From the Edge of the Far East to the Islands of Malaysia

Our adventure today will be getting out of Tokyo to see the country of Malaysia where Kent and I went this past week. Next week I will post pictures from the country of the Philippines where we went after our trip to Malaysia.  Since Kent had work to do, I was a tag-along to Kent at certain times, and out on my picture-taking adventure at other times. 

We don't have a car right now, so we depend on our feet, taxis, buses, and the railway system for our transportation. The international airport is about 1 1/2 hours away from our apartment.....depending on traffic......it could be much longer. We were originally scheduled to go to the airport on a limousine bus which costs about $10 per person. These buses stop at various nice hotels to pick up passengers who are traveling to the airport. When we woke up on Thursday morning, we realized that were experiencing the end of a typhoon and many of the main roads and bridges were closed, therefore canceling our bus. The expected opening time of the bridges and roads was well after our required airplane departure time so we had to take a taxi. We HAD to be in Malaysia on Friday, so we HAD to get to the airport to catch our afternoon flight which meant, leave a couple of hours early and take a cab. Cab drivers can go on alternate roads that buses can't go on, so that was our only choice. We rushed to get ready and left the apartment at 9:15 a.m. for a 1:50 p.m. flight. By 9:15, the typhoon had stopped, but the main roads were still closed so off we headed out on our airport adventure.....

We found a cab driver that reassured us that it would take about 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport due to the lack of traffic because of the typhoon. Little did he know..... This is the inside of the taxi. The driver wears a nice uniform/suit which includes the wearing of white gloves. The seats all have lace/white covers that are changed daily to  keep cleanliness in the cab. The gadgets include a navigation device, a cash meter, credit card machine, a cash bag, and a train card machine. You say, "What is a train card? A train "ticket" card is what you can load with money and use at the train stations instead of purchasing a paper ticket. You add "x" amount of yen to it which makes it act like a debit card as well as look like one. Thus the train card machine which deducts the fare from your card. Let's see what we saw on our way to the airport.....

Once we got out of the city, we saw many homes and business with their outside metal window covers pulled for protection from the typhoon. 

We saw flooding in the fields........

and in..........

parking lots, homes, and businesses. There was a lot of clean up to do after the storm. It was so sad to see.

This picture shows the thick, natural vegetation of Japan. The trees and shrubbery are often covered in vines which grow everywhere.......except for the on the road or in the "cement city", Tokyo.

We passed bamboo forests......

and various fields of produce. Luckily these guys and......... 

these guys missed getting flooded.

As I have mentioned in the other blogs, space is limited everywhere, not just in the city. Even in the country, the buildings are built to the edge of the road where the white line is. Don't stick your hand out the window, you may lose it!!

I suppose one would run to and from the door when there is no traffic??

We saw various kinds of farm houses. This is an old one,

as well as this one. It looks like he had to sell his property 100 years ago for the expansion of roads and modern man......right next to the road...!

This looks like an old style home, but it was probably built in the 80's or 90's. This guys was lucky to have a bigger wall between him and the road......

 Here we have a home that is more modern and was able to sit back a ways, but as you can tell, the wall is right on the road.

And another modern farm house......

You're probably looking at this picture wondering what the blue netting is all about. These are Japanese pear or "Nashi" trees under that netting. It is one of the ways they protect the fruit from the birds.

We're not quite sure what the piles with the blue tarps are. Anyone know??

So after a 44 mile, 4 1/2 hour ride, and a ridiculous $350 taxi bill, we made it to our plane due to the fact it was delayed. Yea!!

We flew to Soeul, Korea where we transferred to another flight headed for Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Kent showing his pearly whites at the Seoul Airport. Nice smile, dear.

When we got to the city of Kota Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo, this is what was awaiting for us......

A beautiful view and.......

an assortment of various tropical fruits. 

In the hotel gift shop, I found some interesting snack food.....

Udang? I wonder if it tastes like the name?

These must be disgusting if they make you angry.

Maybe these would be okay since they are imported.....from Idaho? How do you mess up potato chips. Oh, they're barbecue, that could ruin them.

Once you eat the roasted anchovy what-evers with honey, I think the barbecue chips might be great! Hmmm...... I think I'll pass. 

It was refreshing to see these beautiful flowers in October and feel the heat of the tropics. 

On Friday, we went on a boat to another island........

These people are Koreans who were on the boat with Kent and me. 

We traveled to the island and as we traveled we found........

filthy, dirty water. The white things out in the water are dirty diapers. They were not alone in the ocean at all! They were accompanied by plastic bottles, cups, and wrappers everywhere. The last place I wanted to go was in the water.

The dock was nice, but there was NO WAY it would pass inspection in the U.S. Anyone could have easily fallen off the side or through the steps. I was again reminded that I was in a 3rd world country.

We walked to a small outdoors restaurant for lunch and on our way we.....

saw this display. 

After lunch we HAD to do to the unwanted thing......get near the water. There were activities planned for everyone which consisted of riding on a banana boat, parasailing, and jet ski riding. Kent and I chose one the least of the 3 least offenses which was parasailing. That's safe......so we thought. We loved the parasailing until the driver decided to dip us in the ocean. Ya, well so much for the dry run. Kent stayed on the dock helping others while I  drove a jet ski with two people on the back..... one of which was a young man working for the jet ski company. I drove as safely as I could so we wouldn't spill over or get wet. Mission accomplished, but not nearly as fun as going fast! Pictures were taken by one of the Malaysian helpers which I don't have yet. Maybe they'll get on the blog later.

Kent and I had to go back to the hotel early because Kent had work to do. As we were walking back to our room, we walked passed two rooms, one for men and one for women. They are........

prayer rooms for the muslims. This one, as you can see, is for the men. Sorry it's blurry. I try to be inconspicuous with my picture taking and I didn't really have time to stop as I was walking by. Too many people.......

Here is the sign directing people......

and here is a woman walking toward a room to pray.

Another beautiful flower. It looks like a cousin to the Rhododendron. 

That night after our day on the water, we had the privilege of observing one of God's great gifts......

an incredibly, beautiful sunset.

Now for a discovery that many of you will appreciate.....

Yep! A Trimline phone from the 70's. 

Can you believe it??? Ohhhh the days of the Trimline phones with the extra long cords. You could do dishes and talk on the phone at the same time! So cool! And where did we find this phone?

Yep, in the bathroom.

A phone wasn't the only thing in the bathroom. Notice the hose in the left corner. It is the Asian version of a bidet..... The location is rather inconvenient, but the hygiene is great!

The elevators were beautifully decorated, but wait, they aren't elevators!

They are lifts!

We left Malaysia on Saturday for Manila, Philippines and as we left the island of Borneo, we saw......

what Kota Kinabalu means. It is the mountain in the distance called Mount Kinabalu which  is 14,435 feet. Orangutans live there. Are some of you already planning your trip here to hang with the wild Orangutans? I suggest you prepare for other things besides the monkeys.

Since I like observing people and taking their pictures on the sly, I decided to get permission from our Malaysian flight attendant.

However, I didn't get permission from any of these people.

We've got people wearing ball caps,

hijabs that are dark colors,

or bright colors,

 or light colors.

We have no hats,

or we have taqiyahs. This one is black, but they come in many colors as well.

We have people that just flat out don't want to wear anything on their heads except for their hair that they don't want to cut!

We took off for Kuala Lumpur where we changed planes and headed for Manila. This is what we saw as we left Borneo.....

If only this beauty wasn't polluted.....

As I looked out of the airplane window flying at 30,000 feet, I saw this incredible cloud formation. It reminded me of a field that was just plowed. It also reminded me of our driveway during our Utah winters after it has been snow plowed. So beautiful.

The cloud formations were so amazing!

We then flew to Kuala Lumpur where we found miles and miles of.....

palm trees. Palm oil is their biggest export.

as it is mentioned in this newspaper.

This was rather interesting to me. 500 million units? That's a lot of units. What are they selling? Apartments for 500 million people? Hmmmm...... The Shariah compliant is rather unnerving for me as they are trying to get us to accept Shariah law into our country.......

This is a very small part of the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Where you see many muslim people working and traveling.

Soon after taking off for Manila, I found another one of God's gifts.

So much beauty on this earth! We, Americans, are all so lucky to live in the most beautiful country on earth. May we always keep it that way through our knowledge and actions. May each of us support the beauty of liberty and freedom. I observe so many sad and unfortunate people living under oppressive governments which makes me be more resolved in supporting the continued protection of our constitution. We, the people, can not allow an over-grown government or we will be just like so many 3rd world countries who suffer because of their corrupt, oversized, and controlling governments. They look to America for their hope and freedom, and if we lose our liberties the entire world will not have a country to look to for their future. A lot lies within each of us to protect what we have.

Until next week when I introduce the Philippines to you.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Grandma, & Grandpa

Uncle Kent and Grandma Barb

Kent and Barb