Trying to set up a better way of keeping in contact with you all. It is New Year's Day in Kuala Lumpur. The girls are sleeping, Kathleen went to work in her room- a two block walk. Kathleen and I were out until 2AM last night bringing in the new year. We went to a poolside party at the clubhouse of a neighboring highrise condo. The party was one of those murder mystery party. I have been to a few of those that were scripted and way too long. This one was much more of a social thing. We all ended up in the pool.
We are 10 days into our winter break. We just returned from our trip to the Malaysian state of Sarawak located on the massive island of Borneo. We walked the streets of Kuching (means cat) located on a wide river port. Enjoyed the chicken satay at hawker stalls for next to nothing. We saw orangutans at a preserve. A van took us 5 hours up country to Batang Ai, a huge lake surrounded by pristine rainforest.
We drank rice wine in a longhouse with the Iban people who just a generation ago were feared headhunters. The longhouse we visited had 14 families living in it. One third of the structure ws devoted to common space. There people weave, clean, and generally hangout. The people were extremely friendly. Renee sat on the women's laps as they stroked her blond hair. She got to play with 2 baby chicks that they caught in the yard for her. Analiese watched as they wove baskets. When it was time to go, Renee wanted to stay and have us pick her up in a couple days.
The headhunters were not the ones to be feared however. At the Hilton Batang Ai we were staying at, a drunk group of spa workers were living it up on Christmas Eve in the room next to ours. The hotel was designed in the "longhouse style" so the building we were in also had a long communal space in it. We were 2 doors down from the spa and next door to the room where the entire spa staff was living, about 8 of them. All day long they were singing, laughing and yelling. Kathleen and I went for a jog and gave the girls strict instructions not to open their door. When we came back, the party had spilled out into the coomon area. Suddenly this man comes lurching out of the room dripping with blood, he had fallen through the shower door and was bleeding profusely. We got the hotel staff to take care of him, but not before he lost at least a pint of blood. The kids were freaked out. We got the hotel to move us to another longhouse and they comped us for the night. Kathleen and I even got a free massage the next day. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, or something like that.
At the Permai rainforest, we slept in a treehouse, hiked, went to the beach and played around on their ropes course. The rainfores surrounding this area was incredible. We hiked an hour up the hill on a steep, rooted trail to a waterfall that we all plunged into. They had a living museum nearby with longhouses from 5 different tribes that we spent a rainy day at (it rained for 36 hours straight). Kids danced with the locals and I ate a sauted worm, tasted peanutty.
We are back in KL for New Years, ready for the second half of our first year here in Malaysia. the kids miss their friends back home and send their greetings. we will be home for 7 weeks this summer in both California and the Jersey Shore. We hope to see as amny of you as possible. Peace in 2008.
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