Blog #1 Before Malaysia

Dear Everyone,

Just a quick introduction, my name is Daniel and as off thursday the 10th of October 2013, I will be starting my graduation research in Malaysia. This blog will try to capture my adventures, some of the cultural differences and my time in Malaysia. The frequentcy of which I will update this blog is currently unknown, but I axpect every 2 weeks or a monthly basis.

If you do have any questions, please let me know.

Prequel

Today is October the 5th, the day after I hear that my projectplan was approved. This was exciting, because I already booked my flights 2 days before. I do not recommend this, but it saved me about €300.

It took me about 3 months to find a theme park abroad to do my graduation thesis with. So a few tips for everyone that is planning to graduate this year;

1. Figure out what branche or kind fo company you want.

2. Start early. Finding something in the Netherlands is easier. But if you go abroad, start very early.

3. Find lot’s of potential companies to email, and email or call them as early as possible. The more options you have the more chances you have.

So, I send a about 64 emails to different multi million theme parks in the world. After hearing a lot of “sorry we wish we could support you with this” and no response, I got some good news.

Tip #4, if people say they are happy to help you and you can come over, just be aware. Because until you have agreed on compensation and visa requirements, you do not have a deal.

I made almost 2 complete projectplans for companies that fell through in the last minute.

But while I was still writing a projectplan for a company in Hong Kong, a Theme park in Malaysia responded that they were happy to accommodate my research. So, I decided that this would be a great opportunity (after compensations issues in Hong Kong), and the subject they wanted me to research was quite interesting. I really liked the vision behind the company and the values they stood for.

About the company

The company is adventure theme park in Asia. Due to confidentiality I will not mention the name of the company in this blog. It is situated on a Island in the North of Malaysia (Penang). They want to research; how parents can be more involved in the environmental awareness program for children. The park currently has a adventure area where children can do spelunking (climbing in caves), ziplining (), wall climbing and more. It is a theme park without roller coasters or sugar coated fairy tales. It is all about nature, and letting children play in a natural environment. The company thinks it is important to let children play actively, instead of playing on a WII or Ipad.

About Malaysia

Gorgeous beaches, some of the worlds oldest rain-forests, and a rich cultural heritage with a huge variety of annual festivals, wonderful cuisines and populated by many different people, Malaysia is a dream destination for me. The country’s many different people has given Malaysia a lot to choose from, as a tourist. The city of Kuala Lumpur is a geat example of this merger of cultures, As is the Island of Penang, where I will be going. Beautiful food in Hawker stalls (Little cards with food on the street. Like the “street food” at NHTV, only this time, it is real, and much much cheaper!), and lot’s to see due to the architecture dominated by Chinese temples, English imperial influences, the influences of the Malay them selfs and of course nature. Wild Organ utans, Malaysian tigers and elephants are to be found in the malaysia part of Borneo.

Today It is now the 6th of October, I have been collecting and ordering all my travel gear. A lot of shopping, online; Ebay and Marktplaats.nl. But I now think I have everything sorted, from Malaria pills to a nail clipper. (If you want to travel abroad and want to see my packing list, just leave a comment below). I will try to take a picture later on of my bag. I will take my Nikon D5100 and Go Pro Black with me to capture the beauty of Asia to it’s full extend. My flights are all sorted, and all most everything is ready to be packed (5 days to go). So since I have time, I decided to go for a last minute trip to Disneyland Paris, just because. So I will be back home Wednesday morning, and my flight leaves Thursday afternoon. Plenty of time and looking forward to a lot of fun.

This concludes my first blog, the next one will be written from Malaysia. So thanks for reading, and write me a comment, let me know what you are up to, or if you have any questions..