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
Saturday, September 20, 2008
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
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