Malaysia

After picking up and dropping off our bags at Kuala Lumphur, the capital, we flew to Kuching and took a taxi to Logos Hope Ship and met up with our friends Steph (from Sudbury) and Marco. We had a tour of the ship, which is where we were going to be staying. Logos Hope is an aid ship goes around the world bringing help and hope, mainly educational as well as outreach.

the Logos Hope!

Our first day we were there, we both worked in the book store. Aaron worked as a parking assistant, gangway helper and helped sell tickets, and Becky was at the front desk repairing books and explaining the Journey of life, which explains the story of the prodigal son coming back to his father after he made some unwise decisions.

El Capitano the ship mascot

We enjoyed going out to food markets a few nights with different ship people and locals and having dinner there.

The next day we went on a connect day to a group called the Girls Brigade, made up of different churches. We gave a powerpoint presentation on Canada about our geography, animals and activities. Becky went to the younger group and Aaron to the older, we both did a drama and action songs. Becky sang a song and Aaron shared some testimony.

After we finished we were given a traditional dessert called ABC which is like a ice slushy with rice and fruit flavoured syrup and fruit pieces (this is their version of ice cream because dairy is very expensive and has to be imported in from New Zealand).

ABC's, and 'something else' with squid in the middle

We went to church on the ship on Sunday and ate at the night market with some people. We then were dropped off to spend a few days away from the ship. We stayed at a hostel in downtown Kuching and walked by the river. We went to the Sarawalk Cultural Village all day. There they had long houses and tall houses which are made out of wood and sticks or small boards. It was quite scary to walk on the tall houses that were 3 stories high with cracks in the floorboards that look unsteady. And we also climbed up a log that had narrow half steps cut out of them. There was a room where they had made clothes out of bark tree trunks. After we looked at some of the huts there we saw a really nice cultural performance with singing and dancing.

Then we went for a swim in the ocean with some of the ship people we met up with at the beach and headed back to the hostel. Aaron got lost trying to find an ATM machine. Our main outing in Malaysia was overnight to Bako National Park, with a guide. We travelled by boat to a rural peninsula, saw tons of stuff and learned a lot.

While we were there we were lucky and saw 4 kinds of monkeys: the Silver Leaf (long tail with orange babies),

Proboscis (males have a huge nose, but this is a female with a small nose),

Macaque (small and mischevious),

and Flying Lemurs which actually aren't monkeys...or lemurs!

We had meals included in our stay. While we were walking through the forest we came across a pool of wild spa fish. They were quite ticklish on the feet.

The park was very beautiful and we hiked to a remote beach which was gorgeous, and had more wild monkeys. We went swimming at the beach but stayed near the shoreline because it was jellyfish season and Aaron saw one nearby!

Selfie with our guide

There were wild boars (actually bearded pigs) walking around close to humans with its baby. We also saw some beautiful sunsets! Aaron went for a night hike.

 

The next morning we hiked up a hill and saw interesting plants that eat insects and small critters. We also saw an ant home that growths on trees. We returned to Kuching by boat and went to the museum and aquarium.

Animal-eating plant!

 

There was a Chinese temple we passed by and a history boutique. Then we took a taxi back to the ship to spend our last week in Malaysia. Becky served in Angels for a day which is the cleaning crew on the ship and Aaron served in deck crew peeling paint on the ship. The day after we both worked in the book hold where they store all the books for the bookstore and where they price the books and organize them. Becky enjoyed this process and spent another day pricing books. Aaron worked with the engine crew helping a welder.

That afternoon we went out with Steph and Marco to a museum and some gardens, and went exploring across the river in Kuching. We walked by some traditional Malay houses and a castle. While we were at an orchid garden Aaron noticed reported a few bamboo trees on fire. The staff didn't know about it and came running! It was a really crazy 'coincidence'.

Museum

Colourful Malay houses

Looks like a really special building...actually just a parliament

That night  we went to a huge Tribal gathering of churches across several provinces. To Aaron's surprise, Canadian David Damian was involved with it, who he knows from events back home. There was dance on the stage, worship and prayer.

The last few days we were on the ship, we had a tour of the engine room, which was super huge and cool. Our very last night on the ship there was a music concert on the ship, which was really special from all different cultures, and some local Malaysian artists as well. Aaron tried an instrument on stage made from the Philippines. There was also a local band from Kuching and we had some classical music too. Aaron also talked with people in the international cafe.

The very last day we were with Steph and crossed the river into a poor village on stilts that is directly across from the ship. They huts were run down and some of the board walks were run down, decaying and falling apart. There was lots of garbage around on the ground. Some of the children were unclothed. It was a drastic change to other places in the city. It was an eye opener to see how much we really do have in Canada next to these people that have nothing or very little.

After this we had lunch and left to the airport and took a flight out to London overnight. We were flying for a total of 15 hours that day. It was a bit sad to be leaving Southeast Asia probably for a long time, but the experiences we had there were special and we will remember them for the rest of our lives.