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Stories from my time in Kuala Lumpur |
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25/6/2013: Happy days... But the haze isn't really better
I wasn't actually planning on writing a post today but I just thought I would let you all know that I after having had quite a few health issues due to the air pollution am now feeling almost back normal - HAPPY DAYS :)
On paper the haze hasn't gotten the slightest better so I guess either I have gotten used to the poor air quality (which would be immensely sad) or it is actually slowly getting better in our area (which isn't too unlikely since the haze index must be relatively regional measurements)!! Either way, I am just thrilled to be feeling better and am now back to my positive self, ready for 5 more weeks of Malaysia fun!!
Happy Tuesday everyone, I hope you have a good one whereever you are,
Susannah x
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24/6/2013: Being followed.... by the haze
Coming back from Singapore I was so pleased to see the sun but that was unfortunately a short pleasure as the haze came to KL soon after my arrival!! Woke up yesterday morning with a room full of dark grey air (our house is a lot less air tight than the facy apartments in Singapore) and has since had the pleasure of inhaling more or less polluted air non stop - Not very nice at all!! BUT, we at least managed to get face masks and Andrea and I had a belly-rolling laugh over the pure ridiculousness of the situation - It isn't particularly funny to get sick, having a cough and a more or less constant headache but it was like we just couldn't help but laugh and once we started laughing we weren't able to stop again :)
Today we were 3 people at work (3 interns) and I have a feeling it isn't going to be much different tomorrow!! It is starting to be a kind of surreal experience - An experience I hope will end soon, because even though we are still able to see the fun in things, I hardly doubt that we are able to stay jolly for very long!!
I hope you are all well in Denmark, I hope I'll be able to bring happier stories soon
Susannah x
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23/6/2013: Hard to breath..... Literally!!
Wednesday afternoon after work I set out on what ended up being a not very successful trip to Singapore! My spirit was high, was looking insanely forward to seeing my friends, spending a few days hanging out by the pool and seeing what I've heard is supposed to be an impressive big city. However, it ended up being a very different trip!!
I arrived late Wednesday evening to a city that was shaken and to put it mildly a shadow of itself! The whole city was engulfed in a massive haze, which in itself might not be so unusual but the extend of it had not been seen similar since 1997. Thursday morning the air pollution scale (the Pollutant Standard Index) was breached as the haze was 100 points above the "hazardous" classification. The basic scale goes as followes:
0-50: Good
50-100: Moderate
100-200: Unhealthy
200-300: Very unhealthy
300+: Hazardous
and Thursday the haze hit 401 which has never before been recorded in Singapore!! The lively streets started to empty, the roads became jam packed with cars (even more than the normal crazy traffic) and it was impossible to get a taxi!
Thursday morning Anu needed to go for a check-up at the hospital (she is very pregnant) and after that we decided to take the 10 minute walk to the nearest train station to go to one of the many malls on Orchard road, a decision we soon regretted... I don't think I even really understand it but that short walk drained us completely!! Not wanting to give in to the hysterics of it all I didn't say anything but felt rather uncomfortable, my throat was sore, my head was aching and my chest tightened and it wasn't until a while later we were having coffee that I faced up, asking Anu how she was feeling and realized that I wasn't the only one affected by the short walk... It doesn't make sense to me at all how it could have happened so fast - Yeah okay the air was completely grey/black but 10 minutes?!?!
 "Kind of a grey day - Not particularly pleasant to inhale this air"
That evening I was to meet my friend Tim at his place which is out East and the haze was supposed to be better out there but while that wasn't really the case we still had a great evening!! Tim, his colleague and I went for dinner in this really lovely place that served the most delicious tapas kind of thing with 8 different dishes that were all gorgeous and afterwards we went for a drink at "the Cider Pit". It was a really nice evening and for a moment I forgot all about the haze!!! However, the worries of the haze soon came back as I woke up very early the next morning with my room smelling like it was on fire (which it luckily wasn't!!!) and we quickly realized that we were in for another day at the mall :) To kill time we went to the cinema where we watched "The Great Gatsby" (really fun to watch the movie so shortly after having read the book) and afterwards we had a lovely take-away dinner from one of the many amazing street restaurants in the neighbourhood where Anu lives (we had learned our lesson from our little walk the day before and didn't want to risk feeling unwell from sitting in the street having dinner)!!
Friday the Singaporean government urged people to stay indoor and they encouraged people to leave the city if they didn't have important business to do so I decided to go home early and so Saturday morning I was on the first bus home to Kuala Lumpur! A VERY long trip...... The bus' aircon took in the polluted air and all together we spent at least an hour outside (immigration, boarder control, toilet break and petrol refilling) which we all felt and most of the people in the bus were wearing masks all the way to KL.. 60 km outside KL the haze finally started to clear and I can honestly say that I have never been so happy to see the sun as I was when I got off the bus! While it wasn't exactly the trip I was hoping for, it was an interesting experience (an experience I will definitely never forget and will probably tell everyone about it over and over again haha) but I am glad to be back in a place where breathing isn't so difficult - I have truly learned to appreciate the fresh air we are so lucky to have in Europe :)
Now I'm only hoping that the haze disappears soon so that everyone in Singapore can resume their normal living without the health issues that the air pollution brought with it!!
Take care until I write again,
Susannah x
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19/6/2013: Off to Singapore
Hi everyone,
I know I have said it before but time flies out here (I guess those wise people who says that time flies when you are having fun are right), I have already been in Malaysia for nearly 3 months and it is therefore time for me to do a little visa run. When entering Malaysia you automatically get a 3 month visa (which is great) but you cannot extend the visa (which is less great) unless you get a working visa. Luckily it isn't much of a problem since all you have to do is leave the country for more than 48 hours and you can then enter Malaysia again getting a new 3 month visa - a visa run!!
While it for some people seem to be seen as a bit of a hassle having to do a visa run, I find it to be a fabulous opportunity for me to visit an old friend of mine in Singapore!! Today I'll be leaving for Singapore to visit my friend Any whom I met while working in IBM. Any and her boyfriend moved to Singapore last summer and to get the Asian experience and I'm so happy that I get to visit them before they move back to Europe!! II haven't really planned a whole lot yet but Anu is off work so we'll get to spend a lot of time together and I'll also get the chance to see Tim, the dive instructor on Pom Pom Island who now works in Singapore. I'm so excited that I have an excuse to take a few days off work so I can go see my friends, relax a little bit and at the same time experience a new country!!!
I'll try to borrow Anu's laptop to upload a few stories and photos while I'm there but if there is nothing coming up the next few days then it is probably because I'm too busy enjoying myself and have forgotten all about the website and in that case I'll upload it all when I get home Sunday evening.
Take care of yourself until I write again (I'll try to take care of myself in Singapore),
Susannah x
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16/6/2013: Bad weather..... by Malaysian standards
Yesterday I promised you a story from Batu caves but I'm afraid I have to disappoint you!! The weather has been amazing the last 3 weeks - bright sunshine and a cloudless sky every day - but on this very day that we decided to go to Batu caves the weather was rather sad...... at least by Malaysian standards!!
It's been cloudy and foggy all day and while the temperature was still on the "a little too hot"-side it really wasn't optimal weather for a day out at the caves since they have the most beautiful view over KL on a sunny day!! The area is supposed to have a real picture perfect photo scenery and that would have been completely lost today so we decided to postpone the visit to a day with a little nicer weather (which really just means any other day than today - it is the first time I've seen a completely cloudy sky since I arrived)!
Instead I spent a lovely couple of morning hours sitting in the garden (yes it was actually a perfect day to read a book outside now that there for once wasn't a full on sun out), this afternoon I was super productive , working on my bachelor project and this evening I went for a run and had two great skype dates, one with my family and one with Camilla.... So it might not have been the day I was hoping for but it was still a nice, lazy day!!
Since I'm heading to Singapore on Wednesday I won't get to go to Batu caves for a while but I'll keep you in loop so you won't lose out on hearing about it (am not in any way trying to make you jealous with all the photos from out here... ah okay then maybe just a little then) !! However, I guess the order of all my stories doesn't really matter anyway since life out here seems to simply be a wonderful string of fantastic adventures in timeless places :)
Auf wiedersehen,
Susannah x
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25/6/2013: Great to hear from you!!
Thanks so much for the messages in the guestbook (there is now a total of 70 messages in the guestbook) - Was great to get an update on life in Denmark!!
To answer Lise: I started reading Angela's ashes when I was ill before Christmas but forgot the book when I flew to Denmark and actually haven't finished it... I really need to do that when I get home!
Tomorow Andrea and I are heading to Batu caves, so if you have time then drop by again tomorrow afternoon to hear the story and see the photos :)
Have a wonderful Saturday,
Susannah x
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12/6/2013: How are you all doing?
Yesterday morning I woke up realizing that I don't know much about what is going on out in the big world!! I haven't read a newspaper since I left Europe and I think I can count the amount of times I have read news online on one hand.... At least I have read lots of books and a lot of scientific materials but that doesn't really help me keep track on what is going on out in the big world that even though it sometimes doesn't seem like it is still outside this office :)
So, when I realized that I immediately made myself a promise that I would read more news from now on.... However, there is something that is much more important to me than world news and that is knowing how you guys are all getting on!!! So, today is about you and not me!!! How are you getting on? How is the summer weather in Dublin? Has the rain hit Denmark yet? What are you up to? Can I see photos of what you guys are up to? Does anyone have any big news?
I'm now going to go write a few post cards before heading to bed!
Night everyone,
Susannah x
P.S I have now read a few online news from Denmark and Dublin and I am happy to find that everything still seems pretty much the same so now I don't feel so bad anymore :)
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10/6/2013: Back to the turtles, diving and marine life..... Things move fast here at Wildasia!!
Yesterday I claimed not to have much news to tell and bored you all with a long post about books but as I went to bed last night and (as usual) couldn't sleep I realized that that was a big fat lie..... The last week and a half has moved super fast with two visits from Pom Pom friends, my birthday and lots of sightseeing and in the middle of all of that I completely forgot to tell you that my work here at Wildasia has turned 180 degrees!!!
"Me turned 180 degrees.... Luckily what I'm about to tell you is a little less literal :)"
Last week the director of Wildasia and Amy from Wildasia's responsible tourism team (a very small team - it currently only consists of Amy as Deborah who is the project lead is on maternity leave) had a meeting with WWF-Malaysia. WWF-Malaysia are currently working on a "Sustainable use of natural resources" project in Semporna's Protected Conservation Area which aims to ensure a sustainable use of the natural resources found on and around the islands off the coast of Semporna and aim to minimize the social and environmental impact of the marine tourism in the area. The project focuses on fish bombing, marine turtle conservation, green marine tourism and sustainable fishing and as part of this project WWF wants Wildasia to help develop and implement Green Marine Tourism Best Management Practices. Now you might think, and so what? But here is the exciting part: The islands they work on are the islands that I visited during my time at TRACC and so they came to the conclusion that my experience with conservation work on these specific islands made me a very useful resource on their team... SO, I'm now no longer working on the oil palm project but am working full time with this WWF conservation and green marine tourism project - I'm so EXCITED!!!
In less than a month I somehow miraculously went from doing the day to day conservation footwork to sitting in with the big guys who actually make the code of conducts, management plan etc that at the end of the day move things along, improving the environmental threats that the huge marine tourism intrustry in that area cause - A true case of being so lucky to be in the right place at the right time (this is a long term project so what where the odds that WWF would call on Wildasia's expertice while I'm here)!!!
The last few days at the office I've been working on prepping for our next meeting with the WWF which is to be here in KL on Wednesday!! It is a little bit weird to sit in the office in KL researching and looking at data from the islands that I was on just a few weeks ago - When I left Pom Pom island I thought it would be the last I would hear of turtles, diving and fish bombing for a while and here I am only a few weeks later, already having met up with 5 Pom Pom friends and am even working with the same issues that we dealt with on the Island, just on a much bigger scale :) It is amazing how fast things change around here!!!
I actually can't believe that I haven't told you all about this sooner - I've been super excited about this change in work for a week now, but I guess the news drowned in the stories of my birthday celebrations... I can only say, that it has yet again been a great week here in KL! My only worry is that things move so fast here, that it'll all be over before I know it but I'm enjoying every day of it, and at least I'll have this blog to look back at, should the time all of a sudden have past without me realizing it :)
I hope you all have an enjoyable Monday evening! Even though I'm having a fantastic time don't even for a second think that I don't miss all you family members and friends out there, because I do... HUGELY!
Susannah x
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9/6/2013: .......!?!?
I thought it was time to update the website but the truth is that I don't have much to tell!! So I'm hoping that as I'm writing this something will come to me........................
Hm, no I don't think I have anything interesting really!!! I had a superb birthday Wednesday and so I decided to take a few slow days reading a good book at home this weekend which is basically all I've been up to since my last post :)
When I have time I really enjoy reading but since I started college I haven't really found much joy in reading since I've spent most of my time with my nose deeply buried in books from morning to evening. However now that I've been out of college for a few months I have re-found my enthusiasm for reading and have started a summer project that I've wanted to start so many times.... I'm reading the big classics, the ones that most English speaking people will have read sometime in their lives!!!
Going to school in Denmark you read very little English literature (other than stupid stories like Mr. Kleinman's cat - yes a story that stayed with me for many years for the simple reason that I found it odd that I at the age of 17 had to read a story about a car walking the streets of a little town.... I'm sure there was a point to the story but that is long forgotten) and even though it makes sense as most of the old classics are way too difficult to read with the level of English that would be expected when you are still in school, then it is such a shame because there are so many outstandingly well written books out there!! I probably wouldn't have thought about it much if I hadn't moved to Dublin but I can hardly escape the fact that I've lived therefore more than 4½ years now and so I think it is about time that I dig into the wonderful world of beautiful writings that has sprung from extraordinary minds in all ages of time :)
I won't come even near to finishing all the books that would qualify as a "Classic" yet alone coming close to exhaust the list of newer books that would be found on "books to read before you die"-lists but I've started with Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" and "Sense & Sensibility", Harper Lee's "To kill a Mockingbird" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and am now on to Paulo Coelho's "the Alchemist" - some of them are better than others but the variety is great and I'm yet to come across a book that I don't like!
Other books on my list for this summer are "Animal farm", "1984", "Little Women", "Jane Eyre", "Wunthering heights", "Lord of the flies", "Crime and Punishment" and many, many more. My list doesn't only include "Old Classics", I also want to read the new Dan Brown book, "the Kiterunner", "the Help", "the God Delusion" and a friend of mine recommended reading "A social construction of reality" which is a book considering how groups interact in social systems, creating concepts or representations of each other's actions that eventually become habituated into roles that is played by others and how these roles over time can become institutionalized. It is very far from what I usually would read (mainly because I find that sort of reading rather difficult) but it is a summer for new challenges so I'll definitely give that a go as well!!
Wow that was a very long post about close to nothing - I hope I haven't bored you too much :) If any of you know any good books that I definitely shouldn't miss then please drop me a message in the Guestbook - I'm sure there are lots of books that I haven't thought of, or know about, that is worth reading being they new or old books :)
I gotta go - Mainly because I didn't have anything to tell in the first place and now I've somehow written almost an essay about reading books (which really wasn't the plan) but also because I have a skype date with Clare that I definitely don't want to miss!
I hope you have all enjoyed the weekend (I most definitely have)!!
Take care,
Susannah x
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4/6/2013: An ordinary day!!
Today has been an ordinary day - Yes those do exists out here too even though it might not always seem like it with all those photos of beaches, turtles, big cities, old cities, palm plantations, sightseeing trips etc!! I had a little look at some of the posts and photos I've put on this website and I found that no matter how much I try, my posts doesn't even come clear to do the experiences out here justice - I can tell about the places I see and the people I meet but the true atmosphere and excitement about being here that I seem unable to convey 100%!! I wish you were all here to experience it for yourself, am sure most of you would love it :)
Today consisted of 7 hours at the office, an hour in the sun reading a good book, a nice little run in the rain and I'm now just relaxing doing a little research on travelling in Vietnam - a very uneventful, but great day!! Having been in Malaysia for 2 months now, I feel like I know quite a bit about the country. I know simple geography, brief outlines of the history of the country and most importantly I have an idea of what I want to see and where I want to go while I'm here! However, my knowledge of Vietnam is very limited and since I will only have 3 weeks there, I want to make sure that I have a rough idea of where I might want to go. Most people would in my situation immediately have a look in "LonelyPlanet Vietnam" and while that did cross my mind at first I realized that I have a source of information that other people might not be so lucky to have: I have my family's experiences!! As most of you probably know, my family went to Vietnam for 3 months 4 years ago and I have now for the first time realized the benefits that can arise from writing a travel blog!! They wrote beautiful descriptions of everywhere they went, and they did it in such a lively way that I now after having read it all (again) wish I had much more time in Vietnam :) It is unfortunately not possible for me to extend my stay there this year (and I don't want to under the circumstances since I have an amazing family and wonderful friends in Denmark that I want to spend time with) but am sure I before I go, can make a great itinerary for my stay in Vietnam and hopefully see a few of the fabulous places that seem to be found there!
Now I'll go back to reading my book (I have started a summer book project which I will tell you about one of the coming days), enjoying a nice warm summer evening on the balcony :)
"The view from my balcony"
There is no doubt that I would have loved to be in Denmark this evening because I've heard rumours that my whole family is celebrating my Grandmother's birthday tonight!! I hate missing out on nights like that but I'm sending all my best wishes and happy thoughts in your direction and am take comfort in birthdays luckily being re-occurring events :)
Take care of yourself and each other,
Susannah x
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2/6/2013: More Pom Pom friends visiting and a nation that has been tumble dried!!
Friday afternoon I got great (at least for me) news - Sabina whom I met at TRACC told me that she was coming to KL for a week!! She was meant to climb Kota Kinabalu on Borneo before leaving for Africa but also she had had medical issues on Pom Pom Island and had therefore had to not only leave Pom Pom a few days earlier than planned but also had to give up on the climb and had decided to come to KL to enjoy a week of city luxury - I obviously feel really sorry for her but what great news it was for me :)
While the news of Sabina's arrival was a surprise, I already knew that I had visitors in town this weekend as Carris and Shawn (whom were on Pom Pom for a week shortly after I had arrived there) had told me last week that they were staying in KL for two days - So this weekend has basically been one big TRACC reunion with lots of fun stuff going on!
I only live 15 minutes away from the city centre by taxi but the public transport system isn't great so if I was to take a bus it would take a good 45-60 minutes. That means that if I was to go into town in the morning, come back home to shower after a long day in the sun, head back into town and come back late at night after a night out that would add up to a lot of money in taxi fares or a lot of wasted time on the bus - So, early Saturday morning I made a quick decision to pack a few things, head in to town and book a night at the guesthouse that Sabina is staying in. After checking in Sabina and I started our day of sightseeing and what a great day we had!!! We started out taking the train to Titiwangsa lake garden where we had heard we could rent paddling boats and rowing boats for as little as 6 DKK (1 EURO) but what we didn't know was that it was a bank holiday and everything was therefore closed... A little sad but we still had a great time, we walked around for a little while and had a lovely little lunch before heading back to the city centre to do a bit of shopping!
 "Titiwangsa Lake Garden just outside KL"
When I packed for this trip I thought was going to spend 3 months on a deserted island followed by 6 weeks of travelling, and so I didn't really pack much "city-clothes" and on top of that, most of my clothes went kind of funny on the island after being washed in a bucket with all sorts of bugs, had salt water on it and just generally got quite dirty so I was in desperate need of new stuff!!! Being in a big city you would maybe think that that would not be a problem but here in Malaysia it feels like someone has taken a whole nation, put them in a tumble dryer and left them there for too long so that they shrunk to they point where a normal European size S is now a Malaysian size XXXXXL........ This has caused a bit of worry but Sabina and I luckily found that sizes in the normal European chain shops like H&M and Zara are normal sizes and so even though it wasn't exactly adventurous shopping we spend a bit of time in those two shops and I found what I needed!! I cannot describe how happy I am to now have a new pair of clean shorts and even two dresses so I can feel like a slightly normal person again - My laid back beach clothes has been (and still is) great but sometimes it is nice to be able to dress up a little and feeling pretty :)
After a fabulous day of shopping and sightseeing (we also went to see KLCC and a few other places) we went back to the hostel to relax for an hour before meeting Carris, Shawn and some of their other friends at a restaurant in the Bukit Bintang area. Bukit Bintang is a cosy little shopping and entertainment district in KL that is full of life - it has an endless number of bars, restaurants, pub and clubs and is a great place to be at weekends!! One of Carris' friends is a couch surfer (couch surfing is a website where you sign up to invite people to sleep at your couch for free) and he had been invited to a couch surfer party so we went there after dinner. It was a fabulous place: Rooftop view, cool music, awesome company and the best thing was that they served wine!!!! I have not had a glas of cold white wine since leaving Denmark and it was about bloody time that I got one - I have been so many places that would be perfect for a glas of chilled white wine but it just doesn't seem to be the thing they drink here....... Cannot understand why!!! Anyways, we had a tremendous night full of laugther and stories of travel!!
This morning I had a few errands to run and after that I took the bus home where I spend the afternoon reading a book in the green area (it is really just a tiny garden/playground really but still a nice place to sit) around the corner from the house I stay in.
It has been an excellent weekend and I now have two whole days to plan my birthday on Wednesday which I'm going to celebrate with Sabina (I'm thinking maybe afternoon wine and cake picnic in the Lake Gardens, dinner in Chinatown followed by drinks at Luna bar or mabe something completely different :)..)!!
I sincerely hope you have all had as enjoyable a weekend as I have - Missing you all heaps,
Susannah x
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