Selamat Detang from Malaysia

"Hello" is the common greeting in multi-cultural Malaysia. Many signs say Selamat Detang, which means "welcome." The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur, which most people call KL. KL had the tallest buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers, until Taipei 101 was completed last year. At 1,483 feet, they are still the tallest twin towers in the world. The double-decker Skybridge connects the towers at floors 41 and 42.

From KL we drove four hours to a jetty where we got on a boat and went three hours up river to Taman Negara National Park which they say is the oldest rainforest in the world - 130 million years old. We thought we were going to be roughing it but the resort on the edge of the park has about 100 cottages with air conditioning, which was good because it is very hot and humid in Malaysia, especially in Taman Negara. Even so we like the rainforest.

We went on several hikes and saw a lot of plants and insects, plus we learned what some of the plants can be used for. The members of the cat family, the wild elephants, and other big animals of the jungle have learned to stay away from people and mainly come out at night, but the monkeys and monitor lizards come into the resort area. Taman Negara has the world’s longest canopy walk - about 1500 feet long. A canopy walk is a walkway that hangs in a net high in the trees so people can see what it is like to be at the top of the rainforest. The walk was a bit scary. You can see us trying to decide who should go first. We had to stay 15 feet apart. The canopy walk actually goes from tree to tree and even had parts where we had to climb up a ladder. It was fun being up in the treetops. At night we went to a "hide" which is a room on stilts. It overlooks a waterhole and a natural salt lick where the bigger animals come at night. We saw samba deer.

Our favorite activity at Taman Negara was visiting the aborigines, or "Orang Asli," which means "original people" in the Malay language. They were the first human occupants of the Malay Peninsula. They continue to live a nomadic, hunter-gather lifestyle. They call themselves Batek. The Batek are gentle and shy. About 1000 Batek live in the park. Nomads don’t move every day but they move many times during the year. The group we visited had been in the same location for two weeks. The Malaysian government built them a school and houses but the Batek people want to keep living their way. They hunt and fish and make a little money by letting people visit their village. Instead of a permanent house they sleep in a lean-to covered with palm fronds and plastic.

It rained while we were there so we all sat on the mats in their "home" while one of the Batek showed us how they make fire without using matches and how he makes poison darts for his blow gun. The poison they use comes from the Ipoh tree. They hunt animals with a blowgun. A blowgun is very quiet so it doesn’t scare the animals away. In the "village" there were five families and about 20 people. When we first arrived the children hid behind their mothers but when we sat on the mat near them they smiled and came closer. Once a month the government sends a doctor to check on their health and give them medicine. Many of the children had coughs. We saw bottles of cough syrup but our guide said that as after the doctor leaves their take their own traditional medicine made from plants they find in the rainforest. We wonder how long they will be able to keep their old ways.

Malaysia is very interesting. It has the world’s tallest twin towers and the one of the oldest rainforests.

Enlisting in the Civil War

Hello! My name is Globee. Maybe you know my friends, Annie and Blue. Annie is from Mrs. Griffin’s class in New Haven. I am part of the Mrs. Griffin’s class, too. Annie has invited me to travel with her and Blue if I promised to write to you about our travels. What a great deal!

Annie, Blue, and I signed up for the Civil War Adventure Camp in Pamplin Historical Park, Virginia. We volunteered for the Army of the Potomac and received blue wool uniforms and others joined the Army of the Confederacy and received gray uniform. We were sworn is as privates and issued haversacks, canteens, cartridge cases, and cap pouch.

Sergeant Young barked. "Platoon Assemble! A sorry looking bunch of fresh fish if ‘er I saw one." "Fish" is the name for new soldiers. Sergeant taught us to say, "sir" when talking to him, the proper way to wear our uniforms, and instructed us in commands: "Form columns by platoons!" "Count off!" "Dress right!" "Right face!" "March! One! Two!"

We marched to our encampment where we were issued blankets and assigned our quarters (our huts). After our platoon assembled we were issued wooden muskets. Sergeant taught us to "load in nine." Following his commands we positioned our musket, took out a cartridge, tore off the paper with our teeth. He said, "All infantrymen must have at least four teeth, preferably two on the bottom and two on the top. Spit that paper out. I want to hear everyone spit!" We poured the black power into the barrel and rammed it in tight, moved the musket to our right hand, reached into the cap pouch, put a cap on the cone of the weapon, cocked the weapon, and aimed. We drilled and drilled some more. It was very hot in the open field. Then we marched to the firing range where we fired a real black powder musket and a mortar. That was very exciting. Then we marched some more.

By dinnertime we were hungry - and tired. We had a hearty dinner of beef stew, fruit, and hardtack. Hardtack is a very hard biscuit that often has bugs in it called weevils. Sergeant said, "If’n it has bugs dunk it in your hot coffee. The bugs will come to the top, then ‘em scoop off." After dinner we went on patrol. The moon was full. The only sound was an owl in the nearby woods. It was hard to stay awake because we very tired. We were happy when it was time to "hit the sack."

The morning tattoo – the bugle call to get up - sounded at 5:45. We barely had time to hike up the hill to the "sink" – military talk for toilet – before assembly. After assembly, we were issued field rations and marched off to battle. We were trying to break through General Robert E. Lee’s line near Petersburg, VA. Tension built. With a bloodcurdling rebel yell the Confederates broke out into the open. "Fire!" Using the buddy system we took turns firing and reloading. After a few scary minutes the skirmish was over. We marched back to camp where the "wounded" were treated by the company doctor.

Our 24 hours as a Civil War soldier was interesting but hot and exhausting. We gained a new respect for all soldiers.

Hola from Honduras!

Can you find Honduras on a map? Here is a clue. It is in Central America. The north coast of Honduras has beautiful beaches. The climate is tropical so there are a lot of banana and pineapple plantations along the coast. There are only two seasons in the tropics – the wet season and the dry season. However, it can rain in the dry season, too. That is why it is so green.

Most people don’t realize that Christopher Columbus never set foot on what is now the American continent until his forth and last voyage. The story goes that his voyage was caught in a storm that lasted for days and days and when the storm let up and he saw the mountains of Honduras he said, "Gracias a Dios." That means, "Thank God" in Spanish. The mountains Columbus saw are now called the Gracias a Dios Mountains. Spanish is the main language of the country.

We took a small plane to Roatan, one of Honduras’ Bay Islands. The flight was only 15 minutes. We visited Roatan Nature Park, which was being built to take in rescued wild animals. They already have a jaguar, anteater and many other animals. Our friend, Ollie showed us the mark on the anteater where a rope had rubbed into the anteater’s skin leaving a scar. Most of the animals can not be set free because people took them in as pets when they were babies and they never learned to live on their own. Now they will have a nice, safe home with excellent care at Roatan Nature Park.

At Anthony’s Key Resort they have a marine research center where they try to preserve and study Roatan's natural resources including bottlenose dolphins. The resort has 20 dolphins in a large open-sea corral. If they wanted to the dolphins could jump out and swim away but it is their home. Many of them were born there. If fact, one of the researchers said, "Sometimes we take the dolphins out to the deep ocean so our guests can dive with the them. It is more difficult to get the dolphins to follow the boat out to the open sea but it is no trouble to get them to return." The resort has several programs that let people interact with the dolphins. They feel the more people learn about dolphins the more likely they are to help protect them and help to preserve their habitat. We loved watching the dolphins. They seem to have a lot of fun!

We also visited another nature park called Gumbalimba. We met Pedro, one of several free-roaming capuchin monkeys. Our guide said, "Be careful, Pedro is a thief." Sure enough he tried to take something out of the bag of our friend, Mr. Scott. The other monkeys were better behaved. At the same park we saw a Monkey La La. But it wasn’t a monkey and sure didn’t look like one. It is a lizard. No one seems to know where the name came from but the lizard has a special talent. It can walk on water – for a little ways. They stand on their hind legs and, because of the webbing between their toes, they can run about 15 feet before sinking at which point they have to resort to swimming.

Our guide pointed out many interesting plants and animals. We thought the Traveler Palm, which looks like a big fan was interesting because it always grows in an east-west direction. Also, when it rains the water runs down the leaves and collects in the stem so that when the stem is cut the water inside is good to drink. It is truly a good friend to a traveler.

There are many interesting things to learn in Honduras. I think we learned a lot on this trip don’t you?

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

Kung hei fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is an exciting time in Hong Kong. It is like our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year celebrations all rolled into one. Our calendar is based on the sun whereas the Chinese calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. Even though they use our western calendar, everyone in Hong Kong knows it is in the Chinese calendar. It is cool because the years have animal names. When many people consider the year to be 2006 the Chinese people know it is 4704, the Year of the Dog; February 18, 2007 will be New Year’s Day 4705 the Year of the Boar.

Hong Kong is a city of modern skyscrapers. Many of the buildings have huge neon holiday decorations on the entire side that faces the water. Some of the buildings are 30 stories high!

"Kung hei fat choy" is the traditional New Year greeting; it means, "Wishing you success and prosperity." To get ready for the New Year people go to the Flower Market. While we were shopping in the Flower Market we made friends with Vivian Tse (5 years old) and her sister Katie (3 years old). They both speak English. Like many parents in Hong Kong, they send their children to English language preschool because they feel it is necessary to know both Chinese and English. Flowers are an important part of Chinese New Year. We are standing with our new friends in front of tangerine trees. The tangerine tree can be compared with our Christmas tree. Tangerines are a symbol of good luck because the word for tangerine in Chinese has the same sound as the Chinese word for "luck." Everything has a special meaning. The most common flower for Chinese New Year’s is the narcissus. If it blossoms on New Year’s day, it is believed to indicate good fortune.

Lunar New Year’s Eve is a like our Thanksgiving. The whole family gets together for a huge meal but fish is the most important food because the Chinese word for fish sounds like the word for abundance. This is the time it is traditional to give children red envelopes with money inside. These are called lai see envelopes which means "lucky."

New Year’s morning, the Langham Hotel had a Lion Dance in the lobby to bring good luck and happiness in the New Year. The Lion (two people in a lion costume) danced around to the beat of the drums and clanging of the symbols. In the lobby pieces of lettuce were hanging from the high ceiling, lettuce sounds like money in Chinese. The dragon had to stand on his back legs and jump up to reach it. The Lion Dance was very loud, exciting, and included some acrobatic movements. The Lion Dance has been popular for over 1000 years.

At night we went to the parade where there were performers doing dance routines and a lot of floats, even one from Las Vegas, and one from Disney Land. The newest Disney Land will opened in 2006. The parade was very colorful and exciting. The next night we joined thousands of people along the waterfront to watch the amazing fireworks. We think New Year’s is an exciting time in everyone’s country.