Savoring Each Moment

It's funny, living in the moment seems quite simple, however, actually putting it into practice is quite hard. I tend to revisit this from time to time because I can never quite figure out how to do it. It becomes especially prevalent while school is in session back at the Naval Academy. Anytime I return from summer, winter, or spring break – a countdown immediately begins in anticipation for the next break. As I sit in purgatory waiting for the next getaway, my days and weeks tend to run together like Ground Hog Day: sit in class, eat King Hall food, throw the Javelin, study at night, and then hit the reset button. It can get a bit mundane from time to time. I wish it wasn't this way, but it seems to be the nature of the beast. You may be wondering: Why does any of this matter? The short answer: I want to bring more sanctity to the average day of the life. Interestingly enough, this trip has helped me to get a little bit closer to savoring each moment. For starters, writing daily notes on my phone, as well as doing some semi-daily journal entries has made each day's thoughts and observations a little less fleeting. Secondly, looking for interesting things to photograph has driven me to process my surroundings on a personally unprecedented level. Finally, traveling has awakened my at times dormant curiosity by reminding me that each person met has something interesting and unique to offer, if you're willing to do a little prodding. So, to anyone feeling stuck in a rut, here's to spending each day like a curious traveler of life as opposed to spending each day like a zombie stuck on auto-pilot. Now that I'm off my soapbox, let's delve into how the Middies and Professor Barrett have been savoring the moments we've been fortunate enough to have.

No longer the white skinned rarity as I was in Indonesia, Malaysia has allowed me to blend in slightly better. English is even more rampantly available than Indonesia. As an American I don't think I ever fully appreciated how convenient it is to speak what has become the universal language. Around the world, it is hard not to find someone who speaks our native tongue, we have it way too good. Kuala Lumpur (KL) specifically, has been a change of pace on many levels. The roads are a bit more tame and cigarette ads no longer occupy every street corner. On nearly every travel blog detailing sights to see in KL, the Batu Caves are a constant. Needless to say, we made the pilgrimage. The caves are located just outside of the city among picturesque limestone hills that look ripe for rock-climbing. Upon arrival, I was shocked to see the endless supply of both Pigeons and Macaques. It would seem years of tourism have caused both species to realize food is not only abundant, but easily mooched. A giant gold statue of Lord Murugan, the Hindu god of war, protects the 272 stairs leading up to the entrance of the caves. Unfortunately, most Hindu relics up inside the caves were covered due to the many ongoing construction projects. Even so, it was fascinating to witness Hindu ceremonies taking place within small huts containing shrines. Many that I witnessed revolved around blessing a flame and then having pilgrims brush their hand over the flame in some sort of blessing ritual. There were many natural openings into the cave where light flooded in; the cavernous site perspired spirituality.

(1) Chinese Tourists (2) The Sultan Abdul Samad Building (3) KL City model

Next we rolled on over to the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery. This pseudo-museum had a few art exhibits and some history of the area surrounding area of Merdeka Square (Freedom Square). While there I found out that Kuala Lumpur translates to,'Muddy Estuary.' The city has come a long ways from it's humble roots. I also found out large groups of tourists can be somewhat obnoxious. A large group of Chinese tourists spent their time in the gallery snapping selfies and loudly face-timing loved ones. A model city is in the gallery and these other tourists blatantly ignored the no flash photo policy as a projector light show played over the city model and highlighted all of the architecture in KL. Anyhow, In 1957 the first flag of Malaysia was raised in Merdeka Square to symbolize freedom from British rule. The Sultan Abdul Samad building, a British built architectural wonder built in 1897, lies just across from Merdeka Square.

Following our brief excursion we headed off to lunch with a group of three Americans who happened to be in the area with the Naval Post Graduate School. It was humbling, to say the least, to ask one of the group if he had served in the Navy. To my chagrin, not only had he served, he had been a Vice Admiral and had 36 years under his belt before retiring. Despite my miscue, I appreciated their time and advice as all three were incredibly knowledgeable having spent time serving the country in one capacity or another. I haven't decided what I want to do in the Navy after graduation, but, two of three had been Surface Warfare Officers so it was nice getting to pick their brains. Soon there afterward was the cherry on top of the day, a majestic view of KL from the top of the Petronas Towers. These are the tallest twin towers in the world and have held up very well since being finished in 1996; a huge air-conditioned mall overflowing with tourists takes up the entire space beneath the towers.

(1) Our Lunch Group (2) View of KL from the top of the Petronas Towers

The following day we donned our pristine but travel worn, 'Summer Whites,' and visited our second of three US Embassy's. It seems that a sort of competition has been brewing between Naval attaché USNA grads to see whose photo can make Shipmate (magazine for USNA alumni). This has undoubtedly been to our benefit as we have learned a wealth of information from these individuals who were in our shoes not so long ago. In particular, I've come to learn that the Foreign Area Officer community is something I'd be very interested in joining down the line. These officers are trained to become fluent in a foreign language and then go on to typically work as attachés, security assistance officers, or political-military planners. At the Embassy we were received by four Naval Academy grads and I did my best to soak up all the sage wisdom they had to offer. It seems the South China Sea will be pivotal for my generation of Naval Officers. Who knows? Perhaps this trip through SE Asia will be fundamental for my future Naval career.

USNA Delegation at the Embassy, with the Deputy Chief of Mission

Following our Embassy visit we had a fairly quick turnaround from our Hotel and headed for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia campus KL. The Center for Coastal and Ocean Engineering received us as well as their Ocean Thermal Engineering Center. Each group's Academics gave us a run down of what they do in their department. The KL campus is mainly dedicated to Graduate students, but, as the only Ocean Engineering student of our group of Midshipman it was especially interesting for me. Of note were the many research projects the University takes on to protect the coastal environments around the Malaysian Peninsula. Additionally, OTEC, which relies on drastic differences in Ocean temperature gradient at the equator, seems to be the technology and renewable energy source of the future. This technology is already up and running in Okinawa, Japan, and Hawaii. I implore you to watch an informative video about this technology because it seems like a game changer, something I can hopefully research in the future of my undergrad degree. This was our last full day in Malaysia, but thankfully retired Captain Suhaimi of the Malaysian Navy , the USNA '93 grad we met for dinner on the 10th invited us to his home for a proper Malaysian sendoff.

Here we are with the UTM OTEC faculty

A home cooked meal was the only thing this trip had missed thus far, luckily, Captain Suhaimi, his wife Lin, and two daughters were eager to oblige. Upon arrival, all of us foreigners were given traditional clothing to wear, keep in mind Charles was the only male close in size to Captain Suhaimi's wardrobe. Though Hari Raya Aldifitri took place immediately after Ramadan concluded about a month ago, Captain Suhaimi's family and some friendly neighbors kindly simulated the holiday gathering as if it was the real deal. The atmosphere in their condo was immersive and the conversations were a joy. Looking through Captain Suhaimi's yearbook, it's crazy to see that not too much has changed and there's this very real connection over our shared experiences at the Academy. At any rate, having recently survived my inevitable 12 round bout with food-poisoning, I had rediscovered my appetite and felt ready to eat a sizable portion of Lin's delicious cooking. Most meals on this trip I have just eaten food, with no clue as to what it was. The language barrier makes fully understanding ingredients quite difficult. This meal was quite different, every single component was explained with thorough description and procedure of how or when to be eaten during the meal. It did not disappoint, this was my favorite meal of the entire trip and I have a Suhaimi family recipe to thank. Normally just one soup is made for the family, but Lin was so excited to have us she made two delicious kinds of soup, along with the various add-ins. I will never forget the hospitality and generosity of the Suhaimi family; I can only hope to follow their example and pay it forward someday.

(1) My favorite meal of the trip thus far (2) Captain Suhaimi explaining all of the dishes (3) The gang got all dressed up in traditional gear and posed with our gracious hosts

This is my last blog post of the trip, so, for anyone who's gotten this far: thanks for reading and I hope you've gotten something out of all my whimsical thoughts. It's been a pleasure to be a little creative and write this. Additionally, I am just incredibly grateful for this opportunity I've been afforded. None of this would've been possible without the USNA International Programs Office, Professor Barrett, and donors to the LREC program. Partly, I came to the Naval Academy in order to see the world, therefore, this trip has fully appeased my passion for travel. Without doubt, the countless lessons learned and people met on this trip will influence my future career and travels abroad.