End of Chinese New Year.....

Well, Chinese New Year is over and Chan Theng(my host brother) has gone back to Australia, so not as many late nights out drinking and eating (eating and drinking, the Malaysian way of life)for me anymore. There are a few sayings regarding food in Malaysia, "Malaysians were born to eat" and "Food is the religion in Malaysia", these are the ones I have heard and it's true. I will start from where I left off, last Monday back at school, tried to learn some Malay with Bilal the exchange student from Denmark as my teacher. After school I went with Chan Theng to have coffee with some of his friends. Tuesday I went out for breakfast with Chan Theng at 4am, it's amazing how many people are eating at 4am. I moved classes when I got to school, I decided I needed a class that wasn't as hard working. But I didn't spend much time in that class that day, I went to the library, attempted to learn some Malay but I just feel asleep. After school I tried durian, 'the king of the fruits', it is unusual and kinda messy, defintely not my favourite fruit. On Wednesday I went to Kuala Lumpur for the day with Chan Theng. So, I didn't go to school, wouldnt' miss anything anyway. We drove down to KL with two of Chan Theng's friends who lived there and had just been in Kuantan for Chinese New Year to see their family. As soon as we arrived in KL, you notice straight away how much hotter it is there comparded to Kuantan because of all the cars and tall buildings(heat reflecting off the windows, i found out). I also noticed there are a lot more Westerners and modern Malays(which means they don't wear the tudong(the muslim head scarf) or just cover up less. We went to get a bus ticket for that night back to Kuantan and then to McDonalds for lunch because it was the only air-conditioned food place nearby. After that, we went to Petalling Street which just sells a heap of fake stuff, from Louis Vuitton to Adidas to pirated cds and vcds. We then caught the train to the KLCC(Kuala Lumpur City Center) where there is the 2nd tallest building in the world(Petrona twin towers). Under the twin towers there is a big upperclass shopping mall, which is the place to go if you want a $10000 watch or $300 dollar t-shirt(talking in Australian money here, not ringgit). We then caught the train to quite far away from the city center and got some dinner. After that we went back to Petalling Street for some last minute CD shopping, then we went to catch the 9:30pm bus back to Kuantan which takes about 4 hours. On Thursday I went back to school and after school I went to get my hair cut and dyed. My hair is now black underneath, I also got blonde foils on top. That night, I went with Chan Theng to see him play badminton, which is a very competitive sport here. On Friday I finally chopped off my Falls Festival wristband, it was defintely overdue for coming off. That night the whole family gambled(it's a Chinese New Year thing) and I won about 50RM(divide by 2.8 or something for AUD). On Saturday I went to Megamall with Chan Theng and I bought some shoes. Later on, we met up with Ann Marie the German community service exchange student and had some coconut juice, which is pretty good. That night we (my host dad, brother, sister and me) went out for dinner, it was another Chinese New Year(CNY for short) dinner, where there was lion dancing and acrobats from Shanghai. At that dinner I tried pig's legs,which I was told what it was after I ate it....very unusual. After dinner we(Pei-Jia, Chan Theng and me) went out to a cafe which has fantastic, expensive coffee. After that Chan Theng and me went to 'Swing' a new nightclub in Kuantan, there we met some of his friends. On Sunday It was the last day of Chinese New Year, which means it was Chinese Valentines Day, I had never heard of that before. I got up very early on Sunday and we went to the 'Wet Market' which sells a lot of seafood, meat and vegies. After that we went out for breakfast at the 'M.S Garden Hotel', where I tried chicken feet, after being told it was just chicken. Then Chan Theng and I spent a couple of hours looking for a CD we had heard the night before at the cafe. That night we had 'Steamboat' for dinner, which just involves steaming food just before eating it, usually involves a lot of seafood. After dinner, Chan Theng and I went back to the cafe and since we didn't this CD, we bought off the people who owned the cafe, it was very lucky Chan Theng could get the CD the day before going back to Australia, where you don't find much Chinese music at all, especially jazz. Yesterday Chan Theng went back to Brisbane, so I got up super early to go to the airport, which is actually smaller than the airport in Hobart. Then head off to school, where that day the students learnt about the discipline, jail, death penalty and other nasty stuff. I just slept through it all, especially the part where they showed a video of prisoners in jails in Malaysia being slashed, something that hasn't been done in Australia for a few hundred years. Today i went to school and inter-high cross country practice where it poured with rain(as usual) to the point of flooding on the road again, and that was about it for today, no more going out after school with Chan Theng and his friends...

Since my last post, I've been quite busy. Last friday(27th) we had the cross country at school, which is really hard because it is so hot here, even though we ran in the morning, when it's supposed to be not too hot. I won the girl's section and got a medal, which is a pretty cool souvenir. That night I went bowling at the 'Megamall' with some friends. On Saturday I played basketball with some guys from school again. That night was Chinese New Year eve, so we went out for dinner(about 8 courses, mainly seafood). It was a family reunion dinner at a hotel called Vistana. After dinner, we went to a Buddist temple, which was very decorated for Chinese New Year. On Sunday it was the first day of Chinese New Year and my family had an open house. This means there is lots of food and many friends and relatives coming around to the house. That night I went to see Fearless with my host brother(Chan Theng), Sandra from Germany, Bilal from Denmark and Chan Theng's friends. Fearless was made in Mandarin, but we watched it dubbed in Cantonese with Chinese, English and Malay subtitles. On Monday we went to Segamat to see Janice from Australia and Minea from Finland, both exchange students from my group. We then continued to Gemencheh which is my host mum's home town, very small place. So, there I met all the aunties, uncles and cousins on my host mum's side. The next day we continued onto Kuala Lumpur to see my host dad's sister. On Wednesday I went to the Megamall in Kuantan and did a bit of book shopping, to get something to read at school, in Chinese of course. I played Indoor Soccer with my host brother's friends, a bit scary, I got hit on the head. That night, We went to see my host dad's sister and brother. On Saturday I went to the Lantern and Flower Festival at a Buddist temple with some school friends. We stayed in the temple overnight and today we continued onto KL to go shopping at the Mid Valley Megamall, where I spent too much money. But what else can you do in a 5 storey shopping mall with over 400 stores?