Orangutans (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia)

We started the day with a trip to an Orangutan sanctuary about an hour from Kota Kinabalu. This place takes in orphaned Orangs and raises them for a few years. They then either relocate them to the larger sanctuary in Sepilok or release them into the wild. We really enjoyed the Orangutans. They are hilarious primates, and goof off a bit with eachother as well as their handlers.

Around mid-day, we decided to head out to an island off shore in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. The national park is a collection of about 5 main islands that are immediately off shore. The islands have several coral reefs and a population of some monkeys, monitor lizards, boars, and even some anteaters. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our driver to take us to the pier since all of the drivers were off praying. After his return, we were taken to the Jesselton Point Pier for a boat transfer to Pulau (island) Manukan. Manukan is one of the busier islands and seemed to be bustling with Chinese tourists. Of all the fellow travelers that we have encountered, the Chinese have the least amount of (western standard) etiquette, and the Indians always seem to screw stuff up or keep people waiting. The Chinese on this island were no exception, and we had some eye-rolling moments. They travel in groups and just kind of stampede you. It is actually pretty funny. We really enjoyed the tropical island, and the beach was surprisingly top notch. The snorkeling was fun, though we were a bit spoiled by Indonesian waters.

Tonight, we decided to eat like locals. First, we hit the night market for some street food. Kristin ate a corn on the cob and a strange shell stuffed with a potato mix. I ordered some chicken on a stick (satay) and a strange gooey green ball that ended up being a dessert type dish. After that, we stopped by a huge Chinese live sea food market and the selection blew our minds. It was like going to an aquarium where you can eat everything. Sharks, coconut crabs, tiger prawns, huge groupers, this place had it all. We decided that it was beyond our means, so we took some pictures and then left. We stopped by a few food stalls and eventually found our way to a shopping mall where we purchased some fresh fruit drinks. Delicious. We ended up eating at a malaysian-latin fusion restaurant that had 7 ringet (2 US) drinks. For dessert, we stopped by a boutique donut store.

A beach on the way to the Orangs. Beaches are much better than

we expected here.

A snake, fun

Orang Utan means person of the forest

They are indigenous to Borneo and very endangered

This one was showing off a bit

and making funny noises

Nice hair-do

Having a mid-day snack

They drink water off of their hands

Hanging out

This is my favorite picture. You can get really close because

there are no barriers or anything between you and the guys

Munching

Some of their mannerisms are so human like

Its okay bud

Swinging

They really seem to have a great time

I am putting alot of these up because I know some 'monkey' lovers

read the site

He stood like this for about 2 minutes

Classic monkey pose

A dance number

Having a bottle

You got some stuff on your lip bud

Boat ride to Manukan

This is what the islands look like

Trees and beaches, you can see KK in the background. It was

not a clear enough day to see Mount Kinabalu

The beach

The pier, and Kristin's arm

I could see this guy staring at me the entire time that I laid out.

I think it was move in day because every time I glanced over, he was

shoveling sand out of his home.

Not a bad place to enjoy some ice cream

Lots of fish in the water

Kristin and I spent about 5 minutes checking out this creature and

his awesome crib.

Birds on a sign

I spotted this guy showing a little too much sass

Sunset over the South China Sea

The night market, an island, a boat, and just a sliver of moon

We took this picture looking into our hotel, shooting our own reflection

around dusk. It was Kristin's great idea. Fun picture.

Swam with this fella earlier today

The last of my chicken at the night market

A strange green dessert thing

Trust us, we won't. HUGE crab.

These are tiger prawns

The edible aquarium

I found these shoes at the mall. The lady laughed when I asked for

them in an american size 10.

Latin-Malay Nachos

Happy hour - heres to my positions back in funny world

Oh noes

What a terrific donut selection

See you guys tomorrow

♪ Bor-nee-oh, oh oh - ♫ Bor-nee-oh, oh oh (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia)

You try and escape it. You move further and farther, crossing continents and oceans, trying to elude that catchy beat. The mind can stay calm for a while. But then, standing in a sandwich shop at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, you hear it. You watch the young Indian building your sandwich. As he spreads mayonnaise across your buns, you see him noodling his body about to the infectious jam, something forgotten, something familiar, something awful. And you recognize the moves. Your peace of mind is shanked furiously by the familiar jumble of words and electro beats. Pa-Pa-Pa-Poker Face! Pa-Pa Poker face! You suddenly remember that you are on the same planet that you were a month ago, where taste is forged more through familiarity than quality. Lady Gaga folks, America is not so far away after all. You can never escape pop culture.

What I noticed most about Kuala Lumpur is the familiarity of everything. If the U.S. had an area that was predominently Muslim, in the vein that Miami is predomoinantly Latin American, it would probably closely resemble Kuala Lumpur. I thought that the burqas, mosques, prayer bells, and mix of cultures would make us feel out of place and foreign. It ended up being the most familiar feeling place that we have visited thus far. With such a strange mix of cultures and languages, there seems to be a general deference to English. It sort of makes sense. You could not print a sign in bahasa malaysian, indian, chinese, english, and bahasa indonesian. Since most people in this part of the world know at least some English, it ends up being the common denominator, aside from Malaysian of course. Before we knew it though, KL was in our rear view mirror. We opted for having a taxi drive us to KL Sentral instead of carrying our luggage across a city park again. About 5 minutes into the very congested drive, our driver, a frail Chinese man with gold wire rimmed sunglasses and a cheery disposition, threw on some music. He was blasting some symphony numbers, and they sounded like the end credits to our Asian adventure. Thankfully, this is not the case.

We arrived at KL Sentral, which is the central Kuala Lumpur train station, and had a great breakfast of Lebanese wraps and chicken puff pastries. We were able to check our bags in at the train station, which felt novel and relieving. The train ride went by quickly, and before we knew it, we had boarded our plane. Next stop - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo.

Kota Kinabalu looks like a city that benefited greatly from the Asian Tiger Cub economy of last century, but has not developed much since. The city looks kind of beaten down, a little old, and has an odd smell. We are not here for the city though, our purpose in Borneo would be to take in the odd delights of one of the oldest rain forests on our planet.

Our place of residence, Le Meridien, is located directly across from a local market that is bustling at night. We gathered that it is a sort of fresh market loosely resembling a grocery store for locals. It is filled with shouting Malaysians, that make noises like drunk auctioneers and swing stiff dead fish around in the air to reiterate their points. They are selling smelly things from the sea, smelly fruits, strange veggies, and a number of oddities. We bought some yellow watermelons for our room. Oh, that smell of rotting corpses? It is not the deceased, but rather a gentleman cutting up a Durian fruit. These things smell literally like death, and we are going to take the next few days to build up the courage to eat a few pieces, probably on our last night here. Seriously, we will probably both throw up. It will be awesome.

The harbor outside Kota Kinabalu

Some boats just offshore, we ate at an Italian place right on the

water. I know, we are not keeping to the fiduciary duty of trying

new things, but we are noodled and riced out

A spot in the shade

Sun set from our room

Another shot, the local market is right there in the bottom right

The main drag

One more sunset, slow day

Kota Kinabalu

A huge seafood market

The local market

Swordfish cooking oil

Some odd dealings

Fish, everywhere, it smells like it looks

A rare consented photo, usually I get yelled

at after taking pictures. I quit asking about

3 weeks ago.

Some desserts, the green stuff is amazing

A whole lot of grilling

A scene from a Borneo night market

Kristin in a very crammed market

Look how happy that guy is to be in this picture

The night market backs right up to the water. This is a smelly place.

Pizza and a Club sandwich - comfort food day