I'm back in Malaysia after 2 weeks at home for the holidays. It was a great trip and very busy. Walking around Toronto and realizing what a beautiful historic city it is, seeing friends and family for the first time in half a year, heading out to the countryside, throwing snowballs...it made me feel a little drunk for the first couple of days back (although it could have been the jet lag...or the beer). Still, upon returning to Malaysia I also felt a strange feeling of coming home...it's odd having my feet in two different countries at the same time.
As a side note, I've confirmed with UCC that I'll be returning in September 2009. So, I'll be back to my real home in late July, heading north to camp for August, and then home again at the end of the month to find a place to live and prep my courses.
Right now I'm up in the highlands in the interior of peninsular Malaysia (Cameron Highlands). I have a few more days until school starts, and I've made this a little reading and hiking retreat. It's a real paradise up here: the weather is cool, there is wilderness all around, and plenty of marked trails to access it. Unfortunately it's rainy season until the end of January, which really makes it come down at this elevation - instead of the periodic rain down where I live down by Kuala Lumpur, it pours and pours up here. I'd like to come back when it's a bit drier, and this place is only 4 hours by bus from KL. Still, because it's off season, accommodations are cheap and empty: I have a dorm room to myself for $3 per night...breakfast included - crazy, huh?
Another thing about this place makes me realize how incredibly diverse Malaysia is, and that it's all packed in to a really tight area - everything is accessible over a weekend...perfect for my situation.
I'll post some photos of this place later - I didn't bring my cable with me - and you'll see what I mean about returning to paradise.
Phuket, Thailand
Our cubicles in the staffroom. 
Mosque in downtown Kuala Lumpur
Good times in Singapore.
Our hotel at Fraser's Hill - the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia.
Rainy season in Kuala Lumpur.
School camping trip - Peninsular Malaysia
Reaching the summit
