Emmy in the Rice Paddy: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu is a really nice, small, mellow city right on the north coast of Borneo. I took an 8 hour bus ride from Bandar Seri Begawan to Kota Kinabalu, and there were 8 checkpoints. (Yes, I now have 8 more stamps in my passport.) Listen to how silly/ hilarious this is: Based off of the "shape" of Brunei, the bus route from BSB to KK first exits Brunei (1 stamp) and then enters Sarawak, Malaysia (1 stamp). Then it continues on, exiting Sarawak and entering Brunei again...then exiting Brunei and entering Sarawak, again...and then exiting Sarawak and entering Sabah. Phew! My favorite part of the bus ride, though, was when our bus had to drive onto a small ferry to cross a stream. The stream/ dividing river was about 30 feet (hilarious). Once in KK, I was able to walk only about 5 minutes before finding a really great hostel (Sensi Backpacker's Hostel). I had a cozy, homey dorm room...and the best part was that they provided free fruit throughout the day! (And nice bread for breakfast...these are the things that make me happy haha so sad). Upon arriving, I met a really friendly Filipino guy named Don. He waited (aka invited himself, but the more the merrier) to come to dinner with me and my friend Alice (Nicki's friend from the Penang half-marathon). Alice met me at the hostel, and the three of us strolled around a nearby wet market. We had a blast! We also met Alice's Australian's boyfriend's family, and the mother was a bit of a piece of work (without even realizing it, I think). She was going on and on about the importance of English in SE Asian countries (on and on...) She obviously hasn't met my students who are mainly going to be, and want to be, farmers in their small village...and I also always find it hypocritical when an American, English, or Australian person who only speaks one language (as she poked fun of) says this. Ugh! Learn a second language first, and then you can have an opinion on English.

The next morning, after sleeping in, Alice picked me up around 1pm. We went to a really interesting market (all kinds of fruits and roots I'd never seen before) and then we bought some rice wine and went and drank it at a nearby beach. This was my first time drinking rice wine and it was SO SWEET! That evening when I showed up at my hostel, I was walking upstairs and who was there but my Brunei buddy Oscar! I was so excited to see him. (He likes to tag along with my friends, too haha). Alice, her bf Rowan, his English friend Guy, and I were all meeting up later that night to drink some leftover rum and hang out. Oscar came too. We all hung out at Guy's friend's house at the top of a spooky cemetery for hours. With all of the different countries and perspectives represented, the conversation was so interesting! We talked about countries, cultures, and conflicts for almost 4 hours. It's nights like these that make me love travel; it's discussions like this that I live for. After Alice dropped us off at our hostel, Oscar and I went to get a couple of late night coffee and teas, and the conversation continued. Oscar told me he is too selfish to ever want children or to get married, and his main goal in life is to travel to every country in the world. He already is 65 down...

The next day we woke up relatively early after Don's alarm went off repeatedly when he was in the shower haha. We went and chilled in the kitchen of the hostel eating the free food, talking some more, and doing computer things. I never made it to Mount Kinabalu (next time). Then Oscar and I went on a stroll and out for some calamari dinner right on the coast, and a short walk from the hostel (I remember thinking..."This is the life!") When we returned, Don had returned from a one-day trip to Brunei (hilarious in itself because the bus ride there and back is so long) and my Swiss friend from Mulu (Frederic) had stopped by my hostel twice looking for me (aw!) I love the small town feel, and the fact that so many Westerners are all on the same "route" from Mulu to KK. (On my first night I'd run into a French couple that I met at Mulu earlier in the week, as well!)

Finally, today (my 3rd day in KK) Alice picked me up at 730. We gave Oscar a ride to his far-away bus station, said our goodbyes, and then Alice, Don and I all went to a nearby island called "Mukahan" to go snorkeling (sp.?) It was a sunny morning and a beautiful ferry ride. I was the first one in the water, again in all of my clothes (not packing bathing suits was not the smartest idea!) The beach, although beautiful, was really bad for swimming though: rocky, very, shallow, and so many jelly fish. As soon as I put my head in the water I thought I saw a school of fish and I almost reached out to grab it. When I looked closer I saw that it was actually the black stingers of a huge jellyfish.

After the beach, we all went back to Sensi Hostel where I ran into my friend Frederic! The four of us went out to lunch, before Alice kindly dropped me and Don off at the airport. I made both of my flights (from Borneo to KL and then KL to BKK) and then I had a great night out with my friends Gracie, Brendan, and Adam (visiting Thailand from Cornell together!)

I just arrived in INDIA this afternoon and I am with two of my best friends from college: Anuj and Melissa :)