Kayaking in RainForest, Fairy Caves, Orangutans! Oh my, oh my...

This is Meg and it's my first blogging attempt. There's nothing like a few adventures to shake the travel homesickness out of me. We have had a couple of amazing days.
Yesterday we went to an oragutan rehab wildlife center where they live in a protected wild area and saw four Orangutans. They are amazing-- the way they swing through the tree tops. And then we went Kayaking through gorgeous rainforest. It rained and rained and rained so hard for the last two hours on the river, but it was beautiful and warm. We swam in waterfalls, kayaked under fresh rain water running over rock ledges into the river, saw all kinds of flora and fuana, and mountains in steamy mist from the cool rain hitting the hot forest. At one point Emily with big eyes said "This is the best day of my life!" I have to put it in the top ten as well. ;-)

Then today the wonderful owner of the guest house we are staying at in Kuching (Fairview guest house) drove us out to see some caves. The aptly named Fairy Cave defies explanation. It is entirely other worldly-- light streaming in feeding ferns and rhododendron-looking plants growing on the rocks, highlighting the staglamites and diamond shiney drops of water streaming in. It's an enormous cavern-- time and space change perspective while in there. The air hangs thick and cool and impossibly still. Looking across the cave Em looked entirely too small for how close she was. I had vertigo several times climbing up the steps or looking up at the rounded, twisting rock formations hanging from the top. The air is mystical-- one can imagine fairies or hobbits actually live there. It is out of an animation type movie like Lord of the Rings. And we were the ONLY people there! It is maintainted (we are not about to go spulunking!)-- there were flights and flights of wet slimy cement steps, and evidence of incense offerings made by the locals. There is myth that it is home to a fairy that makes wishes come true, started by a woman who prayed to there for a baby and then got pregnant. I got a few pictures, but my battery died once we got into the main part. Which actually fit how unimaginable the place is-- you can't capture it in words or pictures. Em said it perfectly once we emerged back from the cave: "A place like this rearranges your insides."
We have just seen a tiny speck of Borneo-- and all of it very accesable, and it is amazing. This line keeps popping into my head after seeing yet another amazing sight here: The Gods really cut loose in Borneo.
I feel so lucky to be able to see even this small part of it.

This is Emily, Meg did the best we could at describing this place, to be in Borneo for me is to repeat a few times a day "i've never seen anything like that!" Accentuated by the evening prayer floating down the river from the mosques at sunset, and the warmth of the locals, this is a real treat.

food!

I can't believe I have yet to dedicate a blog entry entirely to FOOD. Foodies take note: Kuching Borneo is a worthy destination for the food alone. The noodle shops of course, are plentiful. I have yet to discern the difference between Malaysian noodles, Chinese noodles and Indonesian noodles, but it is easy enough to get presented with a bowl of hot noodles, with vegetables and or meat and little dishes of sauce to go along. Last night we went to a chinese barbecue place, and sought assistance from a local who ordered for us: sauteed local fiddlehead ferns, roast pork, and bean curd with vegetables. The night before, I had a halibut encased in an egg situation that was salty/sweet/crispy and so unusual and delicious. Every tourist we see excitedly asks "have you eaten here or there yet" and there is no way we will have time to fully explore all the eating choices. ok, this entry won't be entirely about food. Yesterday we took a hike to see the world's largest blooming flower, the Rafflesia flower, that grows for 9 months and then blooms for 5 days. Interestingly, it smells like rotten meat. Yum! They said this is to attract flies that help it to germinate other seeds. We then continued hiking up a steep trail in the steamy rainforest and were rewarded for the sweat-fest with a most amazing waterfall and swimming hole. I just can't imagine that we were in such a wild place in the day, and then eating bbq and then strolling on the river sipping a bubble tea, but that is the crazy mix of Borneo. Today is a bit of a rest and business day, did laundry, booked our next leg of the trip to Bali (!) and bought me a new pair of glasses as mine decided to peel the coating off the outside. Going to check out some Taoist temples this afternoon as the heat breaks, and then...more eating!
Love, Us

Kuching!

We are in Kuching, in Sarawak, Malaysia, Borneo. Would love to write how amazing of a time we are having but frankly, we're both a bit culture shocked and homesick and disoriented. It feels like the compass needle in my gut is flipping around very confused about which way to point and why I am so far from home. However, walking along the river in the evening and interacting with the locals who are out enjoying thier city helps! Malay is easy to learn and people love it when you can use a few words. We had breakfast in a very busy kedai kopi (coffee shop, which means noodles, noodle soups, satay, fish, and roti, as well as coffee with sweetened condensed milk) where the waiter was very happy to help out two confused westerners. We were the only westerners in this very busy place, and got a lot of smiles. Kuching is an amazing mix of Jungle in the city, cosmopolitan city in the rainforest, Chinese, indigenous, and Malay peoples of Buddhist, Muslim, animist and Hindu Faiths. The city is along a river, and easy to navigate. Coffee, noodles and water costs about 3 dollars, and people here are very proud of their country and of Borneo. After we get our feet under us a bit, we'll head off to see orangutans, do some hiking and kayaking, and visit some temples and mosques. This morning after the breakfast we visited the weekend market with countless rows of vegetables, meats and fish, as well as snacks! from nearby farmers and indigenous families. Okay, okay, we're having a good time! haven't figured out how to post photos yet though. soon soon!

Next up: Borneo!

Hey everyone, the Philippines leg is coming to a close, one more day tomorrow and then off to Borneo via Singapore. The Philippines has been great, some surfing, some snorkeling, lots of resting and recovering from the whole packing and flying over here efforts. Other highlights include a fighting cock trading deal on the public bus, the kindness and gentle nature of the Filipinos, the local version of Ceviche, Kinalau, and a (vague) sense of some of the tribal cultures of each of the 7,000 islands despite a long history of colonization and military presence. It's pretty windy so the surf is far from perfect, but beautiful waters and no wetsuits. I had a surf teacher for two sessions and thanked him at the end for pushing me into some waves, only to learn he hadn't been, I'd been catching some! A major breakthrough. We have an overnight layover in Singapore and I personally am really looking forward to spending the night in the airport. They have a spa and sleeper lounge chairs, as well as great food, it will be far nicer than any hotel we can afford!

We're looking forward to getting away from surfer culture and exploring Kuching, how often is there a NY Times article in the travel section about some exotic place and you're going to the area anyway in 2 weeks? If you missed the article it here it is:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/travel/23borneo.html
I'm so excited that we get to take advantage of the article before everyone books trips there next year.

Will try to post some pics tomorrow. Love you and miss you all!

Happy Lunar New Year!

We really enjoyed sharing the Lunar New Year at Blue Cliff Monastery with the monastics and layfriends, it was a perfect breather before we set off on our flight tonight! Here are some pictures of the Meditation hall all dressed up for the festivities.

All finished up in NYC!

Well, packing never goes smoothly and it's been a kerfuffle getting ourselves together to leave, but we are off tomorrow to Blue Cliff Monastery (www.bluecliffmonastery.org) to celebrate the Lunar New Year and slow down and take it all in before we fly off on Feb 8th.

Meg finished her biggest and greatest work yet, and I am shamelessly bragging and showing off her work in our first post here, check out the Rosenthal Ranch Series under furniture on her website:
www.slowelk.com

We've had such an amazing experience saying goodbye to everyone, thank you for all your love and support and help getting us packed and out the door. It was so great I thought maybe we'd stay another year and then have a lot of goodbye parties and dinners again next winter...but Meg said that's not a good idea.

We love you and miss you already and look forward to lots of fun rendezvous and adventures in the years to come.

Emily (and Meg)