Melaka/Hatyai/Langkawi

 Let me begin this three part apology by telling all of you how truly grateful I am for your positive feedback and support to this blog. Thus I am sorry for having neglected my blog especially because so much has happened this past month. Even though no single event this month would have been blog worthy, I hope that as a compilation they are interesting to read about, and along with the pictures, give you a detailed insight to what I have been up to. I have to admit that I have not fully grasped that I have been in Malaysia for over 3 months already, and thereby having completed more than a quarter of my stay. Before I begin this blog I would like to thank Fabian, one of my fellow volunteers, for taking and allowing me to use his pictures. This blog would be without pictures if it wasn’t for Fabian because sadly my camera was stolen.

My day to day life is rather straight forward (except if I am out and about traveling through South East Asia). I wake up at 8, work starts at 8:30 and I work until 5 o’clock. I usually have a two hour break somewhere in the middle where I go out and grab something to eat at one of the many food stalls here in Gerorgetown that offer an unbelievable wide variety of food (Chinese/Indian/Malay). For those who are still unclear with what I do; I teach children with learning difficulties different skills they need for life. This can range from teaching English and Math to Social Skills, like how to interact in a group. My Students can have anything from ADHD, ASD, autism, Down syndrome, dyslexia or have a low IQ and are thereby, by definition, “slow learners”. To really be able to teach the students effectively classes are one and one and follow the Students Individual Education Plan.

The last we left off, I had just gotten a working washing machine. Don’t be worried, she is still working like a beauty, although sometimes my t-shirts have a slight shade of blue. But it gets better! I bought myself a DVD Player to go with an old TV I found here in my project. I was shocked to see that the DVD Player was cheaper than the cooking pan I bought that day. The biggest thrill about watching DVDs in Malaysia is actually to see if the five DVDs you have just bought for 1 euro and 25 cent work (it almost feels like gambling).

Melaka:

The first Trip that I did the past month was to head down to Melaka for a long weekend. Along with my 6 brave companions I traveled to this relatively small city, which lies in the south of Malaysia. To save ourselves the cost of an extra night in a hostel, we left Georgetown (that’s where all of us live) Friday night at around 11:30 P.M. What we didn’t think of, Is that a bus ride that takes up to nine hours during daytime, can be done at night in about five and a half hours. Although a shorter bus ride may seem a good to some people, this one left us at the Melaka central bus station at 5.30 A.M. Our only choice was to wait until 6.30, or better known as Mc Donalds opening time. When the doors were finally opened, after a wait which felt like a lifetime, we got ourselves some breakfast and headed into the city. The red square, the heart of colonial Melaka, is usually overrun by busloads of tourists; not at 7 A.M.

Melaka 7 A.M.

 

Casually raising a malaysian Flag

I am your average tourist

Jonka Walk (at night)

Visa Run to Hatyai:

Another Highlight of the past month was our Visa Run to Hatyai, a border city in Thailand. The purpose of our trip was to renew our Visas for another three months.  How could we have known, that we would have so much fun and get to experience the nine emperor’s birthday during our one night stay there. This Chinese celebration honors the legend of the nine sons of the empress who committed suicide in order to save china from a very long draught.

The participants of this celebration, that insert a sword through their mouth, do this in order to repay their god for any prayers/wishes that have been granted in the past.

A man with two swords stuck through his mouth.

A Dance with Fireworks

 

 This Taxi did not convince us....

So we took up negotiations with a TuckTuck driver to give us a city tour

This is what we got to see!

I have to admit that the Tuck Tuck was rather small for 6 groen men

 The reclining Budha

This is what a Tuck Tuck full of German Volunteers looks like! (I took this picture)

Pictures of Hatyai Market:

Different types of cury paste

Chilli!

A truck filled with Bannanas... All we need now is a Truck full of Coconuts!

Great Picture by Fabian (I just had to include it!)

Ahh there we go.... Coconuts!

Langkawi:

The day after our Visa Run to Hatyai, we were granted a short holiday on the beautiful island of Langkawi. Laankawi is north of Penang, and it took us only three hours by boat to get there. Langkawi is a beautiful island, so i'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Enjoying the beach with the other Volunteers!

David requested more airplanes... so he gets more airplanes....

No matter when or where, one of us always brings a frisbee!

Writing Postcards to all over the world!

Adorable Monkey Pictures! (don't let them fool you ;)

Swiming at the bottom of a Watterfall on the island of Langkawi.My dive felt more gracefull at the time than it looks on this Picture!


Thank you so much for visiting my blog!
Also a big thank you to Fabian for letting me use his pictures!!

If you have any questions, feel free to write me at tmvolkmer(at)hotmail.de