Malaysian Escapades!!!

(Deserted beach in Bako National Park, Borneo)

Libby and I just got back from our trip to Malaysia.  It was unlike any trip I'd been on before.  Instead of visiting big cities or camping out on beaches surfing, we explored the flora and fauna of the rainforest.  All in all, we were gone for about two weeks, neither of us got sick, and the food was delicious.  I pretended to be an amateur botanist, following in the footsteps of Crow, taking pictures of nepenthes, bamboo, and wild orchids.

(Orchid?  Taylor?)

 (Eating at Chilies)

 

(Opposite view of deserted beach.)

 (A park in Kuching.)

(Tourists and monkey [orang utan].)






(Intrepid explorers of the bamboo jungle.)


(Climbing in KL!)

Climbing in Cambodia?!?

It's true.  We found a little climbing place in Siem Reap.  It's a tad sketchy, creaking boards as you're climbing, but relatively safe.  Libby and I took a small vacation over the long weekend, ate delicious food, and went climbing for a few hours.  Good times.  Next week, Malaysia!

January 26th, 2013

Technically it is still January, so I'm keeping up with about a 1/month post record as of late.  Although, one could make the argument that it's been over 30 days since my last post which is considered by most people to be "a month."  I begin with this disclaimer mainly because I feel guilty about not having anything new on here for a considerable amount of time.

News this month:  I'm back at UBB.  The schedule is as it was before, let's call it dynamic, and I have added a writing class to the classes I had before.  So teaching, grading, and lesson planning occupy most of my workweek, and I try to spend time with Libby too, whose schedule has been somewhat vacant as of late due to a random holiday and the school director's daughter's wedding, which meant that the whole school shut down for a number of days.  I've spent the last two weekends in Phnom Penh, now, fortunately I'm in Battambang which means less time on buses and that I get to go out and play ultimate frisbee this afternoon.


(All dressed up for a presentation on "How to Write Cover Letters", and yes there is a pan on a stool too.)

Specifically related to law schools: I'm in to Santa Clara, Davis, University of Washington, and now Hastings!  I have been working on scholarship essays and fafsa forms trying to determine what will be the best fit as well as what will be viable.  Also, I spent some time last month working on another scholarship for the University of Washington, the Gates Scholarship for Public Service Law, and was excited to hear that everything was submitted!  For those of you responsible for this, thank you again for your help.  I'm looking forward to hearing back from all of the programs so that I can sit down and finally decide.

Readjustment has come and gone.  I honestly believe that it will be harder to readjust to living in California again after having been gone for over 2.5yrs.  Here's a brief pictorial depiction of one such readjustment.

 

(Cambodian Traffic) 

VS.

 

(Driving in the U.S.A.)

Additionally, I'm getting excited for one last bit of international travel while I'm over here.  Libby and I are going to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Borneo) for 10 days, apparently there's surfing and climbing, which I miss!  Also, some national parks with trails and animals.  Happy Chinese New Year!

 

(An end of the semester gift from one of my students.)