Project Malaysia 2009

At the airport

brian — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:30:10 +0000

Almost over. We’re at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Checked in. Cleared security and waiting on a chai latte at a cafe. Time in KL went well. Lots of shopping yesterday at Central Market and lots of fake bags, watches, tshirts etc at Petaling St Market. In between we visited the spectacular Batu Caves. Today we chilled out at Sunway Lagoon, a big waterpark. Soon be home and the big adventure will be over….

Brian M

Team 1 update

brian — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:26:37 +0000

Hello to all of Team 1’s friends and family and maybe the malaysian scouts if they get chance to read this
This is our second blog so we have a lot to catch up on!! after working at the sun bears team 1 moved onto working on base camp, we all enjoyed until we realised how hard it is to wash a dixie. Going shopping was fun to and Kyle and Emma took this opportunity to buy important supplies – a.k.a. SUPERMAN TOWELS wooh!! After base camp it was off to the RDC (omg) that was hard work! but we only had to do that for one day before we were off to our home stay. A good time was had by all of team 1, the family’s were all very welcoming and treated us like family (some even looked like family members JILL!!) and we all came back arms full of food and gifts from our foster parents.

We finished our last 2 days at the RDC (or so we thought ) and we finally got our holiday to Poring! This was our idea of heaven internet, pools and good food. We went on the canopy walkway on the second day and this was hard to get to but worth it when you were there and after alot of jumping , photo taken and general banter we climbed back down and headed toward a small waterfall which Emma managed to not fall into.

Before we knew it our time was up and it was back to camp for another stint at the sun bears. This time it was a lot harder we were fixing the chicken wire before the wall slapping in 3 days so it was a mad dash to tighten everything and get the place ready for the wall slapping. The day of the wall slapping came around and team 1 spent the morning at the RDC (nooooooooo !!) and the came home for a nap before we all started a long night of work. It was tough on everyone, but all but a few managed to stay awake and worked the whole night til 4 am when we ran out of cement. We all slept in the hall that night because WE WOULDN’T SURVIVE IN THE TENTS!!! so it was a lazy morning with people sleeping in til 11.00 we started work again at 4pm and were finished the wall 2am with a cheer from everyone unfortunatly it was on that night tha we had to say goodbye to 3 of our new friends Quimi, Rookie and Marwan as they were heading of for a softball and paintball tournament. we were woken up at around 9 which most felt was not a long lie and all could have slept longer.

tbc…

Emma C

Wall Party

brian — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:13:57 +0000

On Tuesday night we had our wall concreting party which spread onto Wednesday night also. Late into Tuesday night people where seen sleeping with their hands in buckets of concrete, everyone was exhausted. As it got close to three in the morning panic hit as we were running out of concrete. Heading home at four am, people were pretty tired but happy to be heading home to a long lie-in before the next long night.

Thursday morning, one am and the wall was finished. Everybody went home buzzing , the wall was finished and there was only half a day of work was left!!

Hannah

Scottish Night

brian — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:49:06 +0000

Last Monday we hosted a dinner for the local people who have helped us – from the Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the Rainforest Discovery Centre and, of course, the local Scouts. The Scouts ran a Scottish night with piping, dancing and traditional Scottish food – haggis and stovies. One of our guests, Ian from the BSBCC, addressed the haggis and Cammy gave a short speech. The locals seemed to enjoy themselves and managed to cope with Auld Lang Syne too!

Birthdays

brian — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:34:21 +0000

We’ve had Scout two birthdays while we away (one 18th and one 17th) and one leader one (age undisclosed:-))

Connected Again

brian — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:10:59 +0000

Hi All

At last we are connected again. Despite the wonders of technology we have been subject to the forces of nature – a fire hit the main telecom office in Sandakan last weekend and the whole town has been without internet since then, hence the lack of updates.

We are all safely in Kuala Lumpur now, relaxing after the hard work of the last few weeks. You may have seen the riots on the news – they seem to have been very localised and while we have heard about them, the only evidence of them we have seen is a police helicopter flying around. The Scouts enthusiasm for a comfortable bed is only matched for their desire to shop. I can see us struggling with weight on the way home!

More updates to come in the next day or so

Brian

Kara and the others from space…

scotty — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:05:36 +0000

So they saved the best group until last. Good choice.

After five hard days of base camp, working 5am until 10pm, our good luck finially paid off. It seems like every PR stunt (the jobs that require good looking people-we must be the good looking group) that crops up, comes straight our way.

So far, we have tea and scones with the Sandakan President, were involved in a “ground breaking ceremony”…or should we say cluck cluck. We also had the strenuous task of “planting trees”. i.e placing a seedling into a predug hole then scoffing banana fritters at the reception As you can see its a hard life for group two. On a more serious note, we have finished off adding chicken wire to the wall at the Sunbear centre and emmmmmmmm *struggles to think what else we have done* oh yes, we have…ermmm…cooked and cleaned up for seven thousands guests and forty-three ants.

As you can see our group is the most talented. We would know like to share some of our intelligent quotes…

Kara: “It’s not my eyes, it’s my onions”.
Calum: “I’m not the dirtiest person at this camp…”
Katy: Also known as veggie woman.
Liam: “I want to call my first born Euphogenia”
Gordan: “According to the statistics…”
“I think what she was trying to say was…”
“I’ll try and explain this in lame mans terms, you wont understand…”
Alex: “I love my daddy Martin”

Good bye love team two. AKA THE SEX BOMBS XXXXXXXXXXX

Best team here Again !

brian — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:43:52 +0000

After recovering from out home stay visits and our loooooooong shift on base camp which consists of cooking and washing for the whole camp site. We started back at the Sun bears today and wee david took charge and directed us on building steps leading into the magical forest / well the rainforest soon to lead to a newly constructed viewing platform that will be erected by proper qualified people. We also started to put the finishing touches to the wall that we are about to slap next week. Don’t worry its only a name giving to it for putting plaster on it. The last point before we leave you lovely people is that we’ve all pretty muh aclimatised FINALLY ! but still no tan

Team 3. Scott, David V, Grant, Jonny, Vari

Well hello there…

brian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:15:41 +0000

Okay dokey, so we have reached our 2 week mile stone here in the wonderful Malaysia. It is so different from the UK in a number of ways, but we are enjoying it very much. We have just returned from our weekend away with our Malaysian foster parents. On the whole, the experience was fantastic for most people. The families were very hospitable for all but a few. We slept in comfortable beds, for the first time since Kuala Lumpur. They fed us too much food, they thought we were constantly hungry. Some people tried the Malaysian way of eating, which involved sitting on the floor, eating with your hands. The families had their own programme for us, which included swimming, visiting markets, tourist attractions, weddings and even funerals! Leaving our family behind was difficult for some of us, as we may never see them again, however, many exchanged contact details. We hope that they are able to come to Scotland some day.

Team 6, the best team, are going to Poring Hot Springs on Wednesday! We are all excited at the prospect of baking in the sun and getting a tan, as we generally spend our time in the shade, escaping the heat, whilst working. Tomorrow is the final day of work at the Rain Forest Discovery Centre, before our summer holiday! BOOOOYAAAAAAAAAAAA

“We’re all going on a summer holiday, no more work for a DAY or twoooo!!!!! ”

We want to leave you with a quirky quotation, because we are cool (the heat has gone to our heads).

‘Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad’

Love to all the family and friends.

Team 6: Chloe, Cameron, Dylan, Emma and Andrew.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <3

Quick Update

brian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:24:08 +0000

Thanks to everyone who have been looking at the blog – it was down because so many people had looked at it that we’d used our allowance. We’ve trebled it now so hopefully you’ll have no more problems.

Last few days have gone well. We had a big welcoming dinner hosted by the local Scouts last Thursday. We marched in led by our three pipers and made a huge impact. The karaoke wasn’t quite so hot, but a good time was had by all.

This weekend all the Scouts went on homestay. Despite being a little apprehension beforehand, most of them had a fanastitic weekend and we are now being asked why it couldn’t be longer!

Back to work today and regular updates from the teams will resume shortly.

Brian