Oh dear, I am very behind on my blogging. Just the way it worked out this time I suppose.
So I guess this is the Xmas blog, so to speak. Yes, Christmas is celebrated in Malaysia and Singapore. The last time I was in Singapore the decorations were all over Orchard Road. See pics of the lovely Raffles hotel with their Xmas decorations.
My Xmas will be spent working as we don't have the day as a holiday this year due to the fact that someone didn't notice it is a national holiday in Malaysia. I guess "googling" national holidays in Malaysia never came up as an option.
It is the northeast monsoon season in Malaysia which affects the east coast although I have noticed it rains more, it is also generally cooler. Some days the big rain comes at night and the mornings can be glorious and almost cool with bright blue skies.
This morning walking to work I was amazed at how fresh it felt. Of course then you turn the corner and get the blast of exhaust in your face from a huge bus and a few minutes later you have to step over a manhole and sewer stink takes your breath away. Ah...life in an emerging nation in a big city. I've been listening to all the Xmas songs on my iPod it is a bit surreal being reminded about snow and cold when I am sweating.
It has been an interesting few weeks and I have been on the go with trips to Penang and Singpaore twice. Penang was very interesting and has the largest Chinatown outside of China. A good part of the island is rows and rows of shophouses selling everything you can imagine. I stayed in the E&O the Eastern and Oriental Hotel which is where Rudyard Kipling and lots of other famous writers used to stay. Penang is known as the Pearl of the Orient. The hotel is filld will all these old pictures and the history is quite impressive. I have a lovely suite room overlooking the Straits of Melaka. The food in Penang has a bit of different flare with some Chinese influence. The laksa is very yummy and very different than the Laksa in KL. It is flavoured with quite a bit of tamarind and much less coconut milk and so is tangy and not nearly as rich. Delicious!
I have finally found a lovely yoga studio in KL! I has really been great. I had no idea how much I missed regularly attending classes with a good teacher. The studio is an old house in the embassy area of KL. During class we are entertained by lots of different birds, geckos, and sometimes other creatures. The garden outside of the floor to ceiling windows is full of the most beautiful heliconia flowers you have ever seen. Sometimes I use the flower to focus on during standing poses.
I have attended a couple workshops as well as a breathing workshop. The Butekyo breathing method is quite a fascinating approach to breath and has many applications outside of its most famous application in the treatment of asthma. Like any "method or practice", I enjoy learning about it and then taking away what is useful to me.
So I'll be working today on some stuff for Singapore and then meeting my yoga teacher at the studio for some meditation and yoga. It is very flattering that my yoga teacher wants to learn from me so I am teaching her some Anusara priniciples and she will help me with my meditation. I need all the help I can get.
I'm off to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on the island of Borneo for the New Year. It will be 2009 in SE Asia well ahead of many other parts of world.
Happy Holidays!
Peace,
El
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/XmasInSing08#
A few pics of Singapore and all the Xmas decor. I was staying on a very high floor of the Swisshotel overlooking Marina bay.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Sailing Lessons, Batu Caves, Fireflies, Cherating
Sailing lessons, Hari Raya, Batu Caves, Fireflies, Cherating, South China Sea
Whirlwinds of fun the last couple weeks in and around KL. The pics are a bit out of sync as these are pics from my Bali trip to current taken with my little waterproof Olympus, a great camera for beach and sea but not the one I use most of the time.
My friends from the UK arrived and we had an excellent run of sampling all kinds of delicious food around KL. Yes, it is all about the food! We went to Kampung Baru, about a 10 min walk from my apartment several times. Kampung Baru is the last true "kampung" (village) within the city limits of KL. The area is filled with lots of delicious cheap food and during Ramadan and Raya season, there are tons of special booths dedicated to selling special Raya treats. I think BB was a bit less sure of all the unusual food types but CB was very adventurous in her tastes.
C and B were off to the Singapore Grand Prix over the weekend and I went to Port Dickson to take sailing lessons on the Straits of Melaka (or Malacca). It was great fun and I learned alot. We sailed on the 8 metre Miri Magic, a custom racing yacht. There is so much involved and I have decided I really want to keep learning about sailing. There is nothing quite like that feeling of the raised sails catching the wind and gliding off across the sea. The quiet is fantastic. We saw tons of flying fish and one huge sea turtle. There is lots of work involved as well. I had blisters on my hands from all the rope work. I stayed in a very nice hotel in Port Dickson and had one of those little bungalows on slilts over the water. There a big hole in the middle where you could look down to the water and the shower was outside. It was lovely. Port Dickson gets a bad rap in the guidebooks but I think they have made a big effort to improve things and that has not made it to the guidebooks yet. The small city maintained beach was very nice and being out on the Straits was fab!
C and B came back from S'pore on Monday night and did sight seeing about KL. Wednesday and Thursday were national holidays in Malaysia and took in lots of sights. First stop, Batu Caves just outside of KL. This is quite a spot and although quite touristy, is really a must see. The caves are natural formations in the limestone cliffs and there are TONS of macaques hanging about. One of the pics you see the monkeys lined up on the posts going up the steps. This is a particularly important site during the festival of Thaipusam, an important Hindu festival mainly for the Tamil community. The caves get all this natural light at different points in the day and it is really quite a site. Just had the little camera on this day but those statues are HUGE!!!
Then we headed off to see the Silver Leaf monkeys (second time for me), eat flower crab on the Selangor river and...drum roll...see the Kuala Selangor Fireflies. I think this is one of the most fascinating natural things I have ever seen. The river itself is very cloudy and has these HUGE tidal variations. Right about dusk the river starts to rise and comes up almost 1 metre in about 30 minutes. Once it is dark and the river is up, these interesting little river boats take curious tourists down the river in the pitch dark. The rower stands up while rowing. You travel down the river and once in the midst of the Berembang trees (a type of mangrove), you feel as if you are in the midst of Xmas trees all lit up with Xmas lights. In this case, the lights are the fireflies. We were very lucky in that there had been a big downpour of rain that afternoon and the evening had cleared up to be quite lovely. There were 1000s and 1000s of fireflies and the males flash in unison. The fireflies only light on these certain kinds of trees and no one really knows why they always come back to this one spot. This is supposed be the largest known firefly colony. The Selangor river also has the reputation of having fresh water crocodiles, but we didn't see any of them but made me very sure I didn't want to take any chances of falling in the river.
The other day of the holiday we headed over to the east coast of Malaysia and the little beach town of Cherating. Thanks to Bob for being the driver as the first 90 min or so involved getting lost trying to get out of KL and then driving up and over one of the mountain ranges. We hung out on the beach and swam in the South China sea. We tried to go to the turtle sanctuary but they were closed for the holiday.
I had a great time with C&B and was sad to see them go. My apartment is perfectly suited to having visitors as it is spacious enough to accomodate others without feeling like you are on top of each other.
Happy trails to you....until we meet again.
Whirlwinds of fun the last couple weeks in and around KL. The pics are a bit out of sync as these are pics from my Bali trip to current taken with my little waterproof Olympus, a great camera for beach and sea but not the one I use most of the time.
My friends from the UK arrived and we had an excellent run of sampling all kinds of delicious food around KL. Yes, it is all about the food! We went to Kampung Baru, about a 10 min walk from my apartment several times. Kampung Baru is the last true "kampung" (village) within the city limits of KL. The area is filled with lots of delicious cheap food and during Ramadan and Raya season, there are tons of special booths dedicated to selling special Raya treats. I think BB was a bit less sure of all the unusual food types but CB was very adventurous in her tastes.
C and B were off to the Singapore Grand Prix over the weekend and I went to Port Dickson to take sailing lessons on the Straits of Melaka (or Malacca). It was great fun and I learned alot. We sailed on the 8 metre Miri Magic, a custom racing yacht. There is so much involved and I have decided I really want to keep learning about sailing. There is nothing quite like that feeling of the raised sails catching the wind and gliding off across the sea. The quiet is fantastic. We saw tons of flying fish and one huge sea turtle. There is lots of work involved as well. I had blisters on my hands from all the rope work. I stayed in a very nice hotel in Port Dickson and had one of those little bungalows on slilts over the water. There a big hole in the middle where you could look down to the water and the shower was outside. It was lovely. Port Dickson gets a bad rap in the guidebooks but I think they have made a big effort to improve things and that has not made it to the guidebooks yet. The small city maintained beach was very nice and being out on the Straits was fab!
C and B came back from S'pore on Monday night and did sight seeing about KL. Wednesday and Thursday were national holidays in Malaysia and took in lots of sights. First stop, Batu Caves just outside of KL. This is quite a spot and although quite touristy, is really a must see. The caves are natural formations in the limestone cliffs and there are TONS of macaques hanging about. One of the pics you see the monkeys lined up on the posts going up the steps. This is a particularly important site during the festival of Thaipusam, an important Hindu festival mainly for the Tamil community. The caves get all this natural light at different points in the day and it is really quite a site. Just had the little camera on this day but those statues are HUGE!!!
Then we headed off to see the Silver Leaf monkeys (second time for me), eat flower crab on the Selangor river and...drum roll...see the Kuala Selangor Fireflies. I think this is one of the most fascinating natural things I have ever seen. The river itself is very cloudy and has these HUGE tidal variations. Right about dusk the river starts to rise and comes up almost 1 metre in about 30 minutes. Once it is dark and the river is up, these interesting little river boats take curious tourists down the river in the pitch dark. The rower stands up while rowing. You travel down the river and once in the midst of the Berembang trees (a type of mangrove), you feel as if you are in the midst of Xmas trees all lit up with Xmas lights. In this case, the lights are the fireflies. We were very lucky in that there had been a big downpour of rain that afternoon and the evening had cleared up to be quite lovely. There were 1000s and 1000s of fireflies and the males flash in unison. The fireflies only light on these certain kinds of trees and no one really knows why they always come back to this one spot. This is supposed be the largest known firefly colony. The Selangor river also has the reputation of having fresh water crocodiles, but we didn't see any of them but made me very sure I didn't want to take any chances of falling in the river.
The other day of the holiday we headed over to the east coast of Malaysia and the little beach town of Cherating. Thanks to Bob for being the driver as the first 90 min or so involved getting lost trying to get out of KL and then driving up and over one of the mountain ranges. We hung out on the beach and swam in the South China sea. We tried to go to the turtle sanctuary but they were closed for the holiday.
I had a great time with C&B and was sad to see them go. My apartment is perfectly suited to having visitors as it is spacious enough to accomodate others without feeling like you are on top of each other.
Happy trails to you....until we meet again.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monkeys, Mooncakes, and Mantras
The M's have it and keep coming back in my life to show me all kinds of interesting new things.
The Silver Leaf Monkeys of Kuala Selangor, more specifically Melawati Hill. I can't seem to find a specific reference to their grouping although it appears they represent a type of primate monkey unique in the swamp or mangrove habitats. This is something I've been wanted to do for awhile, i.e. get closer to wild monkeys, and was able to do it a couple weekends ago. Melawati Hill is outside of Kuala Lumpur in the state of Selangor and is on the boarder of huge mangrove forests on the west coast of penisular Malaysia. Melawati Hill is now somewhat of a tourist attraction as the monkeys migrate through here on daily basis.
They are incredibly gentle and yet the chaos and excitement of a free food handout has enabled a bit of agression among the large males. The park rangers assist by providing green beans as appropriate treats and discouraging aggression between monkeys. The most amazing thing was the orange babies! It must have been birthing season as there were quite a few babies. If they aren't the cutest thing ever!
I had the pleasure of staying at friend's house in a rural area about 1 hour from Kuala Lumpur. The area is surrounded by huge palm oil plantations and the biggest orchid farm you can imagine. I have never seen so many varieties of orchids. Really gorgeous. And speaking of gorgeous, check out my friend's house! The house is made from a special type of Malaysian hardwood that is used to make boats and the house is fit together without nails on the main beams, it is all a series of pegs holding the beams in place. The grounds are an amazing mixture of gorgeous plants and trees as well as a lotus and fish pond. The mixture attracts all kinds of birds and occasionally some other interesting animals like cobras, civets, and armadillos. I was happy just to see all the gorgeous birds including lots of hummingbirds.
Also went down to the river estuary area of Kuala Selangor where you can sit at a riverfront restaurant and eat yummy crabs. They had several different varieties of crab, I had the big mud crab again. YUM!!! This is the area where the huge firefly colony is, but alas, was raining was no fireflies today.
Spent another week in Singapore working on various sales opps and stayed over the weekend for a wedding. CS is one of my associates in Singapore and attending her wedding was a real treat. It was a typical Singaporean wedding including the wearing of two dresses. We also had a 10 course meal! The wedding occurred on on the Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōng qiū jié), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. The Chinese Lantern Festival is held on the 15th day of the first lunar month which happened to be 14SEP08 this year.
I had my first taste of mooncakes, which are actually the precursor to what became the fortune cookie in the US. Mooncakes are quite a mixture now and all have a simple message, in the form of a Chinese character, usually saying something about health, good fortune, and happiness on top of the cake. The traditional mooncake is filled with lotus paste made from the seeds of the lotus flower and very difficult and time consuming to make. The center also includes a salted egg yolk and outside is a pastry of sorts. My favourite type was the snow skin (no pastry) variety with durian filling. YUM!!! So here's the deal with durian, all you westerners with your love of stinky cheese, you love stinky cheese, why can't you love a stinky fruit? Once you think of that way, you won't be able to resist the silky, creamy, and custard like flesh of the durian. It is delicious!
I went to the Chinese opera in Singapore and really enjoyed The Feast of Han Xizai which is based on a 1000 year old Tang Dynasty painting. It was reallly lovely with lots of dancing and music but very little singing. The music was nanyin, which is a imperial court style of music that is rarely performed. The women played a type of drum and changed the tone with their feet. The costumes were designed by the guy that did Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Very enjoyable way to spend an evening. The Esplanade theatre looks like a giant durian!
Last word on small world/big world ideas. In the course of the mania that is my Inbox, I received an email about my 30th high school reunion. I replied that I would not be attending but wished those in attendance all the best. So then I receive an email while in Singapore from WM, the only member of our class to attend Harvard and super smart and interesting guy. I knew he pretty much disappeared after college as a member of the foreign service. So this email says, "hi from Singapore", what? I almost fell off my chair. Anyway, I met up with WM, his lovely wife, and two of his three daughters the next night in Singapore for dinner. We had a lovely time talking about all of our travels and where our lives have gone over the last 30 years. Pretty amazing stuff, eh?
OM Sri Ganeshaya Namah
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/KualaSelangorAndSilverLeafMonkeys
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/CarolynSWeddingMoonfest08
The Silver Leaf Monkeys of Kuala Selangor, more specifically Melawati Hill. I can't seem to find a specific reference to their grouping although it appears they represent a type of primate monkey unique in the swamp or mangrove habitats. This is something I've been wanted to do for awhile, i.e. get closer to wild monkeys, and was able to do it a couple weekends ago. Melawati Hill is outside of Kuala Lumpur in the state of Selangor and is on the boarder of huge mangrove forests on the west coast of penisular Malaysia. Melawati Hill is now somewhat of a tourist attraction as the monkeys migrate through here on daily basis.
They are incredibly gentle and yet the chaos and excitement of a free food handout has enabled a bit of agression among the large males. The park rangers assist by providing green beans as appropriate treats and discouraging aggression between monkeys. The most amazing thing was the orange babies! It must have been birthing season as there were quite a few babies. If they aren't the cutest thing ever!
I had the pleasure of staying at friend's house in a rural area about 1 hour from Kuala Lumpur. The area is surrounded by huge palm oil plantations and the biggest orchid farm you can imagine. I have never seen so many varieties of orchids. Really gorgeous. And speaking of gorgeous, check out my friend's house! The house is made from a special type of Malaysian hardwood that is used to make boats and the house is fit together without nails on the main beams, it is all a series of pegs holding the beams in place. The grounds are an amazing mixture of gorgeous plants and trees as well as a lotus and fish pond. The mixture attracts all kinds of birds and occasionally some other interesting animals like cobras, civets, and armadillos. I was happy just to see all the gorgeous birds including lots of hummingbirds.
Also went down to the river estuary area of Kuala Selangor where you can sit at a riverfront restaurant and eat yummy crabs. They had several different varieties of crab, I had the big mud crab again. YUM!!! This is the area where the huge firefly colony is, but alas, was raining was no fireflies today.
Spent another week in Singapore working on various sales opps and stayed over the weekend for a wedding. CS is one of my associates in Singapore and attending her wedding was a real treat. It was a typical Singaporean wedding including the wearing of two dresses. We also had a 10 course meal! The wedding occurred on on the Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōng qiū jié), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. The Chinese Lantern Festival is held on the 15th day of the first lunar month which happened to be 14SEP08 this year.
I had my first taste of mooncakes, which are actually the precursor to what became the fortune cookie in the US. Mooncakes are quite a mixture now and all have a simple message, in the form of a Chinese character, usually saying something about health, good fortune, and happiness on top of the cake. The traditional mooncake is filled with lotus paste made from the seeds of the lotus flower and very difficult and time consuming to make. The center also includes a salted egg yolk and outside is a pastry of sorts. My favourite type was the snow skin (no pastry) variety with durian filling. YUM!!! So here's the deal with durian, all you westerners with your love of stinky cheese, you love stinky cheese, why can't you love a stinky fruit? Once you think of that way, you won't be able to resist the silky, creamy, and custard like flesh of the durian. It is delicious!
I went to the Chinese opera in Singapore and really enjoyed The Feast of Han Xizai which is based on a 1000 year old Tang Dynasty painting. It was reallly lovely with lots of dancing and music but very little singing. The music was nanyin, which is a imperial court style of music that is rarely performed. The women played a type of drum and changed the tone with their feet. The costumes were designed by the guy that did Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Very enjoyable way to spend an evening. The Esplanade theatre looks like a giant durian!
Last word on small world/big world ideas. In the course of the mania that is my Inbox, I received an email about my 30th high school reunion. I replied that I would not be attending but wished those in attendance all the best. So then I receive an email while in Singapore from WM, the only member of our class to attend Harvard and super smart and interesting guy. I knew he pretty much disappeared after college as a member of the foreign service. So this email says, "hi from Singapore", what? I almost fell off my chair. Anyway, I met up with WM, his lovely wife, and two of his three daughters the next night in Singapore for dinner. We had a lovely time talking about all of our travels and where our lives have gone over the last 30 years. Pretty amazing stuff, eh?
OM Sri Ganeshaya Namah
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/KualaSelangorAndSilverLeafMonkeys
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/CarolynSWeddingMoonfest08
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Bali
Bali Hai
Wow, I have so much to say, not sure where to begin the journal of my fantastic travels in the beautiful country of Indonesia, specifically on the island of Bali.
I left KL on 22AUG and had my first experience with AirAsia, the discount airline in SE Asia. It was fine, particulary since I had the good sense to pay a bit extra for express boarding. One thing I don't understand about the discount carriers now is that they charge you extra for everything. I could care less about the food or drinks part, but the charges for bags is pretty crazy. I was charged extra both ways for a bag that weighed 19kg where Malaysia airlines allowed me a bag up to 32kg for free simply by being a member of their FF programme. At any rate, the flight did leave timely and arrived timely.
I have to say the approach to the landing strip in Denpasar is certainly one of the more dramatic I have seen and I've seen a lot of them. I believe the flight pattern from KL included flying over Borneo and certainly the turbulence and clouds would support that. Anyway, we finally emerged into clear skies and it is truly magical. Many, many islands all over the place and sparkling sea all around. The landing pattern took us right over the waves and sand to the airport.
So I splurged a bit on my room in Legian. Kuta is just as I thought it would be, very built up and very touristy. I stayed further down the beach in Legian at a lovely hotel called the Padma. I was lucky enough to have my room upgraded to a suite and it was HUGE!!! On my birthday I had a fab day of walking on the beach, playing in the waves, and hanging out under the umbrella enjoying the sound of the waves. The waves were perfect for body surfing and I managed to tire myself out quite well. I had intended to rent a boogie board but the waves were so fun for body surfing, I didn't. The Padma had an enormous pool which was very nice as well. I had planned to dress up and go out on the town for my birthday but as it ended up I just wandered not far from hotel and had some delicious Indonesian food which is quite similar to Malaysian food but the sambal is less spicy. Bintang beer is everywhere and is quite refreshing and tasty. My first night I had amazing garlic crab which was a big mud crab (similar to a Dungeness) and was spicy and delicious with lots of garlic to keep the mosquitoes away. A glass of wine, salad, and the big mud crab (about 0.75 kg) was a total of about $7 USD. Food is incredibly cheap and unlike Malaysia, beer is very inexpensive as well.
On Sunday morning I was picked up to go to Ubud and driven up into to hills of Bali. The drive up was really interesting where you pass all these different villages that do all kinds of handiwork including stone carving, wood carving, furniture making, silver works, and even kite making. I really wanted to stop and each one and see all the cool stuff they were working on. Arrived at Kumara Sakti, the location of my yoga and meditation retreat in the early afternoon. This place is really special! It is built down a slope with lots and lots of steps. My room was simply lovely and the grounds were really gorgeous. See pics as I will soon run out of adjectives to describe Bali.
The retreat week was really good with excellent meditation instruction. The yoga classes were OK, I would say our teacher's strength was her knowledge of meditation and chakras. We had a 100% silent day, no words spoken for a full 24 hours and also had a yoga class at the lookout to the two big volcanoes at sunrise. That was truly inspiring and special as the sun came out and you could actually see the volcanoes, a rare thing that they peek out from behind the clouds.
Bali has some typical 3rd world feel with lots of mangy dogs, trash, and things that are half built and/or half falling down. I suppose the tourist trade has brought certain things to the island but it seems it may have benefitted only a few. The shrines and temples are everywhere and I was in Bali during Galungan. Galungan is as the commemoration of the victory of "Dharma" (virtue) upon "Adharma" (evil) derived from the mythology "mayadewa" the demon king, when involved in a war against God Indra's troops. During the 10 day festival, penjors, tall bamboo-pole decorated with coconut's leaves and flowers, fruit, cakes etc, are on every house entrance and make a marvelous sight along the village roads throughout Bali.
We also went mountain biking, hiking, and had a wine tasting. See pics of penjors and the placenta cemetary. Most Balinese have unique ways of honouring the placenta and one village buries all the placentas in a special cemetary with the ashes inside a coconut. If the baby dies before it is one year old, the baby is also buried in this special cemetary. Some other villages keep the placenta ashes at their house for their entire life so that they can reunitied with it when they die. On the final day we had a cooking class by one of the chef's from a fancy restaurant in Ubud. We made VERY healthy food which was delicious but perhaps a bit complex and time consuming. My favourite was the starter made with jicama. I didn't think jicama was used outside of central American but there it was in Ubud. The vinegarette was so light and delicious...YUM! The chef said something really interesting that stuck with me: "I really prefer my dishes to have varied tastes while eating, I am bored if each bite of a dish tastes the same." I thought that was a very interesting sentiment for food and one which we honoured in the dishes we made.
I spent the last 2 days just chilling on the rural east coast of Bali and was enjoy to enjoy the lovely sound of the sea for a bit longer. The spectacle of the many jukungs out in the sea in the morning for catching fish is quite lovely. A jukung is a canoe with a sail and bamboo poles on either side for stability. See pics.
Back to KL just in time for the start of Ramadan. Can't wait to see all the special foods available for break-fast time. Should be a yummy month!
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/BaliAug08
Wow, I have so much to say, not sure where to begin the journal of my fantastic travels in the beautiful country of Indonesia, specifically on the island of Bali.
I left KL on 22AUG and had my first experience with AirAsia, the discount airline in SE Asia. It was fine, particulary since I had the good sense to pay a bit extra for express boarding. One thing I don't understand about the discount carriers now is that they charge you extra for everything. I could care less about the food or drinks part, but the charges for bags is pretty crazy. I was charged extra both ways for a bag that weighed 19kg where Malaysia airlines allowed me a bag up to 32kg for free simply by being a member of their FF programme. At any rate, the flight did leave timely and arrived timely.
I have to say the approach to the landing strip in Denpasar is certainly one of the more dramatic I have seen and I've seen a lot of them. I believe the flight pattern from KL included flying over Borneo and certainly the turbulence and clouds would support that. Anyway, we finally emerged into clear skies and it is truly magical. Many, many islands all over the place and sparkling sea all around. The landing pattern took us right over the waves and sand to the airport.
So I splurged a bit on my room in Legian. Kuta is just as I thought it would be, very built up and very touristy. I stayed further down the beach in Legian at a lovely hotel called the Padma. I was lucky enough to have my room upgraded to a suite and it was HUGE!!! On my birthday I had a fab day of walking on the beach, playing in the waves, and hanging out under the umbrella enjoying the sound of the waves. The waves were perfect for body surfing and I managed to tire myself out quite well. I had intended to rent a boogie board but the waves were so fun for body surfing, I didn't. The Padma had an enormous pool which was very nice as well. I had planned to dress up and go out on the town for my birthday but as it ended up I just wandered not far from hotel and had some delicious Indonesian food which is quite similar to Malaysian food but the sambal is less spicy. Bintang beer is everywhere and is quite refreshing and tasty. My first night I had amazing garlic crab which was a big mud crab (similar to a Dungeness) and was spicy and delicious with lots of garlic to keep the mosquitoes away. A glass of wine, salad, and the big mud crab (about 0.75 kg) was a total of about $7 USD. Food is incredibly cheap and unlike Malaysia, beer is very inexpensive as well.
On Sunday morning I was picked up to go to Ubud and driven up into to hills of Bali. The drive up was really interesting where you pass all these different villages that do all kinds of handiwork including stone carving, wood carving, furniture making, silver works, and even kite making. I really wanted to stop and each one and see all the cool stuff they were working on. Arrived at Kumara Sakti, the location of my yoga and meditation retreat in the early afternoon. This place is really special! It is built down a slope with lots and lots of steps. My room was simply lovely and the grounds were really gorgeous. See pics as I will soon run out of adjectives to describe Bali.
The retreat week was really good with excellent meditation instruction. The yoga classes were OK, I would say our teacher's strength was her knowledge of meditation and chakras. We had a 100% silent day, no words spoken for a full 24 hours and also had a yoga class at the lookout to the two big volcanoes at sunrise. That was truly inspiring and special as the sun came out and you could actually see the volcanoes, a rare thing that they peek out from behind the clouds.
Bali has some typical 3rd world feel with lots of mangy dogs, trash, and things that are half built and/or half falling down. I suppose the tourist trade has brought certain things to the island but it seems it may have benefitted only a few. The shrines and temples are everywhere and I was in Bali during Galungan. Galungan is as the commemoration of the victory of "Dharma" (virtue) upon "Adharma" (evil) derived from the mythology "mayadewa" the demon king, when involved in a war against God Indra's troops. During the 10 day festival, penjors, tall bamboo-pole decorated with coconut's leaves and flowers, fruit, cakes etc, are on every house entrance and make a marvelous sight along the village roads throughout Bali.
We also went mountain biking, hiking, and had a wine tasting. See pics of penjors and the placenta cemetary. Most Balinese have unique ways of honouring the placenta and one village buries all the placentas in a special cemetary with the ashes inside a coconut. If the baby dies before it is one year old, the baby is also buried in this special cemetary. Some other villages keep the placenta ashes at their house for their entire life so that they can reunitied with it when they die. On the final day we had a cooking class by one of the chef's from a fancy restaurant in Ubud. We made VERY healthy food which was delicious but perhaps a bit complex and time consuming. My favourite was the starter made with jicama. I didn't think jicama was used outside of central American but there it was in Ubud. The vinegarette was so light and delicious...YUM! The chef said something really interesting that stuck with me: "I really prefer my dishes to have varied tastes while eating, I am bored if each bite of a dish tastes the same." I thought that was a very interesting sentiment for food and one which we honoured in the dishes we made.
I spent the last 2 days just chilling on the rural east coast of Bali and was enjoy to enjoy the lovely sound of the sea for a bit longer. The spectacle of the many jukungs out in the sea in the morning for catching fish is quite lovely. A jukung is a canoe with a sail and bamboo poles on either side for stability. See pics.
Back to KL just in time for the start of Ramadan. Can't wait to see all the special foods available for break-fast time. Should be a yummy month!
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/BaliAug08
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
KL August 08
Has it been a month already? Oh my, what have I been doing? All work and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.
Let's see, I've been to Singapore again for work and have found a fab little boutique hotel to stay in called the Naumi. I finally ate chili crab in Singapore too. They are large crabs which are called mud crabs and look a bit like Dungeness crabs and taste delicious. You can eat the backfin and they typically are served in a chili sauce or black pepper sauce. I think everyone was a bit surprised at my crab eating prowess.
My biggest social excursion is now the Kopitiam Yut Kee on Sunday afternoons. What a fascinating way to spend Sunday afternoon. The Yut Kee is over 70 years old and has been owned by the same Chinese family the whole time. It is a hang out for people to sit and drink coffee or beer and eat yummy food. I have now been invited to join a group of men there who sit and chat on Sunday afternoons discussing everything from A to Z. It is really fun. A couple of the men are retired civil servants and one is a lawyer. That is really all I know. I am the token mat salleh of the group which is otherwise a mix of Malaysians of Chinese, Indian, and Orang Asli descent. They are really funny and I get to laugh and take in some real culture...LOVE IT!
I've been doing this detox diet in preparation for my Bail trip and today is day 3. It is pretty severe but the drinking TONs and TONs of water and having ZERO alcohol has definitely made a difference. At the moment I have a splitting headache and have decided the no caffeine bit is not for me. Anyway, it is only a four day thing and today is day 3 so I will finish it and feel detoxed...I'm sure. I know I must have gone to the loo at least 20 times yesterday so something is sure getting flushed out.
Pictures posted include more of Singapore, KL bird park (battery died early on), and Istana Budaya (concert hall in KL). The Bird Park is very interesting. It is in a huge netted area so you can walk around with the birds. There are tons of gorgeous big and little birds. I really love the aqua blue parrots of some sort. They were so cute. The same bird was also yellow and salmon coloured. Very cool. I went to the concert hall to see the national symphony perform. It was very nice, there was a violin and soprano soloist. They had a nice variety of pieces they played as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon
Two more days and I am off to Bali. YIPPEE!!! I am very excited! I'll be spending 2 days in Legian, the north end of Kuta beach, one of the most famous surfer beaches in the world, 5 days in Ubud at a yoga retreat, and the last two days in Candidasa on the east coast.
Namaste!
Let's see, I've been to Singapore again for work and have found a fab little boutique hotel to stay in called the Naumi. I finally ate chili crab in Singapore too. They are large crabs which are called mud crabs and look a bit like Dungeness crabs and taste delicious. You can eat the backfin and they typically are served in a chili sauce or black pepper sauce. I think everyone was a bit surprised at my crab eating prowess.
My biggest social excursion is now the Kopitiam Yut Kee on Sunday afternoons. What a fascinating way to spend Sunday afternoon. The Yut Kee is over 70 years old and has been owned by the same Chinese family the whole time. It is a hang out for people to sit and drink coffee or beer and eat yummy food. I have now been invited to join a group of men there who sit and chat on Sunday afternoons discussing everything from A to Z. It is really fun. A couple of the men are retired civil servants and one is a lawyer. That is really all I know. I am the token mat salleh of the group which is otherwise a mix of Malaysians of Chinese, Indian, and Orang Asli descent. They are really funny and I get to laugh and take in some real culture...LOVE IT!
I've been doing this detox diet in preparation for my Bail trip and today is day 3. It is pretty severe but the drinking TONs and TONs of water and having ZERO alcohol has definitely made a difference. At the moment I have a splitting headache and have decided the no caffeine bit is not for me. Anyway, it is only a four day thing and today is day 3 so I will finish it and feel detoxed...I'm sure. I know I must have gone to the loo at least 20 times yesterday so something is sure getting flushed out.
Pictures posted include more of Singapore, KL bird park (battery died early on), and Istana Budaya (concert hall in KL). The Bird Park is very interesting. It is in a huge netted area so you can walk around with the birds. There are tons of gorgeous big and little birds. I really love the aqua blue parrots of some sort. They were so cute. The same bird was also yellow and salmon coloured. Very cool. I went to the concert hall to see the national symphony perform. It was very nice, there was a violin and soprano soloist. They had a nice variety of pieces they played as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon
Two more days and I am off to Bali. YIPPEE!!! I am very excited! I'll be spending 2 days in Legian, the north end of Kuta beach, one of the most famous surfer beaches in the world, 5 days in Ubud at a yoga retreat, and the last two days in Candidasa on the east coast.
Namaste!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Terangganu and Lang Tengah
Travels to the NE islands of Malaysia.
Well, I've been fallen off the blog a bit the last few weeks and not because of a lack of desire to write. It has been a very busy few weeks with lots of work and fun.
On Monday June 30, the darling KW arrived from Dubai. She is lovely young Welsh lady who lives in London and preceded her visit with me by a visit to Dubai. Our plans to meet up at my apartment went smoothly and as I predicted. Taxi cabs do not understand where my building is but managed to get her across the street where we met up without a problem.
Wed afternoon we took off for Kuala Terangganu, a small city in the NE state of Terangganu. A gorgeous brand new airport, a nearly empty plane, and less than an hour from KL and we were there. We had a funky hotel in the center of town right across from the Masjid. Terannanu sits on a large estuary leading out to the south China sea. KW and I took off around town and found a lovely old Buddhist temple and a fairly large Chinatown. Of course, never lacking in the need to eat, we wandered around the waterfront and landed at a simple cafe where a roti chennai with chicken curry was 90 sent...yes, that is 15p or 30 cents. We also saw lots of Durian for sale.
After our wander I decided to go to see the Masjid. A really lovely Masjid with colonial style architecture. I was dressed very conservatively and had a large scarf to cover my head and decided to wander on in. Just as I entered, the evening prayers began with the muezzin starting the call to prayer. At first I felt a bit as if I was intruding but no one seemed to take notice, and luckily I was in the women's prayer area and decided to observe. The muezzin had quite a long call and it was really lovely to listen to within the Masjid. All the women were head to toe in white with some kneeling in prayer and others simply reading the Koran. A very beautiful and peaceful setting.
Thursday morning we were off to Lang Tengah, a small island just next to Redang (or Radang as it is also spelled) and across from the Perhentian Islands. We met the boat at the Merang jetty where there was quite a festive atmosphere and lots of folks getting on different boats to head out to the islands. Merang is one of three jetties that have boats heading out to NE islands. The ride out to Redang first was lovely if not a bit imposing due to the stormy looking skies. We arrived in Redang harbour and saw lots of gorgeous and colourful wooden boats. These boats are a huge part of the history and culture of Terangganu.
Our approach to Lang Tengah was frankly a bit like something out of Robinison Crusoe as the island is very small and very lush. One of the guys on the boat hit on KW on the way over as well. Always fun to have the estrogen laden maiden in tow, it attracts LOTS of attention. We later learned that there are only four resorts on the island, one is closed for renovation, one is brand new, Lang Sari (where we stayed), and Redang Land which appeared to be the main divers resort. We settled into our basic room and went out to explore the surroundings. Thick jungle all around and amazing fine white sand on the beaches. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen such fine white sand which is a result of the coral being pounded into sand instead of rocks being worn down. We soon sat down to a lovely simple lunch of fresh fish, rice, veggies, and beef curry.
Later that evening a huge storm hit the island. It was a little scary actually as we could see it approaching and sky became so dark and the wind picked up to the point of having the windchimes go sideways. The rain didn't hit for awhile but when it did it came down in buckets. KW and I were both hopeful that it would clear out overnight. The music of the storm kept going all night and poor KW didn't sleep too well. KW had also started what ended up being a weekend of bites. The mosquitoes LOVE her!!! We had a bit of an oddity with the room in that there was only one bed although I had expressly asked for 2 beds. So when it came time to sleep, I simply went into the room next to us and crashed. We asked the owner for another bed and never heard another word about it so I went and found my own bed.
Lots of wildlife on the island including huge monitor lizards, red squirrels, big grasshoppers with pink wings and a whole pile of baby hawkersbill turtles that the owner was keeping until they were big enough to let go without getting eaten. They were 6 days old when we arrived on the island and they expected to release them in 2 weeks. The whole idea is keep them until the shell gets quite hard so they are not easy prey.
Luckily the next morning the weather cleared and ended up being a gorgeous day. We went snorkelling right off the beach and what an underwater playground of activity. We saw a baby shark (about 1 meter in length) and tons of gorgeous colourful fish. Nemo and Dori were everywhere!!! The little nemo fish are so cute as they hide in the moving coral and jump in and out all the time. My favourite thing we saw that day was the huge leopard eel hiding under a big coral overhang. He was so pretty with big spots just like a leopard. Thinking about getting a little underwater compact for future snorkelling adventures.
The next day we were able to go to a few additional snorkelling spots by boat and saw a ton more colourful fish. The variety of colours and the depth of colour was really something to behold. So many variations of blue, turquoise, pink, orange, greens, and every colour of the rainbow. While travelling around the island we saw sea eagles and those parts of the water near the island that appear to be fluorescent. So gorgeous!!! I really think we were in what has to be one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. We were very sad to leave.
One more day in Setiu prior to returning to KL where we have the pleasure of staying at the The Aryani resort. This was my little suprise for KW and we both had lovely rooms in the middle of a little jungle santuary where we had a lovely dinner and superb Malay style massage in the spa area. There were lots of kitties around the resort of all colours and mostly very tiny and with the curled short tail. We had a very nice dinner in the restaurant and had the Nasa Doreng (sp?) for breakfast which is a regional specialty in Terangganu. It is made with tuna and some very interesting and unusual spices and served with the typical rice, fried egg, and cucumber. Delicious!
KW had a whirlwind last 2 days in KL and covered lots of sites, several that I haven't seen yet. She left last night to return to London. We had a great time and I am honoured to have had the time to spend with her. Safe travels KW!!!
My 4th of July was spent watching the sunset from Lang Tengah on the south China sea with my Welsh friend from London. Now that is pretty global!!!
Cheers!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kathwilsey/KathEllieKLTerengganu/
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/TerangganuAndLangTengah
Well, I've been fallen off the blog a bit the last few weeks and not because of a lack of desire to write. It has been a very busy few weeks with lots of work and fun.
On Monday June 30, the darling KW arrived from Dubai. She is lovely young Welsh lady who lives in London and preceded her visit with me by a visit to Dubai. Our plans to meet up at my apartment went smoothly and as I predicted. Taxi cabs do not understand where my building is but managed to get her across the street where we met up without a problem.
Wed afternoon we took off for Kuala Terangganu, a small city in the NE state of Terangganu. A gorgeous brand new airport, a nearly empty plane, and less than an hour from KL and we were there. We had a funky hotel in the center of town right across from the Masjid. Terannanu sits on a large estuary leading out to the south China sea. KW and I took off around town and found a lovely old Buddhist temple and a fairly large Chinatown. Of course, never lacking in the need to eat, we wandered around the waterfront and landed at a simple cafe where a roti chennai with chicken curry was 90 sent...yes, that is 15p or 30 cents. We also saw lots of Durian for sale.
After our wander I decided to go to see the Masjid. A really lovely Masjid with colonial style architecture. I was dressed very conservatively and had a large scarf to cover my head and decided to wander on in. Just as I entered, the evening prayers began with the muezzin starting the call to prayer. At first I felt a bit as if I was intruding but no one seemed to take notice, and luckily I was in the women's prayer area and decided to observe. The muezzin had quite a long call and it was really lovely to listen to within the Masjid. All the women were head to toe in white with some kneeling in prayer and others simply reading the Koran. A very beautiful and peaceful setting.
Thursday morning we were off to Lang Tengah, a small island just next to Redang (or Radang as it is also spelled) and across from the Perhentian Islands. We met the boat at the Merang jetty where there was quite a festive atmosphere and lots of folks getting on different boats to head out to the islands. Merang is one of three jetties that have boats heading out to NE islands. The ride out to Redang first was lovely if not a bit imposing due to the stormy looking skies. We arrived in Redang harbour and saw lots of gorgeous and colourful wooden boats. These boats are a huge part of the history and culture of Terangganu.
Our approach to Lang Tengah was frankly a bit like something out of Robinison Crusoe as the island is very small and very lush. One of the guys on the boat hit on KW on the way over as well. Always fun to have the estrogen laden maiden in tow, it attracts LOTS of attention. We later learned that there are only four resorts on the island, one is closed for renovation, one is brand new, Lang Sari (where we stayed), and Redang Land which appeared to be the main divers resort. We settled into our basic room and went out to explore the surroundings. Thick jungle all around and amazing fine white sand on the beaches. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen such fine white sand which is a result of the coral being pounded into sand instead of rocks being worn down. We soon sat down to a lovely simple lunch of fresh fish, rice, veggies, and beef curry.
Later that evening a huge storm hit the island. It was a little scary actually as we could see it approaching and sky became so dark and the wind picked up to the point of having the windchimes go sideways. The rain didn't hit for awhile but when it did it came down in buckets. KW and I were both hopeful that it would clear out overnight. The music of the storm kept going all night and poor KW didn't sleep too well. KW had also started what ended up being a weekend of bites. The mosquitoes LOVE her!!! We had a bit of an oddity with the room in that there was only one bed although I had expressly asked for 2 beds. So when it came time to sleep, I simply went into the room next to us and crashed. We asked the owner for another bed and never heard another word about it so I went and found my own bed.
Lots of wildlife on the island including huge monitor lizards, red squirrels, big grasshoppers with pink wings and a whole pile of baby hawkersbill turtles that the owner was keeping until they were big enough to let go without getting eaten. They were 6 days old when we arrived on the island and they expected to release them in 2 weeks. The whole idea is keep them until the shell gets quite hard so they are not easy prey.
Luckily the next morning the weather cleared and ended up being a gorgeous day. We went snorkelling right off the beach and what an underwater playground of activity. We saw a baby shark (about 1 meter in length) and tons of gorgeous colourful fish. Nemo and Dori were everywhere!!! The little nemo fish are so cute as they hide in the moving coral and jump in and out all the time. My favourite thing we saw that day was the huge leopard eel hiding under a big coral overhang. He was so pretty with big spots just like a leopard. Thinking about getting a little underwater compact for future snorkelling adventures.
The next day we were able to go to a few additional snorkelling spots by boat and saw a ton more colourful fish. The variety of colours and the depth of colour was really something to behold. So many variations of blue, turquoise, pink, orange, greens, and every colour of the rainbow. While travelling around the island we saw sea eagles and those parts of the water near the island that appear to be fluorescent. So gorgeous!!! I really think we were in what has to be one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. We were very sad to leave.
One more day in Setiu prior to returning to KL where we have the pleasure of staying at the The Aryani resort. This was my little suprise for KW and we both had lovely rooms in the middle of a little jungle santuary where we had a lovely dinner and superb Malay style massage in the spa area. There were lots of kitties around the resort of all colours and mostly very tiny and with the curled short tail. We had a very nice dinner in the restaurant and had the Nasa Doreng (sp?) for breakfast which is a regional specialty in Terangganu. It is made with tuna and some very interesting and unusual spices and served with the typical rice, fried egg, and cucumber. Delicious!
KW had a whirlwind last 2 days in KL and covered lots of sites, several that I haven't seen yet. She left last night to return to London. We had a great time and I am honoured to have had the time to spend with her. Safe travels KW!!!
My 4th of July was spent watching the sunset from Lang Tengah on the south China sea with my Welsh friend from London. Now that is pretty global!!!
Cheers!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kathwilsey/KathEllieKLTerengganu/
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/TerangganuAndLangTengah
Saturday, June 21, 2008
HKKL#8
I've spent the whole week in Singapore and was very focused on work but had the good fortune to be able to wander around the city a bit. Singapore is really interesting and has a very different feel than KL and Malaysia in general. I had a couple very funny experiences while there including questioning the very busy nightclub across the street from the Hilton. According to BL, the club is a haven for ladies of the night. Silly me, I thought that stuff only went on in the red light district of Singapore.
Singapore is very orderly and I find it fascinating that no one crosses the street unless the green ped light is on. In fact, my jaywalking tendencies could get me a Sing$500 fine as could drinking or eating on the MRT, littering, or chewing gum. Everyone has heard about the chewing gum thing but I am not certain that is really that big of a deal, just don't litter with your gum and don't expect to see it in the shops.
Singaporeans are 70% Chinese and sightings of the tudong are noticeably fewer than in Malaysia. To the opposite in fact where much of the style is quite minimalist with lots of hyper short miniskirts and tiny spaghetti strap tops. It is certainly a contrast from KL where at least half of the women are wearing karu barong and tudong.
Only a little over a week until my first visitor arrives and I am so looking forward to it. KW and I worked together on the project in London. We are going to be in the state of Terangganu for a few days including a trip to one or several of the islands. I certainly hope to have some amazing pics as the islands are supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I was very happy to return KL on Friday and found that the buzz of the week had left me quite exhausted. It was so nice to swim in my pool on Saturday and have a relaxing afternoon. The weather is a bit fickle at the moment with unusual thunderstorms in the morning and gorgeous clear afternoons that are not very hot. Then it can get very stuffy again late in the evening. There doesn't really seem to be any pattern so always a wise idea to be prepared for anything.
I would really like to open my windows but have concerns about the dust and there is plenty of that in KL. If my flat is cool in the evening, I tend to shut the air cond off at night which seems to be working pretty good.
Pics of the week, Singapore and henna hands....check them out!!!
CM, one of my coworkers based in Singapore did my hands. Are they awesome or what? I am certainly no hand model but just love the henna. I am going to do my own feet next. It was such a lovely experience having it done as well, almost a sort of meditation watching CM work with the henna. It dries into a bit of mud like paste and when the mud crumbles off, the lovely reddish stain is left. It is not customary in India to henna the whole body but I think it would be amazing!
Happy Soltice!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/HennaHands
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/SingaporeJune08
Singapore is very orderly and I find it fascinating that no one crosses the street unless the green ped light is on. In fact, my jaywalking tendencies could get me a Sing$500 fine as could drinking or eating on the MRT, littering, or chewing gum. Everyone has heard about the chewing gum thing but I am not certain that is really that big of a deal, just don't litter with your gum and don't expect to see it in the shops.
Singaporeans are 70% Chinese and sightings of the tudong are noticeably fewer than in Malaysia. To the opposite in fact where much of the style is quite minimalist with lots of hyper short miniskirts and tiny spaghetti strap tops. It is certainly a contrast from KL where at least half of the women are wearing karu barong and tudong.
Only a little over a week until my first visitor arrives and I am so looking forward to it. KW and I worked together on the project in London. We are going to be in the state of Terangganu for a few days including a trip to one or several of the islands. I certainly hope to have some amazing pics as the islands are supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I was very happy to return KL on Friday and found that the buzz of the week had left me quite exhausted. It was so nice to swim in my pool on Saturday and have a relaxing afternoon. The weather is a bit fickle at the moment with unusual thunderstorms in the morning and gorgeous clear afternoons that are not very hot. Then it can get very stuffy again late in the evening. There doesn't really seem to be any pattern so always a wise idea to be prepared for anything.
I would really like to open my windows but have concerns about the dust and there is plenty of that in KL. If my flat is cool in the evening, I tend to shut the air cond off at night which seems to be working pretty good.
Pics of the week, Singapore and henna hands....check them out!!!
CM, one of my coworkers based in Singapore did my hands. Are they awesome or what? I am certainly no hand model but just love the henna. I am going to do my own feet next. It was such a lovely experience having it done as well, almost a sort of meditation watching CM work with the henna. It dries into a bit of mud like paste and when the mud crumbles off, the lovely reddish stain is left. It is not customary in India to henna the whole body but I think it would be amazing!
Happy Soltice!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/HennaHands
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/SingaporeJune08
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Bukit Nanas and Brazil...:)
Should you write your blog late on a Sunday night? Why yes, of course you should.
Have I mentioned the bathrooms in Malayasia? Well no, I don't believe I have. The squat toilet is big here. I figure it is another chance to increase quad muscle tone, what the hey. Interesting that the squat toilets seem to be actual toilets where there is a flushing, not a hole in the groud like I experienced in Turkey in the 80's. So the other ubiquitious feature of the toilets is the hose, like a garden hose along side the toilet. I've realised this is not just for intimate cleansing but for washing of hands and feet for Muslim prayers. What a great idea! I've found various alternative uses for the hose in the bathroom. OK, get the mind out the gutter, I was talking about washing down the toilet bowl.
Bukit Nanas park, see pics. What the hey? This morning I was looking out my window and saw monkeys playing in the treetops of the nearby park. I hoped to see some while walking through the park but did not. What I did see was lots of interesting birds, lizards, and some squirrel like marmot type animals. I couldn't get pics as I was not fast enough. See amazing pics of "city in the jungle" landscape anyway.
What else? mmmmm....I sometimes don't understand things I see. Nothing new there, I don't understand lots of things and for those of you that might have one sided views of a Muslim country, let me correct you...or encourage you to look over your shoulder. In general, I find devout Muslims to be much more mainstream than most right wing Christian groups in the US. I recall wearing a veil to church as a child, so to me, the tudung means nothing but another symbol. It is also a huge opportunity for marketing as there must be a million headscarves for sale in KL. Sometimes I think there is something quite reverant about wearing it, especially when it is by free will and not because you are supposed to wear it.
Amazing breakfast at Yut Kee, a famous Chinese spot steps from my house. The best Kopitian yet and the most amazing Roti Babi, a sort of donut filled with pork, onions and spices and served with cucumber, tomato, and lettuce. How's that for breakfast?
I also had the opp to go to Bangsar this weekend. Why I went there in a moment but suffice to say this is old time expat KL. It kinda feels like Islington with all the outdoor restaurants on the sidewalks and lots of English style pubs. Tons of interesting boutiques and other shops. I saw my first full on Malaysian Hello Kitty store, unforunately it was closed as it was a holiday. I also found an amazing linen store where it took me two hours but I left with several full outfits made out of gorgeous 100% linen for a reasonable price.
Why I went to Bangsar? I went to Strip...the famous Singapore waxing chain...and yes, I did it....the Brazilian. Fantastic!!! GO FOR IT!!!
Cheers,
Ellie
Have I mentioned the bathrooms in Malayasia? Well no, I don't believe I have. The squat toilet is big here. I figure it is another chance to increase quad muscle tone, what the hey. Interesting that the squat toilets seem to be actual toilets where there is a flushing, not a hole in the groud like I experienced in Turkey in the 80's. So the other ubiquitious feature of the toilets is the hose, like a garden hose along side the toilet. I've realised this is not just for intimate cleansing but for washing of hands and feet for Muslim prayers. What a great idea! I've found various alternative uses for the hose in the bathroom. OK, get the mind out the gutter, I was talking about washing down the toilet bowl.
Bukit Nanas park, see pics. What the hey? This morning I was looking out my window and saw monkeys playing in the treetops of the nearby park. I hoped to see some while walking through the park but did not. What I did see was lots of interesting birds, lizards, and some squirrel like marmot type animals. I couldn't get pics as I was not fast enough. See amazing pics of "city in the jungle" landscape anyway.
What else? mmmmm....I sometimes don't understand things I see. Nothing new there, I don't understand lots of things and for those of you that might have one sided views of a Muslim country, let me correct you...or encourage you to look over your shoulder. In general, I find devout Muslims to be much more mainstream than most right wing Christian groups in the US. I recall wearing a veil to church as a child, so to me, the tudung means nothing but another symbol. It is also a huge opportunity for marketing as there must be a million headscarves for sale in KL. Sometimes I think there is something quite reverant about wearing it, especially when it is by free will and not because you are supposed to wear it.
Amazing breakfast at Yut Kee, a famous Chinese spot steps from my house. The best Kopitian yet and the most amazing Roti Babi, a sort of donut filled with pork, onions and spices and served with cucumber, tomato, and lettuce. How's that for breakfast?
I also had the opp to go to Bangsar this weekend. Why I went there in a moment but suffice to say this is old time expat KL. It kinda feels like Islington with all the outdoor restaurants on the sidewalks and lots of English style pubs. Tons of interesting boutiques and other shops. I saw my first full on Malaysian Hello Kitty store, unforunately it was closed as it was a holiday. I also found an amazing linen store where it took me two hours but I left with several full outfits made out of gorgeous 100% linen for a reasonable price.
Why I went to Bangsar? I went to Strip...the famous Singapore waxing chain...and yes, I did it....the Brazilian. Fantastic!!! GO FOR IT!!!
Cheers,
Ellie
Sunday, May 25, 2008
HKKL#6
Malay weddings and fascinating food!
I had distinct pleasure of attending a traditional Malay wedding on Saturday. Well, not totally traditional as it was at the Putra World Trade Center and not in a kampung (traditional Malay village). It was about 500 people and lots of glitz and glamour. See pics to be posted later.
The traditional Malay weddings last about a week with different events including separate events for the family of the bride and the groom. The traditional dress is really lovely and in this case the colours were pink, white, and red. The groom was also wearing pink. Both bride and groom wear white for the marriage vows and then have other costumes for additional celebration events.
I wore a traditional baju kurung. The array of colours of the guests was awesome! Many women were also wearing the kebaya, which is another traditional form of dress associated with all of Malaysia but especially Melaka and Panang.
Got a new camera and it is great! Based on some research I did and the helpful advice of a photographer friend in UK (thanks LR), I opted for the DMC TZ5 or TZ15 (as it is known in Asia). It is a Panasonic with a Leica lens and is known for the best zoom in the compact camera arena. I thought about going for the DSLR but decided they are too heavy and complicated. I just wanted something simple that would take better pics than my other compact.
Yesterday I ventured to the Pasar Bukit Bintang also known as the Imbi Wet Market. I can't say I have ever seen anything quite like this and I have seen LOTS of interesting markets in my travels. It is a HUGE maze of stalls with piles of meats, vegetables and fruit. Tons of fresh fish, chicken, pork, and all the "parts" including gigantic piles of chicken feet. OK, seeing the live chickens right next to the cut up ones is part of eating meat, right? If you are going to eat it, you should know where it comes from and be willing to see it in all stages. I was really too overwhelmed to take pictures but will definitely do so the next time I go.
The market is a never ending maze of tight tables and once I had filled my trusty trolley (brought along from the UK), I headed back home to get all my goods put away. Among my purchases, a kilo of prawns for 18 RM (that's 3 pounds or 6 USD). Not only were these prawns superbly fresh, they had also been cleaned but left with the heads attached. Perfect! I made a big pot of shrimp broth from the heads and some left over veggies in my fridge. I also bought something that looked like clams but after cooking for some time, I could not get the shells to open. I am not sure if I did something wrong or what...anyway, I made some seafood broth from them so it's all good. Bought a bunch of interesting greens, chilis, and some a few other staples. Can you believe it? I'm cooking again and really enjoying it.
I was asked if I have had any food I didn't like. Well, I am getting braver all the time but there are a few things that are pretty scary. One day in the food court area of the building where our office is, I was walking around with SR to see what she was going to eat. At one of the stalls there was a curry with black chunks in it. SR was explaining all the other curries to me and told me that one was cow lungs...no thanks. I am not into organ meats, must be the nurse thing. If you know what some organs do, why would ever want to eat them?
Another untoward food event happened on Saturday while out and about in the little India market. I saw the little balls on a stick and I was expecting the banana fritters but it turned out to be some kind of chicken ball and tasted like lunch meat to me. I gave it to a little dog hanging out by a temple on the back streets of Little India. He seemed to appreciate it. Luckily this was balanced by finding a new delicious treat. After ditching the chicken balls I went to another very crowded stand and asked if the balls were banana and she said, "no, coconut"...and so I got 5 of them for 3 RM. Turns out they were these lucious little balls like donuts with a pile of spicy coconut inside. Delicious!!!
Big work week ahead with lots of activities related to a sales opportunity in Singapore, some consulting activities in KL, and ending the week with a team building event over the weekend in Melaka.
Cheers!
I had distinct pleasure of attending a traditional Malay wedding on Saturday. Well, not totally traditional as it was at the Putra World Trade Center and not in a kampung (traditional Malay village). It was about 500 people and lots of glitz and glamour. See pics to be posted later.
The traditional Malay weddings last about a week with different events including separate events for the family of the bride and the groom. The traditional dress is really lovely and in this case the colours were pink, white, and red. The groom was also wearing pink. Both bride and groom wear white for the marriage vows and then have other costumes for additional celebration events.
I wore a traditional baju kurung. The array of colours of the guests was awesome! Many women were also wearing the kebaya, which is another traditional form of dress associated with all of Malaysia but especially Melaka and Panang.
Got a new camera and it is great! Based on some research I did and the helpful advice of a photographer friend in UK (thanks LR), I opted for the DMC TZ5 or TZ15 (as it is known in Asia). It is a Panasonic with a Leica lens and is known for the best zoom in the compact camera arena. I thought about going for the DSLR but decided they are too heavy and complicated. I just wanted something simple that would take better pics than my other compact.
Yesterday I ventured to the Pasar Bukit Bintang also known as the Imbi Wet Market. I can't say I have ever seen anything quite like this and I have seen LOTS of interesting markets in my travels. It is a HUGE maze of stalls with piles of meats, vegetables and fruit. Tons of fresh fish, chicken, pork, and all the "parts" including gigantic piles of chicken feet. OK, seeing the live chickens right next to the cut up ones is part of eating meat, right? If you are going to eat it, you should know where it comes from and be willing to see it in all stages. I was really too overwhelmed to take pictures but will definitely do so the next time I go.
The market is a never ending maze of tight tables and once I had filled my trusty trolley (brought along from the UK), I headed back home to get all my goods put away. Among my purchases, a kilo of prawns for 18 RM (that's 3 pounds or 6 USD). Not only were these prawns superbly fresh, they had also been cleaned but left with the heads attached. Perfect! I made a big pot of shrimp broth from the heads and some left over veggies in my fridge. I also bought something that looked like clams but after cooking for some time, I could not get the shells to open. I am not sure if I did something wrong or what...anyway, I made some seafood broth from them so it's all good. Bought a bunch of interesting greens, chilis, and some a few other staples. Can you believe it? I'm cooking again and really enjoying it.
I was asked if I have had any food I didn't like. Well, I am getting braver all the time but there are a few things that are pretty scary. One day in the food court area of the building where our office is, I was walking around with SR to see what she was going to eat. At one of the stalls there was a curry with black chunks in it. SR was explaining all the other curries to me and told me that one was cow lungs...no thanks. I am not into organ meats, must be the nurse thing. If you know what some organs do, why would ever want to eat them?
Another untoward food event happened on Saturday while out and about in the little India market. I saw the little balls on a stick and I was expecting the banana fritters but it turned out to be some kind of chicken ball and tasted like lunch meat to me. I gave it to a little dog hanging out by a temple on the back streets of Little India. He seemed to appreciate it. Luckily this was balanced by finding a new delicious treat. After ditching the chicken balls I went to another very crowded stand and asked if the balls were banana and she said, "no, coconut"...and so I got 5 of them for 3 RM. Turns out they were these lucious little balls like donuts with a pile of spicy coconut inside. Delicious!!!
Big work week ahead with lots of activities related to a sales opportunity in Singapore, some consulting activities in KL, and ending the week with a team building event over the weekend in Melaka.
Cheers!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monkeys, monks, massages and mayhem
Monkeys, monks, massages and mayhem!!!
Seemed like the right name for the blog this week. What a ride!!!
It all started with my idea to rent a car to drive to Johor Bahru for work last week. I knew it would be a quite a long drive but figured I could capitalise on the opportunity and have a car for some weekend exploring.
The nearly four hour drive to JB was actually very easy. The freeways in MY are excellent and they should be as there as lots of tolls along the way. Not too far out of KL there are lots of winding hills and soon you are among a mixture of rainforest and palm plantations.
Getting to the hospital on Thursday was not quite as easy as it was the week before when I took a taxi (teksi in Bahasa). Luckily I didn't go too far out of the way before realising something was not right. I took a very interesting detour through suburbia in MY. I finally made it to my destination and had a good day although left a bit later than I had planned.
I had a reservation in Melaka at a little boutique hotel I read about in one of my books. So hear I am imagining Melaka as some sleepy little port town. Well...not so much. Due to my leaving JB a bit late it was quite dark when I reached Melaka. It is quite a big town and all streets are one way. I saw a whole area of British looking pubs, another area I read about but I was not in a mood for a pub and just wanted to find my hotel. A very nice concierge at the Holiday Inn was kind enough to let me follow him to my hotel in Jonker Walk area. This is the VERY old part of Melaka and is full of history.
When I went outside in the morning, I almost felt like I was in China. Lots and lots of Chinese culture and history in this area. I spent hours looking through the shops including lots of antique shops with amazing old furniture, dishes, chandeliers, and about everything else you can imagine.
Lunch at a typical rice ball shop included delicious sliced BBQ'd pork with glutinous rice balls, broth, and a pile of green sauteed veggies. A small bowl of chilies and garlic is served on the side. YUM!!! Cheapest beer I've had in MY so far. After lunch I went to the history museum and art museum. This area of the world has tons of history with the Dutch, Portuguese, British, and Chinese all playing a role and wanting control of the Straits of Malacca (named by the Portuguese...I think).
It was VERY hot and the history museum was huge and not air conditioned so I decided to head back towards my hotel. I found a lovely little pub on the river and decided to sit outside and have a beer. While sitting there enjoying my beer, I thought I was looking at scene that I could have seen in many places...but wait...not quite. Here comes a river cruise boat and it is filled with monks...all in their bright orange robes. One of the monks waves and give me a big smile. A few minutes later a see a large brown thing in the river. I thought perhaps it was trash but on closer observation, it is a HUGE lizard of some sort. It was easily 3 or 4 feet long and he was just cruising around checking things out. OK, I am DEFINITELY in a different part of the world.
Saturday morning I set off for Port Dickson, a beach town about an hour and a half from KL. I decided to take the back way...yes, I know what some of you are thinking...I survived with only a few more grey hairs. Some of the little roads I was on were just as you would imagine. Nothing for miles but forest and twisty, turning craziness. Every once in awhile I would take another little side road find a gorgeous bungalow tucked away in the forest. At times I know I was quite close to the ocean as well. It was somewhere around this time that I realised the air conditioner had stopped working and it was VERY hot. So there I was rambling along the countryside with the windows all the wayt down and suddenly I see something moving on the side of road. Monkeys!!! Not just one, a whole dang family and they wanted to cross the road and the Mom was literally screaming at me. It was as if she just dropped out of the trees right along the road in front of me. I stopped and watched while Mom and four baby monkeys crossed the road. OMG!!! How cool is that?
Decided to spend Sunday and Monday in the highlands. I didn't have the energy for lots more driving so ended up in the Genting Highlands which are only about an hour from KL. The hotel was a bit odd as it was a French themed thing that seemed was in need of updates. The amazing thing was there is this Japanese themed botanical garden and spa that are absolutely lovely. I booked this special internet deal to get a suite, dinner, breakfast, and massage package for about 150 GBP ($300). The area is up in the rainforest and the cool air felt great. My massage package started with a lovely foot bath and scrub, followed by onsen shower, and finally a wonderful massage. One of the best massages I have ever had and my skin was so smooth from the onsen shower. My adorable therapist starting crying when I gave her a tip. Just check out the pics...
I also stumbled upon a lovely little village full of yummy Chinese restaurants where I had some great Kway teow which is rice noodles which in this case were stir fried with veggies, pork, and prawns, then mixed in with eggs and broth. Kind of like a big yummy bowl of soupy pad thai...YUM!! Again, served with bowls of chilies and garlic on the side. A huge bowl kway teow, a side of green veggies, and some iced jasmine tea set me back 8 ringgit.
The mayhem stems from some of crazy driving experiences throughout the weekend. No air conditioning, trying to read a map and drive, wrong exits, going around in circles, and few other things. None the worse for wear, I have learned lots and had a fantastic time doing it. As I sit here looking up at the KL Tower with the glow of the full moon just beside it, I know I am very lucky indeed.
Happy Wesak Day!
Pics for the week:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/GentingHighlands_MY08
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/MY_Melaka
Seemed like the right name for the blog this week. What a ride!!!
It all started with my idea to rent a car to drive to Johor Bahru for work last week. I knew it would be a quite a long drive but figured I could capitalise on the opportunity and have a car for some weekend exploring.
The nearly four hour drive to JB was actually very easy. The freeways in MY are excellent and they should be as there as lots of tolls along the way. Not too far out of KL there are lots of winding hills and soon you are among a mixture of rainforest and palm plantations.
Getting to the hospital on Thursday was not quite as easy as it was the week before when I took a taxi (teksi in Bahasa). Luckily I didn't go too far out of the way before realising something was not right. I took a very interesting detour through suburbia in MY. I finally made it to my destination and had a good day although left a bit later than I had planned.
I had a reservation in Melaka at a little boutique hotel I read about in one of my books. So hear I am imagining Melaka as some sleepy little port town. Well...not so much. Due to my leaving JB a bit late it was quite dark when I reached Melaka. It is quite a big town and all streets are one way. I saw a whole area of British looking pubs, another area I read about but I was not in a mood for a pub and just wanted to find my hotel. A very nice concierge at the Holiday Inn was kind enough to let me follow him to my hotel in Jonker Walk area. This is the VERY old part of Melaka and is full of history.
When I went outside in the morning, I almost felt like I was in China. Lots and lots of Chinese culture and history in this area. I spent hours looking through the shops including lots of antique shops with amazing old furniture, dishes, chandeliers, and about everything else you can imagine.
Lunch at a typical rice ball shop included delicious sliced BBQ'd pork with glutinous rice balls, broth, and a pile of green sauteed veggies. A small bowl of chilies and garlic is served on the side. YUM!!! Cheapest beer I've had in MY so far. After lunch I went to the history museum and art museum. This area of the world has tons of history with the Dutch, Portuguese, British, and Chinese all playing a role and wanting control of the Straits of Malacca (named by the Portuguese...I think).
It was VERY hot and the history museum was huge and not air conditioned so I decided to head back towards my hotel. I found a lovely little pub on the river and decided to sit outside and have a beer. While sitting there enjoying my beer, I thought I was looking at scene that I could have seen in many places...but wait...not quite. Here comes a river cruise boat and it is filled with monks...all in their bright orange robes. One of the monks waves and give me a big smile. A few minutes later a see a large brown thing in the river. I thought perhaps it was trash but on closer observation, it is a HUGE lizard of some sort. It was easily 3 or 4 feet long and he was just cruising around checking things out. OK, I am DEFINITELY in a different part of the world.
Saturday morning I set off for Port Dickson, a beach town about an hour and a half from KL. I decided to take the back way...yes, I know what some of you are thinking...I survived with only a few more grey hairs. Some of the little roads I was on were just as you would imagine. Nothing for miles but forest and twisty, turning craziness. Every once in awhile I would take another little side road find a gorgeous bungalow tucked away in the forest. At times I know I was quite close to the ocean as well. It was somewhere around this time that I realised the air conditioner had stopped working and it was VERY hot. So there I was rambling along the countryside with the windows all the wayt down and suddenly I see something moving on the side of road. Monkeys!!! Not just one, a whole dang family and they wanted to cross the road and the Mom was literally screaming at me. It was as if she just dropped out of the trees right along the road in front of me. I stopped and watched while Mom and four baby monkeys crossed the road. OMG!!! How cool is that?
Decided to spend Sunday and Monday in the highlands. I didn't have the energy for lots more driving so ended up in the Genting Highlands which are only about an hour from KL. The hotel was a bit odd as it was a French themed thing that seemed was in need of updates. The amazing thing was there is this Japanese themed botanical garden and spa that are absolutely lovely. I booked this special internet deal to get a suite, dinner, breakfast, and massage package for about 150 GBP ($300). The area is up in the rainforest and the cool air felt great. My massage package started with a lovely foot bath and scrub, followed by onsen shower, and finally a wonderful massage. One of the best massages I have ever had and my skin was so smooth from the onsen shower. My adorable therapist starting crying when I gave her a tip. Just check out the pics...
I also stumbled upon a lovely little village full of yummy Chinese restaurants where I had some great Kway teow which is rice noodles which in this case were stir fried with veggies, pork, and prawns, then mixed in with eggs and broth. Kind of like a big yummy bowl of soupy pad thai...YUM!! Again, served with bowls of chilies and garlic on the side. A huge bowl kway teow, a side of green veggies, and some iced jasmine tea set me back 8 ringgit.
The mayhem stems from some of crazy driving experiences throughout the weekend. No air conditioning, trying to read a map and drive, wrong exits, going around in circles, and few other things. None the worse for wear, I have learned lots and had a fantastic time doing it. As I sit here looking up at the KL Tower with the glow of the full moon just beside it, I know I am very lucky indeed.
Happy Wesak Day!
Pics for the week:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/GentingHighlands_MY08
http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/MY_Melaka
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
HKKL#4
HKKL#4
So much better to write in the morning. My mind works much better in the morning. I have quite a nice home yoga practice in the morning now as I have not had the time to check out studios yet. Normally when I get up I hear the call to prayer at the mosque...5:30 a.m. It is a lovely time of day.
Last week I went to Johor Bahru, the southernmost city in Malaysia and right across the bridge from Singapore. I had the pleasure of escorting a UK doctor with me who was visiting KL for a conference. We went to visit a hospital which is nearly paperless and is very impressive for all of the work they have done to get their EMR is place. I am loving my job here so far and keep seeing additional opportunity everywhere I look.
OK, enough about work...more about food. Saturday I spent all day walking around Little India smack in the middle of the Saturday market. Oh my goodness, the food!!! The fried bananas that come in all these different forms are delicious. Each stand has subtle little differences. My favourites are the ones that balls and made with cornmeal. The thing is, I can't figure out how to tell the difference and I had one at work one day made with wheat and it was not a good thing. It's a bit like egg noodles and rice noodles. I think I need to start learning some Bahasa, that would be a good thing.
My new routine is get up and swim in my glorious pool on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It is so nice. I am trying to figure out a routine for weekday mornings but haven't gotten the swimming as part of the morning routine during the week. I think once I get everything settled, I will be able to figure out going to a yoga studio class as well more swimming time. Right now, it seems as if I am still running around every evening with trying to get something else for my apartment or eating...again.
Sunday I went to Chinatown. I suppose it is not too dissimilar to other Chinatown's in many big cities around the world. This one has a quite a history as well and of course, is full of great food everywhere you look. I started off with some dim sum (bbq'd pork buns and red bean pancakes) followed by some fried rice noodles with BBQ pork, cucumbers, and other interesting green veggies. They have this celery called Chinese celery that looks like cilantro but tastes like celery. It is really yummy and a nice relief to some of the very spicy chilis used in some of the Chinese sauces.
I ended up spending quite a lot of time in a big book store that had some Chinese books translated to English where you see the characters alongside the English. Learning Chinese characters must be SOOO difficult. Bahasa Malaysia is in Roman letters and I am actually learning a few words by looking at signs and such.
I have now figured out several different ways to walk to work and our client site in KL. Every day I end going a different way and see some other interesting sites. I am fascinated by the mix of extreme luxury and poverty, sometimes on the same block.
BTW...try to watch "Twin Towers of the East"....it is all about the building of the Twin Towers and is an excellent programme.
Cheers!
So much better to write in the morning. My mind works much better in the morning. I have quite a nice home yoga practice in the morning now as I have not had the time to check out studios yet. Normally when I get up I hear the call to prayer at the mosque...5:30 a.m. It is a lovely time of day.
Last week I went to Johor Bahru, the southernmost city in Malaysia and right across the bridge from Singapore. I had the pleasure of escorting a UK doctor with me who was visiting KL for a conference. We went to visit a hospital which is nearly paperless and is very impressive for all of the work they have done to get their EMR is place. I am loving my job here so far and keep seeing additional opportunity everywhere I look.
OK, enough about work...more about food. Saturday I spent all day walking around Little India smack in the middle of the Saturday market. Oh my goodness, the food!!! The fried bananas that come in all these different forms are delicious. Each stand has subtle little differences. My favourites are the ones that balls and made with cornmeal. The thing is, I can't figure out how to tell the difference and I had one at work one day made with wheat and it was not a good thing. It's a bit like egg noodles and rice noodles. I think I need to start learning some Bahasa, that would be a good thing.
My new routine is get up and swim in my glorious pool on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It is so nice. I am trying to figure out a routine for weekday mornings but haven't gotten the swimming as part of the morning routine during the week. I think once I get everything settled, I will be able to figure out going to a yoga studio class as well more swimming time. Right now, it seems as if I am still running around every evening with trying to get something else for my apartment or eating...again.
Sunday I went to Chinatown. I suppose it is not too dissimilar to other Chinatown's in many big cities around the world. This one has a quite a history as well and of course, is full of great food everywhere you look. I started off with some dim sum (bbq'd pork buns and red bean pancakes) followed by some fried rice noodles with BBQ pork, cucumbers, and other interesting green veggies. They have this celery called Chinese celery that looks like cilantro but tastes like celery. It is really yummy and a nice relief to some of the very spicy chilis used in some of the Chinese sauces.
I ended up spending quite a lot of time in a big book store that had some Chinese books translated to English where you see the characters alongside the English. Learning Chinese characters must be SOOO difficult. Bahasa Malaysia is in Roman letters and I am actually learning a few words by looking at signs and such.
I have now figured out several different ways to walk to work and our client site in KL. Every day I end going a different way and see some other interesting sites. I am fascinated by the mix of extreme luxury and poverty, sometimes on the same block.
BTW...try to watch "Twin Towers of the East"....it is all about the building of the Twin Towers and is an excellent programme.
Cheers!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
HKKL#3
HKKL#3
Moved into the apartment on Monday, 21APR...WOO HOO....I am a KL resident now. I have a few things to work on, but mostly, it is OFF THE HOOK baby!
It was funny when I arrived home today from Singapore, I really felt as if I was home. I think I have already mellowed to the culture change. That means I was on the LRT with my nice Italian tank (bought at the sample sale in London) and I didn't care that I looked so western...cause hey...I am. That doesn't mean I can't be totally respectful to all things Malay but I now know it is OK to be me. The smiles I received from the people on the train as well as the security guards at my building while rocking out to Little Feat (more on that in a minute) on my iPod made me know for sure I was home. Home is where you are going at the end of most days, isn't it? It sure is for me.
Little Feat...all this talk about the great bands you loved in high school (secondary school - thx BR) has made me realise that some of you who might read this were born after Lowell George passed. I had the distinct privilege of seeing Little Feat with Lowell George 2 weeks after I graduated from high school and it was one of best concerts ever. I went high school and university with mostly Led Zep, Bruce Springsteen, and Grateful Dead fans. I was never in that space in high school and liked lots of different music and Little Feat is just one of the many bands that made a difference to me and I still love hearing their music.
Back to life in KL. I am sitting at my work desk looking at the KL Tower and yes, I know everyone wants to see pictures and you will, all in good time. I did manage to get the shot above this morning. That is the view from my desk...KL Tower. It is a GORGEOUS morning with blue sky and just a few scattered clouds. I do think the "drier" season is here as it has only been raining for about 30 minutes and much more blue sky.
The food is so diverse and interesting, I just can't get over it. I had the nasi lemak from a stand on the street for breakfast before work on Friday. It was 1.20 MYR (about 20p or US 40 cents) and it was delicious. A big helping of coconut rice with peanuts, sambal, ikan bilik, egg, and cucumber...all served in a banana leaf and portable to carry to the office!
Singapore...I spent the weekend there (last weekend) and that was interesting. By comparison,
Singapore is expensive so I did not get a new camera or anything except some Chinese slippers to wear inside my apartment. Malays don't wear shoes in the house and it is a very good idea as most of my apartment has white marble floors. I do find walking around barefoot makes my feet very sore so have been improvising bit. I have a shoe closet at the entrance to my apartment. I haven't tried to get all my shoes in there yet, but they might actually fit.
Singapore is quite flashy in the main shopping area of Orchard Road but has many diverse areas as well. I was lucky enough to have a local co-worker give me a personal tour of the city, country, island...it is all three. The old town part is really lovely with tons of shuttered colourful buildings that seem as if they would be home in mainly tropical locales aroung the world. The port area is really impressive, the cranes and TONS and TONS of giant ships everywhere is surreal. KLF was testing my adventurous food habits and took me a noodle house for lunch where we had the chow fun (or one of the MANY other names it goes by in this part of the world) with beef. It was great and after my first few bites, I said....mmmmm, are those mushrooms in the broth? To which KLF responded sheepishly, no, they are "parts". YIKES!!! I think it is the nurse thing but I have never been able to handle eating organ meat. In this case it was probably stomach lining or intestine. The beef slices tasted fantastic and the broth was equally delicious so I just left the "parts" in the bowl. I think KLF found it quite amusing after I had been bragging about eating the cheeks in the fish head curry.
BTW...I've decided that all my mentions of people and employers will remain anonymous. Some of you will know who or what I am writing about.
So I am learning much more about my neighborhood by wandering around it is so fascinating. The other night I found a traditional southern Indian restaurant right near my apt. I had the most amazing idly which is SOOOO yummy. It is a steamed savory cake made from black lentils and rice. Delicious and wheat free!!! It looks a bit like a muffin and is white in colour. In this case, I had little ones that were recooked by pan frying and mixed with a lovely spicy dahl curry with piles of shallots and garlic. The shallots here are a bit larger and reddish and are frequently called onions. I also had an amazing green mint tea and a plate of snacks including yogurt/cheese, and two other vegetarian curries with plain idli.
Thursday was a holiday in Malaysia, the first of many I hear. This one was labour day. Many small shops were closed and all the big stores open. I was fascinated to see that all the security guards and sweepers are still working. Street sweepers are people here, not trucks. They are everywhere and most nice buildings also have someone constanting cleaning the floors in the entry. Even in my building, there is usually someone cleaning the floor in the lobby although the hallway on my floor could use a bit of mopping. Haven't gotten a maid yet, but I am now down to two boxes that are unpacked. I have also been to Ikea and about 5 trips to Mydin which is a big discount store that is in little India and is REALLY inexpensive.
Did I mention my pool? I get to call my pool because hardly anyone lives in my building yet (it is brand new) so I feel like it my pool. It is gorgeous and all tiled. There are also two gigantic jacuzzi tubs, a weight room, a studio (my personal yoga studio when I'm not using my office area), meeting rooms, kids area, sauna, and a squash court. OMG!!! I just found that yesterday.
The liquids, alcohol is very expensive here so is giving me the opportunity to learn about all the other delicious things to drinks. There are stalls in the streets with lime juice, sugar cane juice, and all kinds of other great fruit drinks. The rice jelly drink is very interesting with chunk of jelly in the bottom. It is very sweet but is a great balance if eating something very spicy. I had some mango juice yesterday that I was able to watch being made where a bunch of mango is mulled in the bottom of the glass, a bit of sugar syrup, a pile of ice, and water. YUM!!! The juice drinks are much thinner than I am used to and it is very refreshing. Now if I could just figure out how to tell them not to put any sugar in it...all things in good time.
TTFN!
Friday, April 18, 2008
HKKL#2
HKKL#2
Time flies when you are experiencing so many new things at once. I can't believe I have been in Malaysia for 10 days now. I had a very full week of work this week and know I will be very busy with project work for existing and potential clients.
Only two days left in the gorgeous KL Hilton and this morning I had to move to a different room as my reservation had expired and hotel is full tonight. This room has a fab desk area so taking some time to update the blog.
I know I need to start taking pictures but my little Canon has a battery problem that I have not resolved yet. I am actually going to take the opportunity to look at cameras next week in Singapore after looking at prices here in KL this weekend and get myself a new DSLR camera.
More of the culture and surroundings in KL to date. I have already become fairly versed in the art of the major public transit. The LRT (light rail) and monorail are quite good and easy to understand. They can become very packed during rush hour. The other day I was on the LRT and was standing and realised (still on the UK spelling as that is favoured in Malaysia) that I towered over almost everyone on the train. Looking down the train car, I saw two young guys that towered over everyone even more than me. They had to duck down to avoid hitting their heads on the overhead hold bars. It was pretty funny because we made eye contact, above most folks heads, and just smiled.
Malays are very small people. Many Malay women dress in the baju kurung which is a long flowing tunic with a long skirt underneath. The diversity of colours of the traditional dress is amazing. Walking around the city or on the LRT is a rainbow of colours. Malaysia is a Muslim country and most of the Muslim women wear the tudung (headscarf) here. The typical dress is the baju kurung and tudung. The tudung normally matches the baju kurung and is very colourful. Many Muslim women wear the tudung with western clothes as well. More conservative Islamic dress has come into favour in the last 20 years.
I am still learning about the food and the variety seems endless. I had some typical southern Indian food the other night and it was delicious. The curry was a spinach base with the home made Indian cheese and I had some dahl (lentils) with it. Indian food in Malaysia tends to incorporate chicken, fish, and seafood. For you curry neophytes, this is NOTHING like what is passed off as curry in most of the USA. Curry is really just a mix of foods that is typically served with rice, dahl, or noodles of various types. The Tamil meaning of the word is "mixed vegetable stew." With the endless variety of spices and meat/fish additions, the variety of curry is endless. Most Malay food and many restarants in KL are Halal, which is Islamic food preparation and means permissable in the Islamic religion. Muslims do not eat pork and have strict rules about keeping pork separate from anything they would eat. For example, the breakfast buffet at the Hilton has beef bacon, chicken sausage, and turkey ham but no pork.
I am also enjoying all the new and different varieties of fruit, some of the names I am not too sure of yet. Yes, I have had durian, the big prickly skinned stinky fruit that has gained lots of exposure in the western press recently. It has a nice smooth texture and mellow flavour but the smell is pretty foul. I have preferred the guava, longon or lychee (laici), star fruit, and some melons that I have never had before. I remember thinking the papaya in Hawaii was awful, but I find it delicious here. Are you hungry yet?
Those of you who know me well won't be surprised that I am adjusting to all the new foods in many interesting ways. I think it is actually quite good for your body to react to all the new stuff you put in it and develop tolerance. No doubt there are some interesting natural bacteria in food here that I haven't had before. Even the things to drink are different. The coffee (kopi) is delicious and the basic western drinks are available as well. I have had a bit of a challenge finding my beloved sparkling water that I became so fond of living in the UK. Fortunately, the Hilton has it readily available. The most interesting drink I have had so far is the homemade air laici in Chinatown. It is a tea made from lychees, very sweet with lots of cooked lychees in the cup. Very refreshing. There tons of iced teas of various types available at stands and bottled or canned at stores. The iced green tea, chrysanthemum tea, and milk tea are all delicious.
Saturday...time to get out and explore. Selamat! (all purpose Bahasa Malaysia greeting)
Time flies when you are experiencing so many new things at once. I can't believe I have been in Malaysia for 10 days now. I had a very full week of work this week and know I will be very busy with project work for existing and potential clients.
Only two days left in the gorgeous KL Hilton and this morning I had to move to a different room as my reservation had expired and hotel is full tonight. This room has a fab desk area so taking some time to update the blog.
I know I need to start taking pictures but my little Canon has a battery problem that I have not resolved yet. I am actually going to take the opportunity to look at cameras next week in Singapore after looking at prices here in KL this weekend and get myself a new DSLR camera.
More of the culture and surroundings in KL to date. I have already become fairly versed in the art of the major public transit. The LRT (light rail) and monorail are quite good and easy to understand. They can become very packed during rush hour. The other day I was on the LRT and was standing and realised (still on the UK spelling as that is favoured in Malaysia) that I towered over almost everyone on the train. Looking down the train car, I saw two young guys that towered over everyone even more than me. They had to duck down to avoid hitting their heads on the overhead hold bars. It was pretty funny because we made eye contact, above most folks heads, and just smiled.
Malays are very small people. Many Malay women dress in the baju kurung which is a long flowing tunic with a long skirt underneath. The diversity of colours of the traditional dress is amazing. Walking around the city or on the LRT is a rainbow of colours. Malaysia is a Muslim country and most of the Muslim women wear the tudung (headscarf) here. The typical dress is the baju kurung and tudung. The tudung normally matches the baju kurung and is very colourful. Many Muslim women wear the tudung with western clothes as well. More conservative Islamic dress has come into favour in the last 20 years.
I am still learning about the food and the variety seems endless. I had some typical southern Indian food the other night and it was delicious. The curry was a spinach base with the home made Indian cheese and I had some dahl (lentils) with it. Indian food in Malaysia tends to incorporate chicken, fish, and seafood. For you curry neophytes, this is NOTHING like what is passed off as curry in most of the USA. Curry is really just a mix of foods that is typically served with rice, dahl, or noodles of various types. The Tamil meaning of the word is "mixed vegetable stew." With the endless variety of spices and meat/fish additions, the variety of curry is endless. Most Malay food and many restarants in KL are Halal, which is Islamic food preparation and means permissable in the Islamic religion. Muslims do not eat pork and have strict rules about keeping pork separate from anything they would eat. For example, the breakfast buffet at the Hilton has beef bacon, chicken sausage, and turkey ham but no pork.
I am also enjoying all the new and different varieties of fruit, some of the names I am not too sure of yet. Yes, I have had durian, the big prickly skinned stinky fruit that has gained lots of exposure in the western press recently. It has a nice smooth texture and mellow flavour but the smell is pretty foul. I have preferred the guava, longon or lychee (laici), star fruit, and some melons that I have never had before. I remember thinking the papaya in Hawaii was awful, but I find it delicious here. Are you hungry yet?
Those of you who know me well won't be surprised that I am adjusting to all the new foods in many interesting ways. I think it is actually quite good for your body to react to all the new stuff you put in it and develop tolerance. No doubt there are some interesting natural bacteria in food here that I haven't had before. Even the things to drink are different. The coffee (kopi) is delicious and the basic western drinks are available as well. I have had a bit of a challenge finding my beloved sparkling water that I became so fond of living in the UK. Fortunately, the Hilton has it readily available. The most interesting drink I have had so far is the homemade air laici in Chinatown. It is a tea made from lychees, very sweet with lots of cooked lychees in the cup. Very refreshing. There tons of iced teas of various types available at stands and bottled or canned at stores. The iced green tea, chrysanthemum tea, and milk tea are all delicious.
Saturday...time to get out and explore. Selamat! (all purpose Bahasa Malaysia greeting)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
HK in KL #1
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur!
So now I remember why I always wrote my blog on another document and then transferred it to the blog on the website...because it is very easy to lose all your writing. I just finished a nice long initial blog on my new adventure and somehow hit one key and whole thing disappearing. Ugh!
No matter, being awake at 4:30 a.m. is always a good time for blogging. My jet lag is pretty much over but I still seem to get really tired in the late afternoon and end up taking a long nap and then I don't need to sleep past early a.m.
I have now been in Kuala Lumpur for nearly a week. I left KCMO last Sunday and about a day and a half later ended up in KL. The basics were a 14 hour flight from LAX to Taipei and another 4 hours to KL from there. I was flew on Malaysian Airlines which was very nice and I was lucky enough to have several seats to myself. I understand going the other way from New York adds one hour of flying time. If you are reading this and planning a trip that may make a difference depending on where you are flying from to get here. I am not certain of the flying time from Europe but understand Virgin has really reasonable flights to Hong Kong and it is about 90 min flying time to KL from HK.
This is the tropics and it is very humid and warm, about 25-30 Celcius (77-86 F). It rains nearly everyday in the afternoon. Sometimes the showers accompanied by huge thunder, lightning, and wind. It is really beautiful and can be very refreshing. People pretty much just stop what they are doing outside when it comes down really hard. The lighter rains don't seem to affect anything but have the unpleasant effect of making it seem even more humid.
This weekend I did some exploring and left my private little world of the KL Hilton. This is the nicest Hilton I've ever seen and you could live here and be quite happy. The most amazing breakfast buffet which all different types of regional cuisine available including English, Malay, Japanese, Chinese, and European. I've had everything from congee (rice porridge) to fresh squeezed melon juice, french cheese, fried rice, and made to order omelette. YUM!!! A great way to start the day.
I should be moving into my apartment on Monday 21APR and I am so excited. I'll be living in an area of the city called Capital Square and it just outside the Golden Triangle. It is a brand new high rise building and I'll be living on the 15th floor with a view of the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers. This place is amazing and very spacious so start planning your trip now.
I've sampled some delicious street food as well as had some typical Malay dishes including Kari kepala Ikan (fish head curry ), Nasi ayam (chicken rice), and Nasi lemak (classic Malay dish with rice cooked in coconut milk served with ikan bilis, cucumber, peanuts, eggs, and sambal). Ikan bilis is dried fish that comes many different ways but is typicall quite salty and made from small fish like anchovies. Sambal is the chili dipping sauce that is also available in limitless variety. The sambal I've had so far have surprisingly not been that "hot", just delicious and full of flavour.
I expect to have a full and busy week of work this week getting to know the team and our client in KL. I have been asked to go to Singapore next week to support a sales effort there.
Last night I was sitting out at the amazing freeform pool on the 8th floor with the palm trees swaying overhead and had to remind myself where I am. The sky was pretty clear last night and the moon looked like it was on its side. It seems to me that is a trait when you are closer to the equator. I am so very lucky to have to this opportunity.
Prior to travelling here so many people told me that everyone falls in love with SE Asia and I think I am falling fast.
Selangat tinngal!
So now I remember why I always wrote my blog on another document and then transferred it to the blog on the website...because it is very easy to lose all your writing. I just finished a nice long initial blog on my new adventure and somehow hit one key and whole thing disappearing. Ugh!
No matter, being awake at 4:30 a.m. is always a good time for blogging. My jet lag is pretty much over but I still seem to get really tired in the late afternoon and end up taking a long nap and then I don't need to sleep past early a.m.
I have now been in Kuala Lumpur for nearly a week. I left KCMO last Sunday and about a day and a half later ended up in KL. The basics were a 14 hour flight from LAX to Taipei and another 4 hours to KL from there. I was flew on Malaysian Airlines which was very nice and I was lucky enough to have several seats to myself. I understand going the other way from New York adds one hour of flying time. If you are reading this and planning a trip that may make a difference depending on where you are flying from to get here. I am not certain of the flying time from Europe but understand Virgin has really reasonable flights to Hong Kong and it is about 90 min flying time to KL from HK.
This is the tropics and it is very humid and warm, about 25-30 Celcius (77-86 F). It rains nearly everyday in the afternoon. Sometimes the showers accompanied by huge thunder, lightning, and wind. It is really beautiful and can be very refreshing. People pretty much just stop what they are doing outside when it comes down really hard. The lighter rains don't seem to affect anything but have the unpleasant effect of making it seem even more humid.
This weekend I did some exploring and left my private little world of the KL Hilton. This is the nicest Hilton I've ever seen and you could live here and be quite happy. The most amazing breakfast buffet which all different types of regional cuisine available including English, Malay, Japanese, Chinese, and European. I've had everything from congee (rice porridge) to fresh squeezed melon juice, french cheese, fried rice, and made to order omelette. YUM!!! A great way to start the day.
I should be moving into my apartment on Monday 21APR and I am so excited. I'll be living in an area of the city called Capital Square and it just outside the Golden Triangle. It is a brand new high rise building and I'll be living on the 15th floor with a view of the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers. This place is amazing and very spacious so start planning your trip now.
I've sampled some delicious street food as well as had some typical Malay dishes including Kari kepala Ikan (fish head curry ), Nasi ayam (chicken rice), and Nasi lemak (classic Malay dish with rice cooked in coconut milk served with ikan bilis, cucumber, peanuts, eggs, and sambal). Ikan bilis is dried fish that comes many different ways but is typicall quite salty and made from small fish like anchovies. Sambal is the chili dipping sauce that is also available in limitless variety. The sambal I've had so far have surprisingly not been that "hot", just delicious and full of flavour.
I expect to have a full and busy week of work this week getting to know the team and our client in KL. I have been asked to go to Singapore next week to support a sales effort there.
Last night I was sitting out at the amazing freeform pool on the 8th floor with the palm trees swaying overhead and had to remind myself where I am. The sky was pretty clear last night and the moon looked like it was on its side. It seems to me that is a trait when you are closer to the equator. I am so very lucky to have to this opportunity.
Prior to travelling here so many people told me that everyone falls in love with SE Asia and I think I am falling fast.
Selangat tinngal!
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