Have you ever watched the show where two people in different countries swap their job for a week or so? It almost always involves a shock on a side of the English worker and the afterwards appreciation of his job back home. We got a chance to experience similar thing as Craig got an invitation to spend a few days in a rural clinic with medical students from Malaysia. I really wish that it was caught on camera as the emotions ranged from hilarious to tears.We were told by Craig's coordinator that we are going to stay with other medical students that are on their posting in rural hospital. All final year med students so the age was all around 22-23. Before we went, I specifically was told (guessing that the reason was that I had a pair of boobs) that it the place where we were staying is operated by fairly strict Muslim rules, and so I was told to cover my legs and cover my bits. Even though I do have a habit of not doing something that I am told to do, I did comply with it as I thought that it is a sign of respect.When we got there, I realized that my patience will be stretched like a Russian gymnast. As soon as we got there, (Me, Craig and Craig's mate from med school called Linford), we were told that as we are not married ,me and Craig have to stay in separate dorms. I wasn't happy about it as you can imagine.Well lets just say that it didn't last long as the second night I sneaked into his room. When I was trying to get into my dorm at 4am,there was a massive lock on the door. Wasn't funny at the time, well funny looking back. The place itself was very strange. It was like halls for students but with the difference that it was all fenced and guarded 24/7. The students spend about 3 months here when they are on their rural posting and whilst they are here, they have to comply with strict rules. They are not allowed to be out of the complex after 10pm and even if they have a weekend free, they had to write the letter to the head of the place to ask permission. Strictly no alcohol either. How different is this to back home with your average student in Endcliffe, imagine if someone would tell him that he can't be out after 10pm with strictly no alcohol. I think we would have riots again. All the rules were strictly for their safety I was told, even though the only danger around there from what I seen is a lost Makak trying to steal your bra. The bus took them all in the morning at 7am sharp to the hospital and then brought them all back. So no chance of skiving. On top of that, the students seemed like machines there. Lot's of them when they got home were doing more work and we have seen numerous people having meeting about projects that were working on at 10pm. But I guess in a way, the students were like athletes, there was nothing else to worry about, just medicine.
The complex

The dorms

Guess life could be worse

Some students have pet rabbits and some students have pet lobsters

People often ask me what I was doing when Craig was on placement, but as you all know me well, you know that i don't have problem to sleep till the afternoon and generally not do much. On the days that that I actually do something, it usually involves going to town. As Craig and Linford were spending the days in the hospital and I was getting more and more claustrophobic, I decided to go to the nearest town about 15 minutes ride away. Since it was very unusual for a girl alone to be going to town on her own, I got a few worried faces. Off I went anyway. When got to the bus stop, I didn't realised that they have no buses, just a minibus or an illegal bus which is basically just a normal car. When I asked the people at the bus stop which one to take to town, they just pointed out to a car. I have seen a woman on a back seat and got in it. After a few minutes, the driver was taking us through what seemed to be the poorest area of town, that's where the woman got off. As we were driving through half broken houses and animals on the street, I was thinking how the hell did I end up in car, in a middle of nowhere, with a strange man in a car. As I was starting to shit myself a bit, the taxi driver must have noticed that I was a bit on the edge and he just smiled at me, and asked my if I want a cigarette. So there I was, in a car, in a middle of nowhere, with a strange man, having a laugh and smoking a fag with him.
I spent some time with some of the students as well and they were all really nice and friendly. They would all talk to you, and would be interested in you which I guess is sometimes different at uni in England. You can be surrounded by thousand of students and have not many people to talk to. On our last day two girls took us the beach and the actual tip of Borneo point to watch the sunset. It was absolutely stunning, the place was not heaving with tourists and it felt really untouched. The lonely planet doesn't say much about it, just that they don't want to spoil it and they want people to discover it for themselves and guess what, its worked as there was almost no one there. We decided that stay there for a few days when the placement was over. We had such a good laugh, had great dinner, seen a beautiful sunset, what more do we want from life?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66343524@N02/7757163444/
Craig and Linford

The sunset







When looking back, it was a great experience for me. Craig looked at it in a different way to me of course, he has leaned a lot during the time, and that's what matters. I am glad I could experience it too, as it reminded me just how much I value the freedom we get as students back in Sheffield. I am just like the bin men that worked in Jakarta for a week... So glad to be a student where I am.

Because we liked Sepilok so much the first time, we have decided to come back for the weekend before going back to Kota Kinabalu (Or maybe we just wanted to postpone the horrid 6 hour journey by bus). We booked to stay in another hostel called Paganakan Dii as it had amazing reviews from the Lonely Planet. On the way there, we passed a beautiful lake. By the gate there was a deer park with the deer five metres away just staring at you, assessing whether you are a threat to them. I wonder if they could sense that I once again thought how tasty they would be as venison steak (there is something fundamentally wrong me). Dinner is served... Beautiful lake When we entered the grounds, we were absolutely speechless. I mean if you pay 5 Pounds a night to sleep somewhere, you sort of expect it to be a bit well... shit. But this was, I am not being funny, better than Hilton! We found out from the guys that work there, that they don't call it a hostel but a retreat. And it fell like it too, all the people that were there sitting at the restaurant were so calm and generally looked like they took rohypnol with a happy pill. Everyone was quiet and I thought, OK I could actually meditate here for the week, even though I don't meditate.The main building had a restaurant downstairs and a chill out room with bean bags upstairs. The chill out area The restaurant There is a jungle out there! The grounds were full of little places for relaxation, there were hammocks and wooden sun beds everywhere. The place was just breathing tranquility on you. But not in the way that is forced and man made but in a way that is inspiring and contagious. I mean I have this set of yoga exercises which I do sometimes (when I can be arsed, which is almost never) and I got out of bed in the morning to do them on the balcony, but it wasn't forced at all, it fell like I naturally want to do them. Afternoon nap anyone? Chillin on the sunbeds overlooking the jungle Tasting some snake fruit Ok, I might just be posing for the camera on this one... And then there were the sinks... I mean anyone that recycles woks and turns them into sinks is ''the dog in my eyes''.I think that's what I loved about it the most, there were so many little things that were reused and recycled, and that was where it differed from a Hilton retreat. A posh hotel would never do that, but then again a posh hotel lacks imagination and the feel of the place can't be bought with money. Old woks used as sinks Giant Cable rolls used as table tops We were meant to stay in a dorm of 20 and I was dreading it before hand but the dorm was absolutely beautiful, we stayed in a wooden hut with all wooden beds with real bed sheets. Just behind the bed there was a window leading to a balcony overlooking the jungle. You can hire a private room, which is basically your own wooden hut for 25 quid a night overlooking the jungle valley. There was no telly, no pool, no crap but I wasn't bored at all. We were reading, sleeping on the bean bags, running and working out, eating and drinking free tea and coffee all day and we were so chilled. How does this place only costs a fiver?!? The dorm We stayed for 2 nights as we had to get back to KK (Kota Kinabalu) but I could have definitely stayed for a week. I fell so good and so chilled afterwards. This is indeed a special place, I would recommend anyone to go and If we have a chance we will definitely come again. No word of a lie... ...As by the time we left we were two happy Larries!!! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Information for travellers How to get there: To get to Paganakan from KK you have take the bus to Sandakan from Inannam bus station in KK which you can access by bus from the main bus station Wawasan or you can take the taxi there which costs about 20 ringitts. One you get on the bus, it takes about 6 hours. Ask the driver to drop you of at the Sepilok junction which is basically a cross road. From there the hostel can pick you up for free or you can walk as it is only 2km and it is clearly marked. The hostel runs a daily shuttle to the Orangutang rehabilitation center and The Rainforesst discovery centre. If you are trying to get to Paganakan from Sandakan, you can just take the local bus which is about 5 ringitts or you can always take the bus which goes to KK and asked them to drop you off at Sepilok Junction again but I haven't tried it so I don't know the price. What to do: You can visit the Orangutang Rehabilitation centre and the Rainforest Discovery centre as well as the Proboscis monkey sanctuary. Otherwise you won't get bored in the retreat, and don't worry about food, they serve breakfast which consist of sausage, egg, toast with jam and butter and they serve free tea and coffe all day. You can also get free drinking water. They serve food like burgers and chips but we have tried few meals and found that the best thing that they cooked was just mee goreng ayam- chicken fried noodles. They also serve beer, small Tiger was 8 ringitts. They don't accept the money for the food until you leave, they just bill you for everything at the end so don't get too carried away! There is also a small cafe just down the road from it (just before the lake) but they stop serving food at 6pm but I haven't been there so I don't know whether it's any good but it could be an option if you want a change from Paganakan's food. The number is in The Lonely Planet, but either way here is the link to the hostel.

After spending a day in Sepilok, we were quite excited about Sandakan. However when we got there and the initial rush from a new place has gone, we become a bit, well... There was not much to do in terms of ''doing things'' like visiting famous sites, there was no beach etc. There is a house which was rebuilt that belonged to a writer called Agnes Keith who wrote a famous novel that took place in Borneo but since we did not read it we thought that there was no point in going there as we don't know anything about her. Other options included a crocodile farm and a 2nd world war memorial which we kindly passed and after that the lonely planet was pretty much exhausted. And we become bored and frustrated that we have to spend here another 3 days. We spend the first day in this ''I really don't like this, it's boring'' attitude. Then as we were walking through the city, taking buses to random places we realized that it was our attitude that was boring us. We were looking but we were not actually seeing. (Yes, I had a little chat with the old Buddha). We got caught in the tourist world and stopped being travelers. As soon as we changed our mindset we found things that no guidebook could ever tell you. We found a place where the poeple were really friendly and wanting to talk to us and even asked us if we can take a picture of them. As it was not very westernized you could see more as to how the malay people really live without them putting a sort of an act on, like in a really place which is heaving with tourists. A typical street in Sandakan Local booze which tastes as good as alcohol hand rub but does not seem to stop anyone from drinking it We discovered that there was a market literally next to our hostel which before we thought was just an ordinary market but when we went in, we discovered fruits, veg and all sorts of cooking ingredients that we have never even seen before. Craig trying to get a good bargain A lady selling fresh produce and some shit hot chillies Every little bit of the banana tree is used, bananas for eating and banana leaves instead of plates. Possible idea for a student house? And then there was THE FISH PART. Oh my God! We have walked through it the day before but we did not notice the prices until then, and it was like the cheapest thing I have ever seen. The fish was caught fresh that day and we have seen the fishermen loading the fish from boats that were ''parked''(really don't thing that is the right word) just outside the market. Fresh fish I think he might have been trying to impress me with his crab's size Fishing boats just outisde the market Just noticed the guy in the top left corner, WTF??? Local kids posing for us We have decided to buy some fish as the guys in the hostel told us that we can use their kitchen (legends)and we got 1kg of squid for about 60p and 1kg of prawns for less than 3 Pounds. What can I say, pure indulgence.We managed to cook the prawns to perfection but had a slight problem with the squid as when we tried to cut it the ink went everywhere... But apparently squid ink is a superfood so says google and so we didn't mind if the food had a bit of a 'tint' to it... After that, I got a lesson from the people that worked there on how to make a fish head soup, local salad and a lemongrass tea which is a heritage recipe from the owner's mother and I got told how to recognise a fake honey from real one (as I obviously bought the fake one). Apparently you dip a match into honey and try to light the match, if it burns it is real honey and if not,well then you get fooled like me by buying a blend of well, shite... The not so attractive squid Lani, a woman that works in the hostel showing me a few cooking tips Mark showing me how to make a lemongrass tea By the end of it, I really fell like I have experienced a lot in a different way that I have maybe expected. Another lesson learned- Every place is beautiful in its own way and has something special in it and the whole point of travelling is to find the special thing. Dom xx ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Information for travellers: Getting to Sandakan: There is a bus from KK that costs 43 ringitts and goes pretty much every hour. The bus leaves from the bus station called Innanam which is just outside of KK and you get there from the main bus terminal called wawasan. The bus from wawasan to inannam costs only a few ringitts as it is local bus. There is also a flight with air asia that is between KK and Sandakan but we found the bus journey rather entertaining. If you are lucky, you will get a bus with air con in which case dress as for the arctic or you may get an old bus which has just a fan over your head. The journey takes about 6.5 hours depending on the bus and you usually stop for lunch/dinenr depending on the time of the day. Be careful though, if the bus says that you have half an hour for food, in reality it really means about 15 minutes and keep an eye out on it as the bus can leave at any point! What to do: We stayed in the hostel called sea view which was next door to a market. The hostel was quite old but the staff were really helpful and friendly. Go and buy some fish from the market and ask them to let you cook it in the hostel kitchen. It is the best that Sandakan has to offer in my opinion. Try some deep fried banana from the market as well and different fruit that they sell.

Craig was asked by one of his doctors to come and watch an operation taking place on the east side of Borneo in a town called Sandakan. Because it's 7 hours away we decided to stay for the weekend and go to a place called Sepilok- one the most famous places in Malaysian Borneo. When you arrive at Sepilok you feel like you have finally arrived in Borneo. The hostel was surrounded by a rainforest and you almost feel like the Brits that first colonized this place. Apart from the fact that the hostel served American breakfast which is basically an English breakfast wannabee. Having breakfast at the hostel surrounded by the jungle The pathway leading to the pool Our room for the night Anyone for a BBQ later? There is no shops around, just a rainforest and a famous orangutang rehabilitation center. The rehabilitation center known as a sanctuary was created in the 1960ies mainly to rehabilitate orphaned orangutangs that were either kept illegally as pets or the baby orangutangs that were orphaned due to poaching. The sanctuary is really impressive. It lays on an area as big as 43sq km most of which is a virgin rainforest. When the sanctuary gets an orangutang, it is usually in a poor state and all the effort goes into making it better so in a few years it can released into the sanctuary to live free.What the tourists are allowed to witness, is the feeding of those orangutangs that still rely on the food from humans. Even though you are not allowed to touch them or to feed them yourself, the sight is still pretty impressive. You watch silently together with 200 other people how they feed,and it really makes you realize as to how much they are like humans. Maybe that is why orangutang in translation means ''the man of the forrest.'' Spot the third monkey 100 % humans fascinated by the 97 % humans Me and Craig in the sanctuary With dogs dressed up in clothes, it was just a matter of time for them But actually maybe they are not as similar to us as we think. Orangutangs are endangered species wit only about 30 000 left of them in Borneo and a part of Sumatra. The reason why they are endangered apart from the poaching is one thing- Palm oil. Their natural habitat is being destroyed or deforested to make room for a palm oil plantations. Palm oil is the cheapest oil, used in cheap chocolate, soaps, cooking and millions of other things. This morning I got breakfast at the hostel in Sandakan which consisted of pancakes with palm sugar which looks like maple sirup. I have decided to try the palm sugar to see whether the taste is so exquisite as to justify taking the orangutangs natural habitat away from them and whether it is worth endangering a species for it.I have tasted it and decided that it is really not worth it.