Purrfect Cat Cafe-Georgetown, Penang

Cat cafes originated in Taiwan, then quickly became popular in Japan and have spread to Europe and even Dubai! Cafes in California are slated to open this summer. As any cat lover knows, playing with cats can be both fun and therapeutic. These cafes generally take in shelter cats and give them a home in the cafe. They have toys and cubbies galore and the humans who love them can buy a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes or hours with the cats. Just fyi, the food and drink are sold in a separate part of the cafe where cats are not allowed. The ultimate goal is that patrons will adopt the cats and provide them loving, permanent homes. A pop up cat cafe opened in New York City this past April and I along with hundreds of New Yorkers lined up to get a peek. Sadly, I never made it in as the queue was already around the block. So when I heard there was a cat cafe in Georgetown I pounced on it! Lesia enjoyed coffee and passion fruit cheesecake while I played with the kitties.

This is Orange.

Molly 

"No Wifi. Play with the cats, not with your phone."

Teddy

Uzma and Lesia

Georgetown Art and Colonial Penang

Georgetown is the colonial town center of Penang. It's about 30-45 minutes by bus or taxi and we've been there a few times now. Malaysia was colonized by the British and the legacy of the Brits is widespread. In Georgetown, beautiful colonial era buildings are scattered everywhere. What I found more notable about Georgetown, however, was its art. The city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site and the art is one of way of celebrating that. Playful murals are painted on the walls throughout the city center, and I was determined to find as many as possible. In addition to the painted murals there are wire shaped sculptures along many side streets that depict and narrate the history of the neighborhood.  Enjoy the art below. It was the result of both scavenging and serendipity.

My favorite!

Malays like cats. So do I. :)

Wire sculpture.

These kids seem quite happy to be behind bars.

Look up. Do you see the ballerina?

Cat vs. Bruce Lee

Of course there had to be Hello Kitty somewhere.

Local art club. They meet Sunday mornings and sketch around the city.
We asked them directions and enjoyed their art. 

Wire sculpture. This one depicts Nasi Kandar vendor,
 Muslim curry and rice dishes from South India.

A lot of my favorite murals were on Armenian Street.

Our first day off!-National Park and Para-sailing- July 5, 2014

After a busy and exhausting week at school we have a day off! We started our morning with a trip to Taman Negara Pulau Penang (Penang National Park). The park is the last stop on our bus line, #101, and was quite easy to reach. The park was established in 2003 but has been a protected forest reserve since 1928. We hiked along a trail that follows the beach and the juxtaposition of forest and beach was remarkable! We spotted butterflies, monitor lizards, crabs and the largest and most beautiful spider I've ever seen! After our two hour hike, we got foot massages in Batu Ferrengi, went para-sailing, read poolside followed by dinner at the Long Beach hawker center and the night market. What a busy but amazing day off!

Beach next to our trail. We spotted several water monitor lizards. Too speedy to get a pic!

Millipede. 8-10 inches!

Golden Orb Spider. Size of an adult hand. Extraordinary! Just caught a cicada like insect.
We were rapt as it wrapped.

Rainforest selfie.

This isn't us, but it is what we looked like. :)

Soft crash landing on beach.

What are we teaching?

Lesia and I are working with grade 7, 8, 9 and 10 at Tenby Penang. We've been planning with teachers to take existing curriculum and enrich it with hands on activities, more paired and group work, inquiry, discussion and presentations, and lots of scaffolding. I've been teaching kids to snap and it's taking off in some of the classes! In grade 7 students are learning about classification and variation and are then dissecting owl pellets! In grade 8 we're building on human reproduction by comparing chick development and human embryo development and then dissecting unfertilized chick eggs. In grade 9, students are working in groups to learn about the characteristics of life and adaptations, researching different biomes and then creating aliens adapted to their specific biomes. They will then present their work. In grade 10, students are researching different human impacts on the global and local environment and then doing group presentations to teach their peers. The kids in all classes have been really lovely. They call us Ms. Uzma and Ms. Lesia. I think they've really been enjoying our lessons and especially the hands on activities. Students in other classes seem disappointed that we're not teaching their classes. Hopefully the teachers we're working with will try some of our approaches after we leave. Like teachers back home they are challenged by having to finish content and preparing for exams. We're trying to impart that these approaches will help them in the long run though they may seem like a sacrifice initially. Whatever happens we know this: Kids are kids wherever you go. They are similar developmentally, socially, and behaviorally and we love teaching kids who are curious and eager to learn science, whether in the States or here in Malaysia.

Agenda. Keep in mind 2-7 is 7-2 back home. 

Note-taking. No binders here. Notebooks which are left in the classroom. Students don't seem to get much HW as a result.

Egg dissection. Breaking through shell to see air sac and membrane.

Observations must always include measurement if possible. Thankfully the students use the metric system all the time here.

Owl Pellet: Collecting and separating bones from fur.

Observations.

"We found four skulls!!"

"Do we have even one skull? 

Skull. Rodent or Shrew? Use the dichotomous key. 

Happy 4th of July! - Kek Lo Si Temple

Today we helped chaperon a school trip to Kek Lok Si, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. It was built in 1890 (though construction seems to be ongoing) and is situated high on a hill. Our school bus barely made it up the long and winding road, at one one point wanting to reverse down the hill and to take an alternate route! It was a beautiful temple, but for me lacked a feeling of spirituality. Dotted throughout the temple were numerous gifts shops and vendors and the commercialism just took away from the overall appeal. The kids were like students on any trip, some intently working on the assignment, others wandering away and all of them more interested in buying candy and gifts than anything else. Overall, it was a great trip and a wonderful opportunity to see students in a different setting as well as learn more about the rich culture and heritage of the Malay people.

The students.

The turtles.

The Temple

The gifts.

A wishing ribbon. Buy one for 1RM and place on the wishing tree.

The giant buddha at the top. Must take a funicular to get to this point.

Floating Mosque of Tanjung Bunga

Traveling and fasting during Ramadan is always a challenge. But with Ramadan falling during the summer months these past few years I've had no choice but to make it work. Though Malaysia is not an Islamic State (it's a constitutional monarchy-royal family plus elected officials), the majority (60%) of Malaysians are Muslim, making it relatively easy to fast here. Well not easy but rather there are many accommodations for the fasting ones. My hotel for example is open for suhoor (the pre-dawn/pre fasting meal). So I just head down to the hotel restaurant and have a buffet at hand. I don't really want to eat porridge, noodles or chicken rendang at 4:30am but do appreciate the offerings. I usually end up with toast, watermelon, coffee and at least six glasses of water. For iftaar, there are several restaurants and hawker stands in the area. While we've had some delicious food here I do miss the Ramadan foods of my family, and especially all the delicious food prepared by my mom. Thank you Ami! Even more I miss the shared experience of celebrating with family and loved ones.  I'm really fortunate, however, that there is an amazing masjid nearby, the Floating mosque. Built in 2004, it is partially on land and partially over water. It is stunning and peaceful and simply divine. The waves crash nearby and that gentle, cool breeze moves through all the doors and windows making it a transcendental experience on many levels. The locals there have been especially kind, one woman even offering me a delicious bag of dates (which have been hard to come by in Penang). I hope Ipoh will have something half as nice...