Malaysia - day 1: Mooing Frogs

I can't believe I missed making an entry yesterday - but to be fair, I missed yesterday, mostly. I certainly only saw daylight for a brief time through the windows on the plane and then it was dark again, and I'd been traveling for 20 hours, trying not to fall asleep on the shoulder of the other accompanying teacher, whom I barely know. As it was, I woke up with a start more than once thanks to vivid dreams (Mr Z: do not paint the computer room walls black, please) and managed to wake him up too, and then I realised I was drooling....not great.

Since we've been here, I have tried several varieties of fruit which are new to me, and a superfresh coconut, the lid of which had been cut off and the milk gelled with something. It was not my favourite thing ever, though I am reliably informed by another teacher at work that the durian fruit (not sure of the spelling for that) is the one to look out for. Otherwise, the food has been heavy on the noodles (including breakfast) but very tasty. It's hammering down with rain which means the cat population has disappeared, including the very tiny and cute kitten which is roaming around nearby. Whilst at lunch today, one of the other teachers said he could hear a cat and we discovered one, shut into a cupboard in the dining hall. They are everywhere.

There are also frogs - though I have only heard them. The noise they make is closest to a moo, particularly with them sitting in the drains; the noise resonates deeply. I will try and record a bit of the sound tonight.

I managed to sleep last night until nearly 5am and then lay awake, wondering if I should turn the aircon off and boil, or leave it on and put up with the noise. Eventually I managed to fall back to sleep and then nearly fell out of bed when my alarm went off. It's a single bed, and almost the only furniture in the room. I think they intended me to use the other bedroom in the bungalow, but this one has an en suite and is at the opposite end from Colin (the other teacher) so today I dragged the vanity unit to the room I slept in last night. I prefer seclusion.

Tired today, but at least I got more sleep than the kids.

Cameron Highlands tomorrow, and the Boh tea plantation. I am looking forward to seeing it and going for a tramp. I think some exercise in the outdoors will help me rid myself of any lingering jetlag, and I'll be able to get some tea for one of my favourite bloggers, Teresa at Knitting the Blues (see link on right. I am on an eeepc and it's tough to navigate, so no link right here, sorry).