g.i. babe

26Jun07

So on Friday we went on a mission to find a hairdresser. It is just sooo hot here and hair is not really a top priority for me so I figured I might as well just shave it again. It did not take long to find a hair salon (or saloon, as it were), all we had to do was ask for directions and then we were being led by the hand and chatted to. Everyone here is so friendly. Asking to have my head shaved definitely invoked a lot of wide-eyes, giggling and ‘tsk’s from the women in the shop. A girl named Yao Ling did it for me and as she said, I’m the “only and last” girl in Malaysia to have a shaved head. Oh well. Works for me.
After the haircut we headed over to Katsam Jetty where I did my first barter! It went a little something like this:
“Hello! I take you to island for one hundred ringgits!”
“I heard you could go for ten…”
“…seventeen! Seventeen ringgits!”
Impressed? I thought so. Nothin’ but business. …yup. There are five islands that you can go to, but we chose Mamutik because it’s the teeniest and we heard there would be much less people there. We had our own little part of the beach all to ourselves. The snorkeling there was amazing, but my poor translucent skin turned a beautiful shade of red.
The next day we checked out of our hostel in ScaryTown and into the Tang Dynasty/Poopsty Hotel in Kota Kinabalu to meet up with the other girls. There are 12 of us in all (one Aussie, one American, eight Brits and us two Canadians) and they’re all pretty fabulous. Different ages and lives completely, although four of us are in theatre. Go figure. To get better acquainted we went to dinner at some Italian restaurant on the waterfront. Seriously. I’ve had pizza thrice since arriving in Malaysia and I’ve been here just under a week. Anyhoo, after dinner most of the girls went back to the hotel because they were pretty jetlagged but Sarah, myself and Anita walked all along the waterfront to check out the Filipino market, which is not really a touristy spot. The market was incredibly bustling and huge and we were apparently the most interesting things in it. A lot of people trying to get our attention with the usual tactics, but it was still pretty comfortable, although occasionally embarrassing. Nothing like being called “G.I. Babe” in front of a gaggle of giggling onlookers to really make you feel at home (although the comment was followed with a friendly exhange of words followed by a lot more laughter).
On Monday we were checked out of the Dynasty and into the Rasa Ria Five Star Resort. It’s absolutely ridiculous. We spend two nights here now for free because part of the placement is spent working here in their Nature Reserve for six days. What better way to ease you into living in the jungle for two months than putting you up in an all-inclusive resort? Today, Tuesday, we started off the day with our very first jungle trek! Ayigh. Trekking in the tropics is a very strenuous activity. It’s just sooo hot. But it was a great trek and apparently parts of the jungles of Malaysia look an awful lot like the forests of Cole Harbour. Tonight we got to watch a traditional Malaysian ceremony. Although I don’t know how accurate it was… Afterwards one of the guys in the ceremony wanted contestants for a “traditional Malaysian IQ test” and no one was volunteering so I went up (it’s not like I know anyone here, right?). A couple of other people joined me after a while and we were given these stick puzzle thingies with string tied up in them and were told to see who could get it off first. Apparently, the puzzle was given to young men wishing to marry by the father of the bride-to-be and they could only be wed if he solved it. Surprisingly, I was the first (and only) to solve it, thereby winning the title of “Smartest Person in Borneo”/50% off one drink at the Sampan Bar. I also managed to get the string back on and off again, which is no small feat. I am hereby able to marry, divorce and marry again in the state of Sabah. Awesome.
Anyhoo, I know this is a shoddy update but I’m sooo tired. We finally fly to Sandakan tomorrow and check in to our jungle hut(!) so this may the last update for a while.
I hope all is well back home. Feel free to send us updates as well.

PS. I uploaded a couple more pictures. Not many though.

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