Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

We haven't been too faithful to the blog this month but don't worry, you haven't missed much. The "happy new year" greeting is twice apporopriate though. On Saturday, February 2 we start a full week holiday for Chinese new year. This is a big deal here in Malaysia. A large majority of businesses are owned by Chinese Malaysians and this is the only time that they close up shop, some for up to two weeks. Of course the other facet is our regular January 1 greeting.

We have started back into our teaching routine. Bill and I still teach Business Leadership & English Literature respectively but our timetables are a little different from last term. We're settling into a new schedules. We have a whole new cast of students in each of our classes and once again they are the most respectful and motivated students we could ever meet. Kim's sudents are mostly government scholars so they have to achieve 85% overall to keep their scholarships to go to a Canadian University - they are sooo keen! We have had a couple of voice-over sessions and we expect to do quite a few in the next two months. They are fun and something very different for us. We are also coaching a couple of children who are doing the little girl and boy parts. They are as different as night and day and each is delightful in their own way.

We have gone back to exploring more of the KL area again. A trip to the National Islamic Arts Mueseum was wonderful. The art, the history and the mosque models were fascinating. We had another great 18 holes of golf with Matthew and Serina in Port Dickson. We were not quite as hot as our first round last October - the humidity has been a lot lower for the month of January. The temperature is always 32 daytime and 23 night time. It has been quite pleasant actually. We have also explore a couple of "bars" yes ... but not for the drinking but for the view of KL. There are a number of beautiful hotels that have spectacular views of the city & the Petronas towers but the Sky Bar where we visited with Carolynn, Joe & Randy is still the best. We have wandered around the Bangsar area which is filled with ex-pats from around the world and has some very upscale malls & boutiques. This is where Randy & I found my dress for Andrea's wedding. (Note from Bill:We had to go back for a fitting and the dress is really KIM! It is not simply elegant it is Kim's dress.)

Our holidays are still a great part of this adventure. We started back to teach on January 8th and we had a day off on January 10th!! It was Dawala Meharasam which is the Muslim New Year. So everyone had a holiday.

Two weeks later we had a holiday for Thaipusam. This is an Indian/Hindu holiday that is more celebrated in Malaysia than in India. Pilgrims come to the Batu caves temples and other temples in the area of KL from all over the world. Batu caves had a small crowd this year. They usually get 1.5 million but only a meagre million showed up. Three Hindu colleagues travelled to a temple in Klang for the celebration. There are some pretty scary practices that involve carrying heavy objects or dragging heavy things on hooks piercing the skin. Have a aloolk at this link for a few ictures from this year
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/batucaveseng.htm
We didn't attend because of the crowds but a few colleagues did. Instead we went back to the golf course.

Chinese New Year is Feb 7th & 8th but we have the whole week off - from Sat Feb 2nd to Sun Feb 10th. Amazing eh? We are off to Cambodia for the week. We are looking forward to that adventure. The very sad history of that country is so interesting. Well, we'll let you know about it after we return.

A final note for January, we have given notice and we are returning home. In June our Malaysian adventure will be over. But don't hold your breath; this may just be the beginning of the next stage.

Christmas in Malaysia

We cannot believe we have been in Malaysia for 6 months. The time has flown by. It seems like only yesterday that we had this crazy idea. On the other hand it seems like we have lived here for a long time. When we return from a trip here we are happy to be "home". It is still very strange to call this condo "home". Although we have not put a lot of money into decorating the condo, it is cozy enough for us to be very comfortable and happy. We are looking forward to our second term of teaching. We have a few more travel plans for the spring. The end of our year here will be fast upon us.

We tried very hard to get into the Christmas “spirit”. Although the malls have splendid displays and the Masses during Advent at Assumption Church were very much like home we missed being with our friends and family very much. Our new friends in Malaysia are wonderful and we had many visits and meals with them. We really did enjoy ourselves. It does not replace family though. It is so difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when the temperature is 25 to 30 degrees everyday. But, the malls have the most amazing decorations that we have ever seen. People go to the malls just to view & photograph the Christmas displays. A little while ago Bill & I were at the Mid Valley Megamall (yes they call it a megamall - because it is so huge) & the Centre Court Christmas display was breathtakingly beautiful. The theme was carried throughout the mall to the smaller North South East & West courts & each was more beautiful than the next. They have been piping Christmas carols throughout the malls since mid November. Each department store has a small Christmas section with a few tree decorations. However, I am finding it very difficult to find Christmas decorations for the home, kitchen or table. I found some Christmas cake, pudding & napkins at Marks & Spencer. That's it!! But I was able to find a couple of small decorated table top Christmas trees & a few tacky decorations to make our condo a little more festive. It will do!!

Our New Year celebration was also a lot of fun. We organized a BBQ at our Condo complex and 17 of the Canadian staff came. We had a great BBQ dinner and then everyone came up to our condo for drinks & chatter. At 11:50 we all made our way down to the pool and we watched as the hotels nearby heralded in the New Year with amazing fireworks displays.

We wish all of you a wonderful New Year filled with happiness and prosperity.

Hanoi

Randy's blur (and ours will continue).

Needless to say we were feeling pretty tired. We got to Hanoi at 8:30 a.m. their time (a three hour flight) and cabbed it for forty-five minutes to the Old Quarter. The cab driver and some cronies tried to scam us. We were taken to another cheap hotel and told that the Win Hotel was all booked and we would stay at their's. No way. We insisted on being taken to the Win and eventually the cabbie complied. He then had the gall to ask about a tip!!!! Reception at the Win Hotel seemed unsurprised as we told him the story. Apparently it is not unusual. We learned that you should always book the taxi through the hotel and they add it to your hotel bill so that the driver does not try to clean out your wallet.

The Win is a "boutique" hotel right in the Old Quarter. It has five floors and ten rooms and no elevator. The ceilings are all 12 feet and the rooms are small. The place is very clean and comfortable but hardly a 2 star hotel. The location however was excellent. Again we were in the heart of the action. Although tired we stepped out to find a bite of lunch. There are local cafes lining the street and around the corner we found an Italian restaurant where the pizza was excellent. We also found a French restaurant that we decided to return to later.

The hotel is a block from one of the lakes...the Lake of the Divine Turtle. We walked the 1.7 km around the lake and visited many of the local shops and side streets. We also booked tickets to an afternoon performance of the water puppets. This is a northern Vietnam art form and entertainment. We attended the four o'clock performance and I think we each missed a portion due to sagging eyelids. More walking, more shops and more shopping and we were all ready for a dinner at an excellent French restaurant- see the photo (but not the aforementioned). We wandered by circuitous routes back to our hotel and were in bed by 10:00.

On Friday the culture shock hit. We have never felt culture shock until now. The parts of Asia we have visited have been different but this was overwhelming. Looking back I guess it started on the taxi ride when Randy tried to smack an insect and hit the seat. The fleas flew up all around her and Kim. Kim wants to believe that they were mosquitoes. This is little better given the diseases that mosquitoes carry in Vietnam. The scam from the taxi driver rolled off of us because we were so tired but I believe it had its impact. The number of motor bikes (small scooters) is also overwhelming. The roads & intersections are chaotic. There a bicycles, motor bikes, some cars, vans & trucks. Along with this there are people walking everywhere and so many ladies carrying 6 foot long poles with huge baskets hanging from each end. Crossing the street is so scary. We were told to close our eyes & just keep walking - the motor bikes would go around us!! Well, needless to say we kept our eyes opened and the vehicles did go around us! The streets of Hanoi are amazing. They are crowded with vendors of every kind. All of the store merchants sit on little 6 inch stools on the side walk. They sell everything from their store front or from woven baskets - clothes, shoes, meat, vegetables. Families sit on the little stools to eat breakfast, lunch & dinner. Barbers set up shop by hanging a mirror on a wall & men get their hair cut & faces shaved right on the sidewalk. We could not convince Bill to have a "street" hair cut! We witnessed many women having the lice picked out of their hair - on the sidewalk!!

We walked to the open fresh market. It was sooo crowded but amazing. You can buy anything there. We were not afraid but we did feel very vulnerable. At one point Bill & Kim got stuck on one side of a bridge & Randy was on the other side out of sight. We thought we'd never see her again. She is an attraction because of her blond hair. People would stop her & ask to have their pictures taken with her. But, we did catch up with her. The streets are also very polluted & dirty - not with litter, but with the grit & grim of a dusty, dry, very crowded & very hot city. We did not do a lot of shopping.

On Friday afternoon we decided to hire a taxi & take one of the tours of the country side to visit ceramics, painters & carpenter villages. Again, the culture shock overwhelmed us. The rural areas are still using water buffalo to pull small ploughs, and the horse/pony & cart are a common mode of transport. The roads are narrow and barely passable. There are very few cars but thousands of bicycles & motor bikes. We do not know how our driver did not hit someone or how someone did not hit us! It was truly incredible but very scary. We got to the ceramics village where the local people work in huge factories to produce all of the ceramic vases, dishes, bowls etc etc that we buy in North America. I bartered long & hard to buy 3 small blue & white ceramic lidded containers. I was thrilled with my purchased at $1.00 per dish. Unfortunately, I left them on the floor of the taxi we hired!!!! Our driver got terribly lost & we ended up driving through some amazingly 3rd world villages - kids in bare feet everywhere, sellers by the side of dirt roads, pony & cart hauling, ladies walking cows through town, and no electricity, no street lights. We finally arrived at the painter's village & the driver motioned for us to go in. It was pitch dark & he was staying in the car. All of our alarm bells went off & we said no - take us back to Hanoi. We really believe that he was not trying to lead us into any trouble but we did not want to take any chances in the dark.

On Saturday morning we took a tour of Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, his home and the Temple of literature dating back to 1067. All of these sights were fabulous & our guide was great. People in Vietnam love Ho Chi Minh. Although it is a Communist country, this is the only place where we felt the Communist presence. We kept looking for the downtown, city area. We discovered that there really was not a central city area. They seem to have rebuilt the city in the past 20-25 years in a bit of a scattered manner. When we asked a concierge at the Hanoi Hotel for a city tour - she replied that the wasn't one because there was nothing to see!! The devastating history of the US carpet bombing of Hanoi is horrible. But, everything is referred to in US terms and dollars. It is truly an acceptance attitude that escaped our comprehension. We learned so much in Hanoi. It is truly one of the experiences we will never forget.

Hong Kong

Randy's last week is a blur. We visited Hong Kong for four days and Hanoi for three. School wrapped up with graduation on Thursday and Kim and I committed to work the recruiting fair on Saturday. We had booked flights and hotels in both Hong Kong and Hanoi. On Saturday morning we heard that the Hong Kong hotel had notified us that a room was no longer available (a better offer, I guess). We immediately began a search online and talked to colleagues. Our director, Frank, recommended the Stanford in Mong Kok (in the Kowloon section of HK). A phone call confirmed a reservation and we crossed our fingers.
Hong Kong

On Sunday we flew into Macao and ferried over to Kowloon, Hong Kong. We taxied into an apparently older part of town. Our trepidation was relieved when we got to a small but modern hotel just blocks from the Market ( Ladies Market, electronic market, Jade market, Temple market, fish market, flower market, bird market, sports market - truly amazing). The activity in the area is energizing. People are everywhere from early morning until late evening (midnight). The market itself opens at noon and closes at midnight. Each evening it is torn down and cleared away to allow for cleaning and local deliveries. Each day it is set up and the surrounding streets are blocked off to create a pedestrian mall. The market then becomes shoulder to shoulder browsers and bargainers. We took great advantage of the opportunities to get some Christmas shopping done.

On Monday we found a tour company and booked two tours. The first was a half day tour of Hong Kong island on Monday afternoon. We were picked up at a local hotel at 1:30 and toured until after 7:00 that night. It included the shopping district from British colonial times (Hollywood Avenue) the temples and Stanley market. The tour gave us a wonderful overview and we determined that we would return on Tuesday to further explore the Hollywood Avenue(shopping) and Soho (eating and partying) areas. One of the experiences was a ride on the inclined railway to the top of Victoria peak. This is the highest point in Hong Kong and provides quite a view of the harbour. The railway is serviced by a pair of old style tram cars and is said to be the steepest in Asia. We moved on to Aberdeen typhoon shelter. A safe harbour that houses the fishermen. We took a ride on a sampan with a crust old woman with a very direct approach to everything. At the end of the tour she said "55 dollars each person - you pay now!" This part of the tour showed us around the floating village that houses the fisherman's families. We drove through the outer areas of the island past Repulse Bay and on to Stanley market. Having spent time in the Ladies market we found Stanley market a little tame.

On Tuesday we went back the HK island and walked around the areas mentioned. On Hollywood we met Ken and Susan, a young couple from the college ... among 7 million people. We arranged a lunch for Wednesday. We also visited Soho for a delightful lunch at a little bistro. We returned to the hotel and prepared for the second tour...a Christmas holiday lights tour of Hong Kong and Kowloon areas. The first stop was on the Kowloon side of the harbour where watched a sound and light show put on by the major buildings and businesses on both sides of the harbour. Back on the bus we drove around for an hour on the top of an open top double Decker bus and marvelled at the neon and Christmas lights. They really get into Christmas here but we hear that the BIG celebration is Chinese New Year in February. We finished up with a visit to Temple market. Is is much like Ladies market - you can buy just about anything and most are "GENUINE COPIES". They really said that!

Wednesday was a hectic day. We went to the Jade market but didn't buy because Kim (the negotiator) didn't get the prices she wanted. Then we met Ken and Susan for a dim sum lunch. The restaurant was recommended by Ken's uncle who lives in Hong Kong. It was great to have Ken along as he grew up in HK and speaks the language. He also knows dim sum and what to order. We had a wonderful time sharing food and experiences.

We absolutely loved Hong Kong. It is the most vibrant, crowded, interesting city with fabulous sights, areas, and people.

Back at our hotel we picked up the luggage and caught a cab to the ferry terminal. The trip to Macao and the airport went well and we were in plenty of time for our 7:50 flight. Unfortunately, the plane did not arrive and we were delayed for 3 hours until 10:50. We arrived back in KL at 3:00 AM and waited in the airport until 5:30 to check in for a 6:30 flight to Hanoi.

Another Great Weekend

Last week was exam week for the college so Kim and I were busy there. Randy also kept herself busy. She has become quite comfortable with the KL transportation system and strikes out to explore the city on her own.

On Friday afternoon Kim had completed her exam marking and I had just started mine so Randy and Kim set out to shop, mostly for a dress for Kim to wear to Andrea's wedding. They tried on "THOUSANDS". When they got back to Subang Jaya we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant, Tomoe for a fabulous dinner.

On Saturday we hopped a bus and went to Melaka. This is one of our favourite cities. It is steeped in history going back to th 14th and 15th centuries. We caught a cab and rode into the old section of town where we began a tour that Carolyn and Joe would recognize. In Chinatown we picked up several gifts and souvenirs. The lunch at Geographer was wonderful. Afterwards we toured St. Paul Hill and the church ruin. It is coming up to the feast of St, Francis Xavier and the church was decorated with an altar and flowers in preparation for the celebration. This is the church that the saint regularly attended until his death. He was buried first in Melaka. After nine months the church had him exhumed and reburied in Goa, India. The official reason for the move was that the Holy See decided Francis wanted to be in Goa. In recompense they left a relic of the saint in Melaka, his right arm.

After a visit to Santiago Gate Randy and Kim took a trishaw ride. The had an excellent tour. Bill waited near the signature Christ Church and had an interesting political conversation with a local tour operator. We decided to take a bus back to KL and hopped aboard a local bus. This bus was very local, and very old. We spent 40 minutes experiencing the neighbourhoods...old, new, elegant and kampung. Finally arrived at Melaka Sentral (the bus depot) for the ride back to KL.

In KL we walked a few blocks from the bus station to Petaling Street. This is the Chinese night market. It is apparently becoming more multicultural and aggressive. Randy did some shopping and managed to get a few bargains. More than anything we all enjoyed the SPORT of haggling.

On Sunday, Randy and Kim went dress shopping again and spent the entire day walking, trying, and enjoying each other's company. I had a pile of exams to finish marking so I stayed home. I owe Randy big time for allowing me to work and for saving me from the endless round of bridal and designer shops.

On Monday we left the college and hooked up with Rand for a return trip to Bangsar. Kim and Randy had found THE dress. Kim bought it once I had approved :-) In celebration we walked over to a very upscale section of Bangsar for dinner. We had appetizers and wine at an Italian restaurant and then moved over to a French restaurant for entrees and more wine. I stuck to the usual fruit juice and sparkling water; after all someone had to get the women home.

All in all it was a very successful weekend...wouldn't you agree?

Some Political Unrest

We passed Batu Caves on the way back from Genting into KL and saw a huge crowd there. Later we heard that there had been a demonstration in KL. The Indian population from all over Malaysia held a rally at which they wished to petition the Queen (Elizabeth that is). An advocacy group here is suing England for 40 trillion ringgit (that's 12 or so trillion Canadian). They claim that the British brought Indians to Malaysia in the 1800s as indentured labour. They further claim that Britain failed to protect Indian interests when they granted independence in 1957. They want the queen to provide them legal representation for the law suit.

This is all very political and is based on a form of "affirmative action" that gives preferential treatment to the Malay race. It was originally meant to help raise the Malay out of poverty that came from their historical position as rural subsistence farmers. The Indians claim that they too are marginalized and should be granted equal treatment under the National Economic Policy (NEP) as it is called officially. Unofficially, it is called the "bumiputra" policy. 'bumi' means 'sons' or 'princes' and 'putra' means soil or earth. Literally translated it means 'princes of the soil'. The term is not exclusive to Malaysia. It is also used in Indonesia where a similar language is spoken. However, in Indonesia it is not a label for an official government policy of "affirmative action".

We had heard mention of the rally earlier in the week and we had run into police roadblocks. The rally was opposed by the police who set up road blocks around KL as early as Thursday in order to prevent the Indians from 'outstation' from getting to the protest in KL. They also shut down the LRT station near the British embassy. Then on Sunday they told the crowd to disperse and forced the issue with tear gas and chemical laced water cannon. We don't get much about this in the news media in Malaysia because it is not nice to talk about things that reflect badly on the country. In addition, the news outlets are licenced annually by the government and may not be renewed. To top it off much of the new media are wholly owned by one of the parties that make up the BN which is a coalition of parties that has governed since 1957. The BN is predominantly Malay/Muslim and it is not possible to be PM if you are not both. The minority and opposition parties also have their media outlets. Thus we were pleasantly surprised to see local reports of the incidents. The most reasonable and balanced view of things is available to us here via Al Jazeera on the Internet. (check the link for more)

Constitutionally, the people here have the right to peaceful assembly. This is subject to certain controls as a result of some emergency measures instituted in the 1960s as a result of some inter-racial rioting. At that time it is estimated by the most conservative figures that over 200 Chinese citizens were killed by Malays over the outcome of the general election. Some of the Chinese had gathered to celebrate a minor election victory and some of the Malay were insulted...and the fight was on. The emergency measures were never repealed and now all assemblies must apply for and receive police permission. These permits are almost never granted despite a local Human Rights Commission recommendation that they should be routinely granted. In the case of this recent incident the police are said to have claimed they feared that gangs were involved in the gathering and that violence would erupt.

You may also have heard about a rally on November 11 at Merdeka (Independence) Square. The opposition parties called the rally to demand election reform. In that case no permit was granted. The official reason was that it would interrupt traffic and cause local merchants to lose trade. The police then shut down streets for 10 blocks around the square. The rally was due to start at 10:30 AM and the police had the water cannon and tear gas in place by 10:00. The outcome was much the same as the most recent one. We were in Bali at the time and we saw the Al Jazeera report and video on television news there. When we returned to Malaysia we found there was and had been no local coverage.

We are safe and have never felt nor been in danger. The rallies are usually in a very limited area and we don't travel in those areas especially when difficulties are possible. Fortunately we have a colleague at the school who keeps us well informed.

This may all be a lead up to an expected general election in the next month. It is estimated that the election campaign will last less than three weeks so everyone gets started early.

Another Busy Week

Randy can't be kept down. Each day she does the dishes, laundry and tidies. We have decided to keep her here and Canada will have to do without. She often gets to the pool for a swim and follows us to the gym where she ties herself into a pretzel in the yoga class. On Wednesday she and our friend, Pam, went to the Malaysian Craft complex in KL and they walked all over the place for about seven hours. On Friday she and Kim went to Mid Valley Mall and walked the entire thing. It is the largest mall in Malaysia with some 5 km of corridor. They were looking for a dress or ideas for a dress for Kim to wear to Andrea's wedding. They came home with Christmas cards.
On Saturday we rented a taxi for the afternoon and travelled to Putrajaya, the administrative centre for Malaysia. Randy dressed for the pink mosque, as did we. We travelled on to the Batu Caves and climbed all 272 stairs. We have photographic proof that Kim and Randy made it and I took the photo (kind of like Ten Sing and Edmund Hillary). The cab driver was a very nice man but not such a great navigator. We saw numerous sections of KL that we had not intended...some of them twice. At the end he was to drop us off at Bukit Bintang but some missed communication (I know that's hard to believe) caused us to have him drop us at the LRT whence we took the LRT and Monorail to Bukit Bintang. We met friends Pam and Steve who took us to their favourite Indian restaurant (Chazal) for a wonderful meal. Afterwards we left them and we wandered off to explore a very crowded and fascinating shopping section. In short order we realized how long the day had been because the malls were closing. We weren't sure that ever happened.

We took a taxi back to the condo. We'll have to return to BB for a proper tour at another time.

On Sunday we thought to get an early start and head up to the Genting Highl;ands. We didn't. We got to KL Sentral about 12:00 and could only book the bus to Genting for 2:00. We took off for Bangsar (sort of the Yorkville area but larger). We had lunch and while I read the paper Randy and Kim toured around. They found a number of bridal shops so a return to Bangsar is also on the cards. Speaking of cards, we found a kiosk representing two companies that print wedding invitations. We have their business cards and we'll be in touch with them as well.

We caught the bus and rode forty-five minutes into the hills north of KL. The elevation change is significant (ear pop and everything). The vision that became Genting Highlands Resort must have seemed almost impossible in 1965. Today there are three large hotels (6000+rooms) two large theme parks and a gigantic casino perched on a mountaintop. The temperature is moderated from the lowlands and we almost recognized the feel of early autumn. From the lower bus depot we took a 3.4 km cable car ride the top. Bill was disappointed that it didn't end in snow. The views, though, were well worth the ride. After a couple of hours looking around we'd had enough smoke. Everywhere is a smoking zone and many people take advantage of it. By 6:00 we all had burning eyes and throats. We hopped the cable car back down and headed for home.