Project Malaysia 2009

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

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

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

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

Our thoughts at the moment:

Fraser: ” where is the air con?”

Luke: “macaque attack, callum’s shaken!”

Callum: “Its greate to have been on holiday before we even started work”

Ross: “God i miss ben and jerries…”

Rachelle:”Where is my pen? .. I want my pen back!” (done in silly voice made by martin)

We have been back from our holiday to Poring hot springs for two days and we are already missing the little luxurys we encountered there (please see Frasers comment). Other than air con the highlights of our trip there were, the drunken malaysian man who seemed to think that the hot springs water would run out.  We LOVED the swimming pool with the awsome  slide which wasn’t really that exciting but we entertained ourselves for a rather long time on it. the bed was the best! we have all fallen in love with JACKIE the orangutan who chose to live in the centre.  The locals where very friendly as they waved to us and followed us round the streets .  Unfortunately we were awoken by a rumble in the jungle on our second night which was a war between the r***d (sensored by Byron) dogs, vicious cats and scrawny chickens with a hell of a voice box fighting it out in the allyway.

Our first job was working on the sun bears sanctuary. We have quenched the thirst of the third world with sweat (says Luke) It was very hot today with litle cloud, despite this we managed to get a lot of work done the trench is finished the support poles are in place and nearly all the concrete foundations have been laid. We have been working in very close proximity to the bears and Luke thinks they are really cute and wants to take one home. They are beautiful creatures but our favourit has to be Suriya the baby as she climbs on the roof and growels lowdly.

The camp site has too many spiders for Rachelle’s liking, and the football pitch that was used yesterday has today been turned into the local swimming pool! The little kittens in the cafe are amazing but the owner asked if we wanted to BBQ them ( which is a little concerning)

Team 5 – Rachell, Fraser, Callum V, Luke & Ross

Its so hot! Team four here with the latest update. The projects continue. The Scout Nature Park project is even near completion thanks to our mad hole digging skills. A new work shift began today and we are now working in the Rainforest Discovery Centre. The humidity is a killer and Daniel has changed colour. We have been attacked by an albino tarantula and survived.  the first group are back from their 3 day break and they say they had a great time.  the next group have gone away now but we dont go away for a while and we are all looking forward to the beds and showers.  got to go for dance practice now!

lots of love

alex t, lewis, daniel and euan

Hey guys, we have finally reached our one week milestone! Today, we have been doing our final day at the sun bear sanctuary. We have been working very hard digging trenches; transporting furniture and wood and erecting a fence! The heat would have been unbearable without our trusty friend, the fan! LOL. Dave, our team leader was really sound and allowed us to have lots of breaks, as we really needed them. The Malaysian people were putting us to shame and had to be forced to take a break, whereas we took them voluntarily.

Dave said that we were ‘footloose and fancy-free’, which we tried contextulise and discovered it does not mean taking your shoes off, as Chloe assumed. We were allowed to take 2 hours at lunch time as it is too hot to work in ‘peak -heat’, so we went to the cafe at the near-by orang-utan sanctuary, where we had ‘coke-floats’ and lots of ice cream. Dylan taught the teams the ‘Lynch family favourite: ‘crazy-eights’, which were enjoyed by all, especially Emma McNeill, who was excited at the prospect of playing it at dinner time. Meanwhile, Chloe was getting rather hyper on her cough syrup and found a new accent, much to the annoyance of her team mates. Cameron on the other hand was very into learning Malaysian clap games, and taught them the macarena and the school yard game: ‘double-double’. Andrew, no-where to be seen, screamed across the field to his team mates ‘guys-guys, get over here’, to which they enthusiastically spinted over the jungle, insect fields, in the stifling humidity and blistering heat to witness a mass break-out of incredibly fast, but cute infant orang-utan fleeing their captures. Then we walked home and had tea and went to sleep. Scout’s honour!!!

LOTS OF LOVE TEAM 6 -Dylan, Chloe, Emma M, Andrew & Cameron

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Our first project was working with the fantabulous Sunbears. Oh, dear me . . . They are really cute! The tasks consist of digging tenches two feet deep and one foot wide – that’s a lot of heaving and puffing – all for the foundation of the wall to separate the sunbears from the general public. Dragging and hauling wardrobes, fridges and cabinets down the road to shove into the storage – they have no use anymore. Every twenty minutes of work was then followed by five minutes (or significantly more) standing in front of a fan. OH, the good times! How lazy we are . . . Yesterday, we were visited by a curious orangutan with only three limbs. A clever young chap, he was. He was then lured away by a  keeper with food and he stroled away casually down the road mouth wide open waiting for the food. All in all, we’ve been having a great time and are looking forward to the many good times in front of us.

From your very best team.

Edd, Mark, Emma, David, Gavin and Kyle. (Team Awesome-tastic)

We have now been in Sepilok for 3 days, and already we’ve run out of clean clothes. Having spent our first two days setting up camp and getting to know the area, today saw us setting out for our first day of hard graft. Project Malaysia’s best team (3) was sent to the Rainforest Discovery Centre to help extend a nature trail, while the other teams headed off to either the Sunbear Conservation Centre to build a screening wall and fences or the Scout campsite to begin work on the obstacle course. Working through the intense heat was difficult, but regular breaks ensured that nobody passed out. Another thunder and lightning storm struck the campsite during dinner, and it seems as though these may become a regular occurrence on our expedition. Our Malaysian counterparts have also joined us on site and are settling in well, entertaining us with their artistic uses for napkins. Lots of love, Team 3; David V, Grant, Jonny, Scott P and Vari xxx

Well…we arrived safely having fought our way through the airplane chilli’s, jet lag, cramp and airport swineflu queues.

Managed to scale the heights of Petronas Towers and get stunning views of KL despite it being pretty toastie.

After a further three hour flight to Sandakan (and another check for swineflu!!) we finally got down to the hard work of ensuring all is well for the main party.  Our Malaysian friends are, as ever extremely hospitable (feeding us 3 week old fermented duck eggs) and accommodating.

The camping field appears to have a small puddle in the middle after a huge thunder and lighting storm over the last 12 hours, but not too much of a concern as there is ample other opportunities for tent pitching.  Our kitchen is nearly stocked and transport for all our activities has been finialised along with all the homestay arrangements and formal gatherings.

Off to purchase the project equipment and countless tools tomorrow, along with a few other large items.  Looking forward to the arrival of the main party on Thursday with everything sorted!

Love,

Alex & Mark