first post from the road: Sabah, Malaysia

Lesson in Malay (or Melayu, as it is called in the native tongue):

• Hello: Helo
• Sun: Matahari, or "eye of the day"
• Book: Buku
• Books: Buku-buku (can you guess the method of pluralizing nouns?)

For those of you who have no idea where Sabah is - like me before I planned out this great adventure - it is at the northern tip of the island of Borneo, which you may have heard of in one of those great nature documentaries - e.g. Discovery Channel, Planet Earth.

We flew into Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday afternoon with the intention of climbing Mount Kinabalu the following day. Malaysia instantly felt different from China - Arabic signs around beautiful mosques, the smallest international airport I have ever seen, cab drivers speaking near-perfect English. The smell of the jungle and ocean water instead of acrid pollution. No tall buildings, no endless hordes of people pushing by on the sidewalks. And the rain: since it is the rainy season, it is been raining or cloudy since our arrival, something I have rarely experienced in Shenzhen.

So onto the journey.

First, as always, I need to highlight the ridiculously low cost of living in Southeast Asia. Andy and I took a cab from downtown Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu, a 2-hour ride twisting through the jungle-covered mountainside. It cost 20 Ringgits (Dr Suess could have named the Malaysian currency himself) each - just over US$5. Meals are generally about $1, and while you can find accommodation for $2-3, we splurged and spent about $10 to stay close to the base of the mountain.

At 5:30 on Wednesday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed, dressed in layers, and headed out in the light rain for the base of Mount Kinabalu. However, the thick fog convinced us that it probably wasn't the best day for a climb; it's about 12 miles round trip - or a 4,095 meter vertical climb - some of which is over slippery granite, and much of the reason we wanted to go was to experience the great views. (And okay, I've been obsessing over the abundant pitcher plants ever since seeing them in action on Planet Earth.) Anyway, the fog was definitely not conducive to great views. As I wrote in my journal: "The thick fog makes me feel like we are walking through the very image of nothing. Not quite white, but more like the absence of white, as if the white has been scrubbed away furiously with an eraser."

Before we left, we set up arrangements to climb on Monday, the day before we fly from Kota Kinabalu into Jakarta. It was lucky we decided to set up our climb in advance, because we were informed that only 4 climbers each day are allowed to make a one-day hike - generally it is a two-day ordeal with an overnight close to the peak - and we had have out fitness level checked out by the park manager before we would be allowed to do this. The "fitness exam" turned out to be the easiest I have passed: Andy and I walked into the office and the manager sized us up and pronounced, "Okay, you look fit." We'll find out how fit we really are on Monday, I guess!

Yesterday we set off for Sandakan, where we spent the day and evening. It was an adventurous 5-hour ride, during which we saw a bus identical to ours flipped on the other side of the road, and stopped for food that was filled with little black bugs. Yes, of course, I still ate it.

Side note: It's amazing how things that I'm sure would have seemed totally disgusting/foreign/strange have now become commonplace. About a month ago I realized I actually prefer squat toilets to the Western style (never any pee on the seat, quicker to use, more comfortable position - if you're wondering). This afternoon I even asked for chopsticks to eat my curry chicken and noodles after a few awkward attempts with a fork. Guess that's when you know you're ready to travel Southeast Asia..

This morning we boarded another 6-hour bus ride for Sempora, the coastal kick-off for world-class dive sites at the surrounding islands. We are here for only 2.5 days and so I cannot take the 3-day scuba certification course, but we are going to spend the night at a nearby island tomorrow so we can go snorkelling among walls of tropical fish and "friendly" hammerhead sharks.