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80 %
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70.2 %
Usually responds within 7 days
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Details
Description
Hi, I am Fifi and I live in a small town nearby Ipoh surrounded by organic fruit trees/veggies/farm. Few year ago, I got really ill and my asthma got worse so I decided to start living a healthier lifestyle. I started planting a garden full of organic herbs/veggies. However, due to the amount of works I needed to maintain this garden (it's quite a large area), it has been nearly impossible to do it alone therefore I decided that I will need workawayers help.
I had also been planning a lot of other projects listed in my profile so I will be very grateful if anyone could help me with it.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
-TBH, my family is used to having my foreign friends staying at with us. They love to share their knowledge of Malay culture and treat everyone like a family. By the end of your stay, we hope you will be more familiar with Malay culture. You can also take this opportunity to tell us about your country and its culture (especially when the cafe is open because we will invite school kids to have cultural exchange for free).
-My mom own a woodworking workshop (currently our family main business) so if you're interested in such, you get to see how the workers hand-carved the woods and build a gazebo (among the many things). You can also try to experience carving if time fits schedule as the wood workers aren't available all the times.
-If you love gardening and prefer organic fruits/veggies, we can share knowledge and try to live a healthy lifestyle together. There is a kitchen garden so we can cook together everyday. If you are able to bring and share some seeds to plant for the garden, we are very happy to receive it.
-Personally, I love learning languages. Right now, I'm learning Mandarin (self-study) and revising Korean/Japanese (studied them back in university days) so if I could get any extra help for these languages, that would be awesome! And of course, I can help with Malay language if you're up for it~ ;)
Help
1. Simple task like planting trees/ veggies, water the garden, building compost area ..just about anything regarding permaculture and agriculture so if you have experience in this, you're much needed here. Basically this is the main focus right now.
2. We have a traditional Malay house (refer to main picture) in need of repairing and decoration. We plan to open a cafe/event space for cultural exchange between the locals and workawayers.
If you do not have any skills we needed (as mentioned above), you still can message us and maybe we can try to find something else for you to do =)
The help we needed vary from time to time, we will let you know when u arrived at our place.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Malay: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
I am learning Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese so if you only can stay to teach languages, I wouldn't really mind
Accommodation
[UPDATED 2022]
I AM BACK AFTER 2 YEARS!😅
PLEASE READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY!
-There is a tiny cabin for workawayers (+mattress and bedding). The cabin is ONLY for workawayers so it is your responsibility to keep it clean and tidy.
-ONLY lunch is provided and you will not be eating the same meal everyday as we want you to learn some Malay traditional dishes; we have a kitchen garden so we will eat meals together. In case you have any food allergies or need to cook yourself, let us know preferably BEFORE arrival. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, I can still cook according to your diet. However, please note that in case you want to cook for yourself using your own ingredients, you have to MAKE SURE it is Halal because we are a Malay Muslim family. (No pork, no alcohol etc). There is a shared fridge at the kitchen garden for everyone to use, however, as mentioned, alcohol and non-halal foodstuff are stricly NOT ALLOWED both inside the fridge and also at the kitchen.
-If you need to buy something, there is a 7-Eleven and other grocery stores nearby (5 minutes walk). A 24-hours laundry service shop is also available plus various chinese/malay restaurants within walking distance. On every Friday's night, there is a night market right outside the 7-Eleven shoplot. There is a new mall (Econsave) that just opened on July 2022 which is just about 3 minutes walk from the cabin.
-PLEASE please make sure you bring/wear decent/properly covered clothes while staying here because this area is still a village and most people here are Muslims.
- We have 10 cats and 2 dogs at the garden; during daytime the dog will not be around but at night they roams free (if u have allergy towards animals, it might be a little difficult)
- PLEASE bring earplugs if you are very sensitive towards sounds at nights. The cabin is right beside a busy road. There are many chickens here too. Also, birds and all nature sounds one can expect from a large garden.
- Weatherwise, it is hot and humid daytime meanwhile nighttime u can expect cooler weather. We will let you know the current weather for the time u are expected to come.
- If there are anything you aren't sure about, please ask us beforehand.
What else ...
-We can explore Ipoh together if I have free time. My younger brother is especially good with nature hunting (he has his own team exploring Perak state; hills, mountains, cave, waterfalls etc) and you can follow him whenever he has his expeditions. He is also interested in learning about outdoor/environmental related stuff so it will be nice if you can share your experiences/knowledge and maybe learn from each other.
-If you like river/waterfall, there is 2 nearby our place (bout 10min car drive). (picnic n family-friendly, not for rafting)
-The main bus terminal of Ipoh (Amanjaya) is 8km away. You can use bus (every one hour) and Grab to get around. Ipoh is famous for its cave temples, white coffee, oldtown and local foods. ;)
-In case you want to buy things that aren't available at the nearby shops, there is a new mall that just opened on July 2022, about 3 minute walk from our place. There are other malls like AEON which is 10 min by car.
-You can reach Penang and KL by bus/train in few hours and spend your day off there too. Cameron Highlands is another popular tourist spot nearby; it's even doable for daytrip.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
4 hours, 5 days
Feedback (14)
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.6)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(4.7)
The hut you sleep in is very basic, and you won't get much sleep without a pair of earplugs as it is right beside the… read more
even though i didn’t have any gardening experience at all, fifi teached me lots of new things. some… read more
The work I was given was very flexible and free, allowing me to work on the project throughout my stay. The family even took care of me when I started feeling unwell, giving me foods and… read more
She was also super friendly and always smiling whenever she talked to my family. She helped built a flower garden and picnic area. We also managed to have a road trip together during off day.
With her around, I am… read more
We had a great time as well setting a garden plot and… read more
The precious thing as a workaway, is you asked for something at the beginning : explaining the general need and then you let… read more
If you… read more
It's not possible to mention ALL the great things about her so its better for the… read more
Anyway, jokes aside, theyre truly amazing people that not only was helpful around the garden but also always so polite with their manners. I still remember our cooking classes and u can be sure i will be making the perfect version of the magic noodles in the future for u guys!
I stayed the garden for one week. Fifi and her family are so kind, and they have a lot of experience living with foreign people.
This is my first workaway, but thanks to them, I was able to spend the time with peace of mind.
My main job was cleaning leaves and simple helping of… read more
Arigatou gozaimasu. We hope you can come back again… read more
We had a great time helping in the garden. Luckily we came during the rambutan season so we also had a chance to experience rambutan picking and selling.
Fifi is well prepared and knows what needs to be done so each day we had a different activity. The garden is full of… read more
