Update (Eric)

I know we haven't posted in a while. We've had a few travel days, and I had a rough day yesterday emptying the contents of my stomach. This is going to be a short post updating our adventures with a few pictures, and then I will try to make time to write in more detail later. Also worth mentioning is the fact that I am writing this from a lodge at the edge of the Bornean jungle. It is quite peaceful and surreal, but also quite hot and humid. Anyway, an update...

• Thursday June 30 (Hong by Starlight): I thought the trip to Phi Phi island was magical, but I can't recommend Hong by Starlight ran by the John Grey Sea Canoe Company enough. I will have difficulty expressing the experience in words, and pictures will not do it justice.
• Friday July 1 (Travel Day 1): We left Phuket at "oh my God it's early" to head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had a great time exploring the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park (thanks to George Sehn, my stepdad, for the recommendation). We had a wonderful dinner in an eight story mall (and I thought I had escaped hell) that turned out to not be so wonderful for me the next day. Further proving my point, that malls are evil. By the way, don't shy away from eating at restaurants in Asian malls just based on the experience above. You can actually find some amazing places to eat in these monstrous malls. The dish I ordered happened to have clams that did not agree with me. 
• Saturday July 2 (Travel Day 2):  Another day where we got up at "oh dark thirty" to travel to Sandakan, Malaysia. (NOTE: skip a bit if stomach issue stories bother you) This travel day was purely awful for me. Even before leaving the hotel, I began to have stomach issues including an emergency stop at the bathroom while waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport. Once at the airport, my issues worsened, including emptying the contents of my stomach, not once, but twice as we passed through security. I was worried security might try to quarantine me, but instead, they were very nice and understanding. I think they took one look at me and realized, "oh, another foreigner who is having trouble adjusting to an Asian diet." But I think the explanation was just good old fashioned food poisoning (the questionable clams I mentioned earlier). (NOTE: you may start reading again if you skipped a bit). Anyway, we arrived safely to our lodge, the Sepilok Nature Resort, but because of my condition, we ended up taking it easy. I'm happy to report that the relaxation seemed to help. I'm up and about and we really enjoying our next day, which leads me to the next bullet...
• Sunday July 3 (Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center): This was just the thing to cure me of my travel illness blues. As I mentioned, we are staying at the edge of a jungle. Also at the edge of this jungle is a nature preserve that specializes in raising orphaned orangutans until they are capable of surviving in the wild. After seeing several of these adorable animals, including a close encounter with two particularly mischievous youngsters, it could not help but make me feel better. The aforementioned youngsters will apparently steal cameras, hats, and sunglasses if you do not keep a close eye on them. 
• And now pictures...