I Love Borneo

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo (Mar. 3 - Mar. 21)

Borneo was amazing. It was absolutely my favorite place I've visited yet. And I am going back. Volunteering at the Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) was absolutely the best decision I have made on this trip, despite the fact that I initially dreaded the decision. It takes me a few days to adjust to a new place, which I tend to forget in the moment. After 1 day at BMRI had elucidated my volunteer project: a proposal describing marine ecotourism and public outreach initiatives that BMRI could implement in an effort to help conserve Sabah's marine resources and to communicate BMRI's research to the public. Woah, that was a mouthful. It was surprisingly fun to have a project and a deadline. I even enjoyed reading some of the current literature on ecotourism. I spent almost every weekday at the Institute. My typical day, although long (usually 8AM - 6PM), was filled with reading, emailing friends, calling family, drinking caramel Tea-Chinos, hanging out with the aquarium staff, Moose and Musa, chatting with BMRI staff, meeting with organizers of other marine public outreach programs (one really cool local NGO focusing on high school students and marine conservation and I also met with the WWF-Malaysia marine project manager), and of course I worked on my proposal.

The staff and professors were so welcoming and friendly - quite a few took the time, a lot of time, to sit down and explain their research to me as well as discuss current environmental issues in Borneo. One afternoon two professors took me to lunch, then, once back at the Institute, a third joined us and we talked for a couple hours about mangroves, shrimp farms, coral reefs, sea turtles, fishing techniques that are illegal but still common, and loads more.

During my stay, BMRI held a seminar, jointly organized with Kinki University in Japan, focusing on sustainability of seafood resources. The director of the Institute invited me. I got to participate in every aspect of the conference - I even got my own nametag and bag! The first day was dedicated to aquaculture and the second focused more on marine diversity and policy. It's sad how quickly this area's marine resources are being depleted and destroyed. One big problem here is shrimp farming. Mangrove forests (important nurseries for many economically important fish species) are often destroyed to build these farms; furthermore farming exchanges a high volume of water with the surrounding natural environment, in turn causing nutrient enrichment (leading to eutrophication), introducing disease, and not to mention it is costly to constantly fill and refill tanks. One of the PhD students here was testing the effectiveness of Aquamats, a US product, that is placed in a shrimp tank and provides substrate for phytoplankton to grow. A simple yet highly effective technique, the phytoplankton successfully filtered the water and increased water quality as well as greatly reduced the frequency of water exchange with the surrounding ocean. There is no governmental support (money), however, for implementing such sustainable measures. Quite a frustrating problem. There is a solution but how do you get everyone to participate?

Everyday that I went to the Institute, Mabel picked me up from my guesthouse and then dropped me off again in the evening. She quickly became my closest friend at BMRI. We spent a lot of time together: in the car, at work, and just hanging out. One day after work we stopped at a local restaurant to get tea and a snack and talk about her research. The snack ended up being intestines and stomachs. I originally thought I was eating chicken and beef. I understood when Mabel ordered these two things in Malay (ayam dan daging), I just failed to understand the waiter when he said they didn't have anymore of either meat and that they only had perut - intestines and stomachs. It was actually pretty good, I just thought the "beef" was a little undercooked. Halfway through, Mabel told me what I was eating and she thought it was quite hilarious. I finished eating, and it was ok, but not nearly as good as when I thought it was just chicken and beef.

My last full day in Borneo was a public holiday - Muhammad's birthday. Mabel invited me to go with she, her husband, and her little sister to a huge local market. Of course I went. I love markets. They are so overwhelming: the smells, the sounds, the crowds, thousands of different things to look at and try. It was really interesting walking through the seafood section, especially after having spent a few weeks at the Institute learning about all the problems with illegal fishing techniques, over-harvesting of marine populations, and fishing of endangered species. Mabel was my translator and we walked from vendor to vendor asking from where they got their fish or shellfish and how much it cost. Some guys were selling giant clams. Have you ever seen one? They're beautiful. Tons of different colors because of the photoautotrophic algae living in their mantles. They're endangered, but that doesn't deter people from eating them; there were loads being sold at the market. Most were still alive. Also, the freshwater fish that they were selling were almost all in bags, with a minimal amount of water, and again, still alive. They had live eels and turtles in plastic bags, too. As a whole, the seafood section was quite a sad sight. Borneo has such a diversity and abundance of marine resources. And they have laws to protect them (well sort of), just no money or manpower to enforce all the laws they make.

Seafood is delicious. And to keep it in the markets and on our tables we need to make responsible decisions when choosing and eating seafood. We should always ask before we eat: From where did the fish, shrimp, crab, etc. come and how was it caught (ie: farmed, trawling, long-line, etc)? The Monterey Bay Aquarium maintains an awesomely informative website about how to sustainably eat seafood in the USA, including a useful pocket-size guide listing the best and worst seafood choices (based on fishing methods, current status of populations, metal content, etc.) that you can consult whenever and wherever: http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch.asp
Print one and put it in your wallet!

Volunteering Continued: Borneo

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo (Mar. 3 - Mar. 21)

Searching for volunteer positions in Australia also led to searching for volunteer positions in Borneo. A quick google search took me to the Borneo Marine Research Institute's (BMRI) website and a few minutes later I had emailed the director. My idea of volunteering was to help with some research projects and scuba dive for free. After emailing back and forth for a couple weeks with the director, my idea of a simple volunteer project rapidly developed into a project requiring a proposal and a letter of reference. Ok, so maybe my stay in Borneo was going to be a little more work than play...I could handle that, right?

First days are always overwhelming. I arrived in Kota Kinabalu on Monday morning. A few days before arriving I had booked accommodation and arranged airport transportation. When I walked out of the airport, Vincent, the owner of the guesthouse, was waiting for me. A very nice guy, but I quickly learned that he was also quite the alcoholic. 10:30AM and Vincent drove me to the guesthouse with an ice cold beer secured between his legs. I had promised the marine institute that I would come by after lunch. Next problem: I had no idea where the Institute was nor how to get there. Vincent quickly solved that problem and offered to personally take me to the Univerisity of Malaysia Sabah campus after he had picked up a few more guests from the airport. I'm sure he continued to drink beers as he made his afternoon pick-ups. And then just as he promised he took me to the University, with a fresh stash of 2 beers. I know it was dumb to have ridden with him. But it was free and I didn't know where I was going.

When I arrived at BMRI, Siti, the receptionist, was waiting for me. I thanked Vincent and jumped out of the car. Siti took me to meet with the director. Despite the fact that I had to write a proposal for my volunteer project, I quickly learned that my project had nothing to do with what I wrote. Actually, after meeting with the director I had no clue what I was going to be doing for the next 18 days. Something about developing marine ecotourism to help conserve Sabah's natural heritage....? After such a fruitful meeting, Siti escorted me to my new office. Can you believe that?? The Institute had given me an office, a desk, a computer, and had even printed my full name, "Elizabeth Lindsay Podowski," on the door! Sweet, I had an office to sit in and surf the web all day because I still had no idea what my project was.

Later that afternoon, I met Dr. Mabel. Her office was directly across from mine, and she quickly became my main resource and closest friend. After talking with her for a little bit, I developed a basic understanding of my volunteer project: to propose marine ecotourism and public outreach initiatives that would highlight the current research at the institute. Enough progress for the day. Siti drove me home that evening enabling me to avoid drunken Vincent's services

Those first couple of days I really questioned whether or not I had made the right choice in committing myself to volunteering for the entire length of my stay in Borneo. Did I really want to sit behind a desk all day when I could be scuba diving, climbing Mt. Kinabalu, visiting the orangutan rehabilitation center, or jungle trekking?

Picture Update

My public gallery on Picasa now has New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand posted.

Click here to check it out.


Also, Des posted her pictures from when we were together in Thailand; she documented our trip more thoroughly so check those out, too.

Click here.

Hello Malaysia!

Pulau Sembilan (Feb. 29 - Mar. 2)

8 hours after landing in Kuala Lumpur my dad and I headed north for a 3 day dive trip. At the end of February my mom and dad did their open water and advanced certifications, respectively, in Indonesia. Lucky, I know. Now it was my turn to dive with my dad and get my advanced certification.


We did 1 1/2 days of diving near Pulau Sembilan - famous for seahorses. The first morning we woke up to rain. After breakfast and having a Spanish woman think that I was my dad's wife, we got in the water. Visibility was poor at best. I think I could see maybe a meter in front of me. And the sea was quite rough. We did 5 dives that day, including one night dive. I thought I would love the night dive, but it wasn't really that great. However, I don't think it was the night dive that I didn't like, but the crappy visibility and the fact that my mask was squeezing my face so hard I thought it might break. A few weeks later, while diving off the coast of Borneo, a Dutch woman gave me a brilliant and logical tip: loosen the straps on my mask. Wish I could have thought of that on my own...

The next morning the water was calm and clear, and we did two more dives. I love diving with my dad. I mean really, how many people get to go scuba diving with their dad in southeast asia? The whole trip was quite amazing. Even if conditions aren't perfect, I love being in the water. Plus we had an awesome Malay cook, who also thought I was my dad's wife (hmmm seeing a trend here...), and awesome Malaysian food for every meal: noodles, rice, sweet potatoes (one of my new favorites), mangoes, fried eggs, soups full of veggies, chicken, and seafood, and so much more.

On Sunday afternoon we drove back to Kuala Lumpur to meet my mom. The next morning I was off early - on a plane to Kota Kinabalu, a city in Sabah, Borneo.

And the Rest of Australia

Townsville (Feb. 19 - Feb. 28)

And I'm going to start where I left off before that Thailand interlude: After a couple wrong turns, Lachin drove me right up to Jeremy's driveway and transferred me from one group of amazing people to another.

I felt instantly comfortable with Jeremy. He and his roommates welcomed me into their home in every way possible. The very first thing we did was go to the grocery store. And Jeremy walked around the whole place barefoot. Isn't that so spectacular? I hate wearing shoes, and Australia doesn't really care whether you wear them or not (in most places). After we dropped our food off at his apartment, Jeremy showed me around the downtown of Townsville, which is really only a few streets, and took me to a diving company so that I could schedule a dive on the Great Barrier Reef: the one thing I HAD to do before leaving Australia.

Jeremy lived with two other guys: Mick and Lui. Mick is from Australia and can drink like an Australian. He always referred to me as sweetie, a name I quickly learned to accept as part of Mick's personality. He also loved to talk, and because of that I learned heaps, particularly about Borneo and Australia. He had just been to Borneo for a month long university class and absolutely loved it. He gave me all of his left over diahrrea and malaria medicine and had some fantastic snake wrestling stories. Mick also introduced me to kangaroo steaks, which surprisingly were really good.

For 3 full days, Jeremy and I hung out non-stop. We went to the aquarium, the Townsville Museum, strolled along The Strand and got icecream, explored the James Cook University Campus (and yes we even went to the library and I got some books!), and played sand volleyball. Then he and Mick returned to Orpheus Island for 5 more days of volunteering, and I moved into Jeremy's room (I had pretty much been there already as Jeremy insisted I sleep in his bed and he take the couch) and became Lui's only roommate.

Lui is from Germany, but has been going to university and working in Australia for about 6 years. I loved living with Lui. We didn't do much beyond sit on the balcony, drink Ouzo, and talk. And it was awesome. That was mostly in the evenings - during the weekdays, I was on my own since Lui had a job. I spent one afternoon/evening with Yui (remember, I met him on Orpheus, too) on Magnetic Island; we got over to the island just in time for sunset, walked the beach, and then grabbed some dinner. I also spent a lot of my time climbing up and down Castle Hill- a steep granite monolith (according to Wikipedia) with a trail to the top cutting right through Jeremy's front yard. The view from the top is amazing - you can see all of Townsville sprawled below, right up to the edge of the ocean.

I spent a full day being ferried to the Great Barrier Reef (Wheeler Reef), diving, and then being ferried back. I did 2 dives - the second was better than the first. We dove on a more interesting section of the reef on the second dive. Not to mention, my dive buddy was a cute New Zealander, but that doesn't really matter underwater. The coral was beautiful - massive rocks (bommies) were completely covered in all different types and colors of coral, and my favorite part was swimming through two closely spaced bommies, like swimming through a valley surrounded by mountains of coral and fish.

Oh, and I learned to drive on the left side of the road - really not that hard and rather intuitive. I borrowed Jeremy's car for the day and drove about an hour outside of Townsville to Crystal Creek. Crystal Creek is nestled in the southernmost section of Queensland rainforest and is a series of waterfalls, creeks, and swimming holes. I went swimming in a pool at the base of a waterfall - so cool, fresh, and relaxing. And no crocs!

When Jeremy and Mick got back from Orpheus, I drove up to the University to pick them up. Later that afternoon, my last one in Townsville, Jeremy and I drove to a little park at the edge of Townsville to which neither of us had ever been. We trekked through the mucky trail in our flip flops, frequently flipping mud all over one another. The trail led us to a secluded cove that opened up to the ocean. We climbed some rocks and then sat and talked. Beautiful, serene, and no better way to spend my last day.

Before I end this, I have to describe sleeping on Jeremy's bed. The bed itself was nice, but nothing extraordinary. The view from his bed, however, was incredible. One side of his room was a wall of windows overlooking Townsville, the ocean, and Magnetic Island. Every morning as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the night sky, I could open my eyes, without moving my body, and be completely eye level with the water-sky horizon. It was simply amazing.

Thank you Jeremy, Lui, and Mick for everything.

Thailand Interlude

Bangkok (April 8 - April 9)

I'm in Thailand! And I'm with Des!

After visiting a friend in Germany for a few days, Des flew to Singapore and then was supposed to fly to Kuala Lumpur to meet me so that we could catch a flight to Bangkok. Flights, however, were delayed and she missed connections. But Singapore Air is amazing and flew Des to Bangkok instead of Kuala Lumpur. She only arrived about 30 minutes after me. Her luggage was even on the very same carousel. It's was wonderful how well everything worked out. Plus, had she met me in Kuala Lumpur I probably never would have met Martyn.

"Is seating free?" But I heard, "Are these seats three?" Um yes, there were 3 seats. What a dumb question. Apparently I just can't understand a British accent. And that's how I met Martyn. He sat with me on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. He shared a Kit-Kat and Ribena with me (Ribena is probably one of the best drinks in Malayasia - it's black currant sugar water). And he talked to me for a solid 2 hours. We then got our bags and sat together waiting for Des. Martyn had been to Bangkok before and gave me loads of information on where to stay and what to do. After waiting for a bit, I told Martyn he was more than welcome to hang out with Des and me while we were in Bangkok. It came out rather arrogant. But we later proved that it was more than a priviledge to hang out with us. And Martyn, we were ecstatic that you joined us.

Bangkok is crazy. But not as crazy and crowded as I expected. Martyn, Des, and I got rooms in a place one street away from Khao San Road. Khao San is full of white people (farang), clothing vendors, food stalls, 7-11s, and bars where they serve "very strong drinks and don't check ID." The first thing we did was get food. We all three got different colored curries and then shared everything. Wonderful. Des and I then walked around on our own, part of which was spent trying to call her parents and see if they could find Des' return tickets that she accidentally left in Pittsburgh. Not a very useful place for tickets to be when you're on the other side of the world. We then made our way back to Khao San and tried some of the well advertised "very strong drinks." And guess what? They didn't even check our ID. Drinks were small and we went across the street for the next round where they had buy one get one free buckets of mixed drinks.

Des and I were finishing our buckets when Martyn came to join us. We then ordered 2 more buckets, which we enjoyed while being harassed by street vendors. Very nice street vendors, though, with awesome hats, wooden frogs, fake tattoo sleeves (Megan I ALMOST bought you one), and a pen light that projected an image of a naked woman (I'm not sure why that street vendor relentlessly tried to sell that light to Des and me. I mean I'm not going to pay money for something when I can just look in the mirror). My favorite though was a little girl, beautiful and cheeky. She was selling roses, and after offering her flowers to us a few times, Des and I each bought one. In return she took pictures with us, kissed all of us on the cheeks, and did a trick for Des with a string and plastic ring.

4 buckets down and we headed to a bar where we could dance. The three of us immediately started dancing, which quickly progressed to dancing on a large table. We were soaked and covered in black soot when we left the bar - Martyn and I thought it was a good idea to drink some water and pour the rest over our and other people's heads. It was a good idea. Martyn came and hung out with us in our room until about 5AM. We told him all about Penn State and I think we really made a fan out of him. He even dreamed of being at Beaver Stadium for a football game that night.


The next day, Des and I hired a tuk-tuk. For about $2 USD he drove us to 3 temples and a few different shops - all together about 3 hours. The Buddhist temples were beautiful; the buildings are all decorately incredibly intricately and ornately. After temple hopping, we grabbed a quick dinner and went back to our hotel to get our bags, say goodbye to Martyn, and catch a taxi to the Bangkok airport. As we walked out of the hotel entrance and toward the cab, Martyn called, "We are.."
"PENN STATE!!"
"Oh my god, that really works...."

Sure, Why not?

Orpheus Island (Feb. 4 - Feb. 19)When I arrived on the island I was greeted by: the managers (Kylie and Rob, who also have 2 little girls), the assistant managers (Louise and Lachin and their little girl, Siara), and the researchers (Yui and his two volunteers - Dan and Jeremy). I spent my first week on Orpheus with Kylie, Rob, their 2 girls, and Yui, Dan, and Jeremy (Louise and Lachin had a 4-day break).

Yui is from Japan and is currently working on his master's degree at James Cook University studying black-band disease in corals. He was hilarious. Constantly talking. And he loved using Australian expressions: "git it down ya," "g'day mate,"no worries," "heaps," and then he has a few of his own: "sure, why not" (his answer to most questions) and "no, not really" (he never said no. If you asked him if there was any ketchup left, he'd say no not really, which really meant "no" there was none left at all). The best though was that all of these expressions were said in a mixed Japanese-Australian accent.

Both Dan and Jeremy were on the island to assist Yui with his research. Dan is from England and has travelled all over the world diving as a research assistant (Lizard Island in Australia, Indonesia, Oman, Hondoras, Madagascar and probably others that I can't remember). He also loves nudibranchs (sea slugs). I think one of his favorite things about them is how they have sex: nudibranchs are hermaphrodites, and when two encounter each other, they battle with their penises. The one that wins becomes the male and stabs the other (now the female) in the side with his penis and releases his sperm. That's a good piece of random trivia, huh? Jeremy is from Detroit, but has been living in Australia and studying at James Cook University for the past 2 years.

I shared a communal area and kitchen with the 3 guys and loved it. They immediately befriended me and from that first night until their last night on the island, we always had breakfast and dinner together - just like a family! Everyday the guys would go to different sites around Orpheus or to other neighboring islands to survey coral colonies for black-band disease. A couple times I worked extra long days (or not at all...) and got to spend the day on the boat with them, snorkeling at some really amazing sites.

When I wasn't hanging out with the guys, I was either cleaning floors and bathroom walls, weeding, scrubbing the hulls of boats, mowing the grass, blowing leaves off the pathways (That was a bit of a pointless job, like sweeping leaves off the forest floor), reading, or walking along/across the island.

Yui, Dan, and Jeremy left me on a Saturday and for the next week it was just Lachin, Louise, Siara, and me on the island. I thought it would be lonely at first, but I actually had a lot of fun and got a ton of reading done (3 books: You Shall Know Our Velocity, Everything is Illuminated, and Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close - all very good). I love Louise, Lachin, and Siara. During the week: Louise and Siara usually cleaned with me in the mornings, and it was such a nice change to have company doing those menial chores (I'm kind of an idiot and didn't bring my iPod with me on this trip); most mornings Louise and I would swim out along the pipeline - a pretty good swim - and then snorkel around looking at the coral and fish for awhile; Siara and I became good buddies - she is such a beautiful little girl, with a head full of soft, blonde curls and huge brown eyes; both Lachin and Louise invited my over for chicken curry one evening (one of my absolute favorites) and we spent the whole night eating, drinking, talking, and listening to some really good Australian bands (check out The Waifs, The Cat Empire, and The John Butler Trio).

Louise, Lachin, and Siara left Orpheus the same morning I did for a 1 month vacation. They offered to drive me to Townsville, which was perfect as Jeremy lived in Townsville and said I could crash at his place if I wanted. We stopped briefly in Ingham at a local bakery and Lachin bought me a chicken curry pie. Savory pies are amazing and I don't understand why they aren't popular in the States. We don't know what we're missing... The drive to Townsville was about an 1 1/2 and I sat in the back playing with Siara and dozing off and on. After a couple wrong turns, Lachin drove me right up to Jeremy's driveway and transferred me from one group of amazing people to another.