Selamat malam! This is Sadie and Kate reporting from Kuala Tahan, Malaysia. 

We woke up bright and early (well, Kate did — Sadie woke up 15 minutes late) and enjoyed lempeng dan jem (pancakes with jam) and some sedap (delicious) tea. We attempted to converse with our homestay family only in Malay, but didn’t last long, so instead we practiced counting to 20. Our homestay dad has a challenge for us that before we leave Kuala Tahan, we must have a full conversation only in Malay, no English. Wish us luck! So far we can count to about 5, say thank you, and introduce ourselves. 


We live with Din (our dad), Mamarodi (our mom), Emira (our sister — or kakak) who’s 15, and Emil (our brother — or abang) who’s 18. Sadly, Emil had to jet off to his job where he identifies disaster victims, so we mostly spend time with the others. Emira doesn’t have to go to school this week since she is on vacation for Hajj and Hari Raya Haji. Only our dad speaks English, so we asked him about his job as a tour guide. He frequently treks up Mount Tahan — the biggest peak in Peninsular Malaysia. He also helps translate for us so that we can speak with the others. We love our house and family!


After breakfast, we went over to the teachers’ hotel for a glass of Milo which is a bussin’ chocolate milk drink. We completed our poop and health checks (don’t worry parents, we are doing bagus), and walked through the village to start our community service activity. Once we reached our destination, we were met by the mayor of Kuala Tahan, Aki Jalil! We suited up with trendy gloves and beautiful trash bags to pick up all the waste by the riverfront. Although it was scorchingly hot outside, we sang the soundtrack from the Sound of Music and some Sabrina Carpenter to help us through it. Once we finished, we had picked up about 10 bags’ worth of trash!





Once we ripped off our sweaty gloves and dumped the trash, we explored the center of the village for a bit. This is where all the shops are, filled with fun snacks and merch for the village! Then we walked up the hill to eat at Anne’s Restaurant, and once seated, we saw our very own Mamarodi zoom past in her friend’s car. We ate some chicken, rice, and fruit, per usual, and then we feasted on food from home very near and dear to our hearts… FRENCH FRIES! While seated, we perfected the Cup Song from Pitch Perfect (ask us to perform it!) and attempted some yodeling (whatever you do, don’t ask to hear it). 



After our feast, we hopped in the car and headed over to Angah’s house (Ava and Ella’s homestay). There, we worked on our eGuides to help a Bateq community bring in ecotourism and stay at their jungle hut. 30 minutes after lunch, we had another delicious feast complete with chocolate strawberries, oranges, and sweet corn on the cob. Once we finished our notes for the Bateq, we forced Andrew to drive us to get boba as a parting gift to us. Sadie tried the Thailand Tea drink and Kate tried the red velvet boba, topped with ice cream and Oreos. Bussss!


At this point, we were pretty tired, so we returned to our humble abode. We made progress with our books, showered off the physical dirt on our bodies, and finished off Sadie’s bag of Percy Pig gummies (as you can tell, we are eating VERY well). We spent a few hours with our host family in the living room, the one place in the house with blaring air conditioning.


Although we were a little late on our arrival, we finally made it to the town’s night market. This happens every Wednesday evening in the center of Kuala Tahan, where locals set up tents and sell their very own produce. First, Sadie grabbed her favorite food from back home, sushi, then we both tried air kelapa (coconut water) and apam balik (a peanut and corn dessert). As seen in the photos below, we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the night market! Asher, Parker, and Sohum helped their homestay family sell mee rojak, laksa penang, and laksam while wearing traditional Muslim Malay clothing for Hari Raya Hajj.








Right after the night market, our whole group headed over to our very own house to have dinner together! When we opened the door for our visitors, instead, we were met with a million flying termites. Eek! Spoookkyyy! Everyone ran inside and we enjoyed our delicious dinner with the lights off to deter the scary insects. We ate fried rice (nasi goreng) and fried rice noodles with fish and chicken. 


Now, we are sitting in the living room, writing our blog and watching our visitors go. So sad — we will miss them. Until tomorrow! 








Peace out, everybody — we love and miss you all! We hope you are having as lit of a time back in California as we are in Malaysia. 


Terima kasih, kawans!


-Kate and Sadie


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