Redang

Not tired of travelling yet, Jenn and I took a trip with Elsa the next weekend (that's 3 weekends in a row if you're counting) to Pulau Redang, an island on the East coast of Malaysia. This is known as the resort island in Malaysia and we were able to get amazing rates at a first class hotel since this was the last weekend that the resort was going to be open before monsoon season hit. In fact, most of the other resorts on the island were already closed. It was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Our resort - The Laguna Redang Island Resort

The pool at the resort

Our room

The whole reason we came here - the beach!

Langkawi

The very next weekend Jenn and I took a much-needed trip to Langkawi (another island on the west coast of Malaysia), accompanied by a bunch of other teachers from CIMP. I will leave the narration of this trip to Liam Francis, one of the teachers who came along:

"When 13 staff members go away to an island, can we consider that staff development? I think so. It all started friday after school when we all rushed to get in a van that sped us to the airport. We all made the flight, and we all landed safely in Langkawi (an island paradise off the west coast of Malaysia... just happens to be a duty free island as well).

(The biker gang from left to right: Liam, Jason, Barry, Me, Steve and Chris - JB)

The very first thing we did besides settle at our hotel on the beach was to go and rent our motobikes. The first place we hit will go down in history as the worst bike shop ever. 6 bikes, 2 stalling out, 3 ran out of gas immediately (not enough to make it 2 kms to a gas station). So we were irrate. The second place we hit was better. And they used my expired driver id to cover everybody, 25 rm/24hours (about 8cdn). Then it started! We had our own little bike gang touring the island.

The next step was to look for the cheapest booze. And Langkawi is full of that... it wasn't hard. Meanwhile, the girls were back at the hotel waiting for the guys. Eating dinner by sunset on the beach right about the time that we were running out of gas in the middle of nowhere by sunset. But we came back with booze. The question of "what should we do tonight" came with an easy answer when the karaoke bar at our hotel was seen. We brought an iPod, 13 people, and booze. I don't know how many bars will let you play your own music, bring your own booze (and then give you glasses and bring you ice).





(A few rounds later from left to right: Elsa, Paule, Jenn, Rani and Brandyn - JB)

The place was due to close when "the deal" was worked out. They said they would keep the place open after hours if we paid them 80 rm/hour (about 23cdn). Not bad considering they would toss in 8 beers. 8 beers alone in KL is worth more than that, so we signed up for a couple of hours. (Note: This was actually 8 beers EVERY HOUR - JB)

During the days, we set out around the island for some sightseeing, and basically any excuse we could come up with to ride our bikes. We found beaches, good restaurants, and a waterfall that you could use as a waterslide and then sit in the frigid water pockets. Nice and refreshing break from the hot sun. Eating seafood on the beach is tough. But we managed. Then it was back to the karaoke bar for another night of our own party room.

Duty free island means: try to fit as much as you can in your suitcase. I bought 7 bottles of anything from Tequila to Whiskey and it ran me around 80 cdn. Between 13 of us, we basically can start our own bar now. Maybe we will.

I love Langkawi!
-Liam"

Penang

Our next trip came in October. It was the first of three weekend vacations in a row for Jenn and I. We decided to go to Penang (a late birthday present for Jenn), an island on the west coast of Malaysia. It is known as a cultural island - famous for its Kek Lok Si temple (which is supposed to be the largest and most beautiful Buddhist temple complex in Southeast Asia), as well as for its amazing cuisine. Here are a few highlights of our trip there:

Penang has a beautiful butterfly park, which is home to over 5 000 butterflies and over 100 species.

The first temple we went to in Penang was the snake temple. It was built in 1805 by the Chinese monk Chor Soo Kong, who was supposed to be a healer who would often give shelter to the snakes of the jungle. When the temple was finished, snakes came on their own to live inside.

This is the inside of the snake temple. Notice the pit vipers. Apparently these snakes are very safe, as their constant exposure to all the burning insense makes them lethargic.

This is Kek Lok Si temple. Although construction began in 1893, there has been constant building since then, with additions still being built today. The seven story pagoda seen here is part of the temple of 10,000 Buddhas and is dedicated to the Boddhisattva Tsi Tsuang Wang, who declined to enter nirvana after enlightenment in order that he might assist others along the path.

This is the inside of the main temple. There are three "praying areas" like this inside this particular temple. The wall is lined with Buddha statues and the red pillars are also made out of small Buddha's as well.

This is one of the small Buddha statues that line the walls of the temple seen above.

An example of the intricate 3D carvings found all over the temple.

This view of the temple complex is from the seventh floor of the pagoda.

A short cablecar ride up from the temple takes you to a 30.2 m bronze statue of Avalokitesvara - the Goddess of Mercy. It was added to the temple complex in 2002.

This lion is one of several sculptures that guards the statue.

I thought this picture just looked weird, but it also serves to give you an idea of the insane size of some of the statues here.