usually plunge into the river nearby.... oh and btw we were at the Danum Conservation Centre at Sabah (but I got to see no orang utans, I saw the shadow of the orang utan though...)
A lot of things happened then, love blossomed among few of us.... And we have this nightly ritual to give a train back massage. Some people found the space to bring guitars but you need to make noise when you are living close to wild boars. We eat oats for breakfast and canned food, most of the time.

The most exciting part of Phase I was probably....

I didnt hurt myself doing that, and I was not a masochist ... those are LEECH BITES!!! Talk about having 20 on your legs after a 4 hour jungle walk. I got a fever that night (from the shock)....

Glossary: Pau = Big, Round, White dumpling

How It All Ended

The end result, I did get to know some really bello Italian guys....

But I also gained 8 KG in 2 months! ! ! !


Look at my pathetically small eyes, what a joke! Don't think my face as ever been as "pau" as this! I really dont know how many pau's make up 8kg.....

The next ambitious trip : Parlo Italiano o hablo Espanol?

How it All Began

It was a fateful morning during my school assembly when the usual rattle rattle bla bla bla ....
The AFS (American Field Service- sounded like National Service) would like to know if there is any student who is interested in school exchange program, please come and see me after the morning assembly.
That woke me up immediately! YES! ME! ME! ME!

It took some application, interview, but trust me, those steps were really easy as compared to convincing my parents to unleash me for Italy, 2 months after the 9/11 event.....

I was enrolled in a small school in a small town called Benevento (Thank goodness I had W.P. from Penang to be with me). It was overall a fun experience, the locals stare at you because you are Chinese and your foster family doesn't speak any English.
I hate for this to look really cheesy, I think I would have done well advertising for AFS with this photo but these are MS, my foster sister plus Mattia, a friend whom I'm still in touch with until today.


School was so cool in Italy though. You can eat when the teachers are teaching, you can run around classes, not do homework, chew bubble gums and make lots of noise! And there are the days when you don't have to attend school because it's a "School Strike". *smirk*



I know I should upload some photos of pastas, but I found Rome on a day trip so much more mesmerising. This is Piazza di Spagna where lots of international models come parade their bodies at the beauty pageants. CHECK, big names like Gucci and Prada are just a trot away.

The first trip is the most memorable ....

I was a Girl Guide when I was in Secondary School. Back in Penang perhaps there was not much to do and Girl Guide was the best way to BOND with your friends, schoolmates, etc. Not the most obvious choice but those years were the building blocks of AiChingNess.

And so, my first trip (without my parents) was sponsored by cookie-selling-fundraising (of course it is an exaggeration, cookies back then never sponsored a return flight to Korea) From presenting a dreadful dance in front of 1000 spectators including the late Korean Prime Minister himself, to watching your S**t fall ten metres in the traditional Korean loo...


just when you thought it couldn't get any worse than Malaysian toilets... IT DOES!
I minimised the picture on purpose, so do not click on it because you really dont want to know what's 10 metres beneath that hole.

The first post is the deepest....

My idea of a blog NEVER had to do with a lame sense of humour, but I happen to have some so please ignore it when it becomes unbearable. I am writing to talk about little things that shape your life, beginning with myself... and October will be a month of recollection of many many things!