swimming with the sharks

Not being content with snorkeling the coral immediately in front of our Tioman Island resort, we hiked about 45 minutes north to Monkey Beach. It was deserted. We snorkeled the north side of the bay. This area is used for beginner diver training and I could see why. The water dropped off from 20-30 feet to what appeared to be 70-100. I had a sense of vertigo and falling as I snorkeled above the precipice.

After warming up, we snorkeled the south side. It was high tide. I enjoyed the environment. Large boulders had tumbled down

student conversation, video

Conversation with Malaysian education students in Cameron Highlands. Dawn answers questions. In high def.



Play video.

Favorite southeast Asia photos

My favorite southeast Asia photos are now uploaded.

seAsia photos

http://www.patrickdowd.com/photo/album/72157612130251496/seasia.html

multicultural heritage

Randy commented:  "Taking a grand stab at futurology, would you care to speculate on whether any Asian melting pots are going to use their multicultural heritage to become global players? Seems like an advantage but so often it becomes the fault line for disintegration."

Very interesting topic. Malaysia was founded on its multicultural base. After World War II, British set cooperation as a requirement for releasing the country from colonialism to independence. The National Museum celebrates multi-ethnicity. At the political level,