Saya cuba untuk belajar bahasa Melayu sedikit. [I'm trying to learn a little Malay.] Exactly a month from now I’ll be en route to Kuala Lumpur to begin a four-week stint with IBM’s Corporate Service Corps http://ibm.co/W34CRz — a business version of the Peace Corps. CSC teams with an Australian NGO to place us in Kuantan, on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.
A dozen coworkers and I have been prepping for this since November but the assignment is TBD. I’ll embrace what comes. At any rate it’s quite a change from the day-to-day workload. I’ve been curious about SE Asia for years.
Following the CSC program I’m looking forward to 10 days of free time, perhaps exploring the nearby Taman Negara rainforest, and a few of the east coast’s beaches and islands of the South China Sea, maybe Perhentian. Within reach is another very tempting option, Malaysian Borneo. A quick visit to Tim in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is in order if I can swing the timing.
I tried to talk Julie into joining the après-CSC segment but she balked at the logistics. Opportunities like this are rare. Rampas hari.
Boats at Perhentian Kecil jetty. Source: Wikimedia Commons