The island of Borneo

I think I will do a picture journal.

 The first flight was four hours. From Liberia in Costa Rica, to Houston in Texas. Where we spent part of the night, getting up super early.

Then a 40 minute flight on a jet from Houston to Dallas. Then a 6 hour delay for the big flight.

Then a 16 hour flight from Texas to Hong Kong, arriving at night. We spent the night there. 

Then a 3-4 hour flight to Singapore. Fantastic airport, by the way.

Then a last flight of one and a half hours to Kuching on the island of Borneo. Now we are 14 hours ahead of Costa Rica and Utah.

That 16 hour flight was so weird. It's completely unnatural to have all these people sitting completely still for that long. We didn't get much sleep the night before, and for me it was like being in a trance for 16 hours. In and out of sleep, back and forth with varying levels of consciousness. 

I missed the first 2 dinners and sunsets, just sleeping. Sigh. It's a good thing we are here for a few months. 

I have to say, the people here are spectacular in their friendliness. It's been a highlight of the trip. So many smiles!

This is the first great sight, I think it's Nicaragua. An island that is a volcano, very cool.

 This is by Belize. This picture does no justice to the beauty of the colors. I have a new favorite color, and it's that blue green around the island. Or maybe it's the graduation of colors that really strike me.

I tried to do some sky meditation to keep myself centered and ready for four days of travel. This was some of my cloud meditation from Day 1.

This is the city of Kuching from the plane. We walk along that river every day. There is a cool Chinatown very close to us. We are a North American spectacle here. Some ladies with their covered heads giggled and asked if they could take their picture with me. Was it my green eyes? Or that I was at least a head taller than they were? I laughed and said yes. The place we are staying is behind those clouds, basically.

Getting used to new rules. At least things are in English, so I stand a chance. Below is a sign from the shared kitchen that was next to our room. We stayed there for three nights, but never cooked. Food is very cheap to go out and eat.

I was not inclined to eat the "salted corn chocolate puffs", but don't worry, they aren't $8 US dollar. It's the Malaysian ringgit. I think Ron said 1 ringgit is about 25 cents.

Why go to Starbucks when you can get a cup like this from a local vendor? "May your colorful life be decorated with happiness and your beauty be immersed in joy"

Why yes, thank you.

We went to a Hong Kong noodle restaurant here in Kuching. Ron got the Hong Kong style pork belly dish. There are many restaurants that advertise "No pork". It's a big deal here. This dish was very sweet and tasty. I tried the curry noodle soup, which was almost too spicy hot to finish. I only cried a little.

I had this for breakfast twice. It's very good. Maybe I'm not paying attention, but it seems like they don't have much that is specific to breakfast like they do in the States. The crazy thing is that I can use chopsticks if I just want to have fun. Then I watched a video trying to get better at it, and now I can't do it very well at all. Why is that?? The mind is a strange thing. I can use them just fine only when don't think about it.

 We had this for breakfast once, it was the only thing available on the big menu in the morning. Fried rice and chicken. Those colorful things are dried rice chip thingies. Fun to eat.

Then this morning Ron ordered this, and it was bubbling in the bowl for a few minutes. It's bizarre, it had chewy dried and shredded fish pieces in it. It's a "porridge". Ron says it was good, but no thanks! Not for me. That yellow thing is an uncooked egg swimming in the green goo. I tried a little bite. It wasn't too hideous, but I won't be ordering it any time soon.