Correction: the baby who grunts and growls

I have had many conversations with Kollin these days, and she neither grunts or growls. I hear her cooing at her mother when she catches her eye. And Jennifer tells me that she stops and looks about when she hears my voice.  My poor grandchildren will grow up thinking their Nana lives in a computer. 

From Sublime to Ridiculous

If you have been reading here, you know about my search for decent shampoo. I have bought drug store brands that coat your hair with a waxy residue, and then finally the wonderful oil slick that took days to remove.  My last trip to Jusco led me to  L'Occitaine in the mall.  I was desparate for something to clean my hair properly, and ended up spending as much on a bottle of shampoo that would feed 3 hungry people in a fairly good restaurant here.  But I took it home, and it did the trick.  No oil slick remained on my tresses and I am now on the second day of the shampoo and don't feel like I need to wash my hair.  Now I just have to see if the new shampoo did the trick or the oil treatment I accidentally gave myself. I am placing my bet on the shampoo.
Now I need to get motivated to get dressed, in the car, and join the rest of the loons on the road to JB to join my buddies for the Singapore express.  I wonder if it is really worth my while?  The only thing Emma and I are going to search for is the Ikea store to find a lamp.  If we do find any, and they are a reasonable price, we should  be quite a sight hauling floor lamps back to Malaysia on a public bus (we cannot take our vehicles out of the country, so we have to catch a bus at the border that crosses a bridge to Singapore).

Kollin Anne at a bubble party

This child is the image of her big brother, who is the image of his mother and his uncle.  It is like looking back in time when I look at her.

Kollin Anne just hanging out with her mom at a dog's birthday party where the 'BIG' kids tried to catch bubbles

 

SHAYNA

My best friend in Canada - at her friend's birthday party

My 1st Malaysian Dinner Party

I had a surprise (because he kept reminding me of the event) birthday party for Jeff yesterday.  Some of our friends came from nearby locations, but most were away on vacation.  I impressed the socks off myself.  One pot, one wee bbq, and a dinner menu of: bbq chicken satay with homemade peanut sauce, coconut fragrant Thai rice, cucumber/red onion salad sprinkled with fresh lime and cracked peppercorns. All begun with homemade hummus which was served with nann from the local tandoori restaurant. Not too shabby. Today we shared the leftovers of chicken pulled off the skewers and toasted between bread slices toasted in a sandwich maker. Tomorrow, Emma, John and I are going to Singapore for the day.  We decided we better go somewhere over the vacation so that we have something to say when the others tell us of their exotic holidays.

The Wedding Crashers

Well, we seemed to have a bit of miscommunication the other day. Seems the actual wedding took place yesterday morning.  But also advised that it is a family affair, so I guess we were at the appropriate celebration today anyway.  Following is the afternoon event. We came home with a gift (mug with the bride and groom photo on it, and a bunga telur, which translates in English - egg flower. I think the significance of the egg is one of fertility, but no one there seemed to know. It is a stick with an egg wrapped in mesh and then several beads, baubles and ribbons to make it all look like a flower.  After posing with and taking pictures of the bride and groom, everyone is treated to a makan beradab, which is a formal banquet consisting of lotus flowers filled with rice, goat, chicken, beef and lamb, and a few kids of rice. We begged off this, and finally had to say that we had eaten because Malaysians are known for sharing their food with their guests and will not take no for an answer. 
We were completely welcomed with open arms to this event in our neighbourhood.  The formal photographer took as many pictures of us as they did of the bride and groom.  I am glad we attended and happy to be included in this community were we we now call home.
Following is a group of pictures that show how the event unfolded.

 a banner was hung at the entrance to our community

 the groom and his entourage arriving at the festivities

closer look at the processession 

the bride and groom receiving guests on their thrones

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Interior Design Malaysian Style

I love hearing about all the renovations, interior designs, and brand new homes everyone is acquiring back in Canada.  For me, it tends to be only something to imagine.  When one lives in a dwelling big enough for a family but completely void of any conveniences,furnishings, appliances, closets, shelves, OR WINDOW SCREENS, one tends to get excited about purchasing a kitchen cabinet and having it delivered.  Prada and Gucci are only words in this part of the world. Not choices.  Now for the piece de resistance

broom flanking the left and dustpan on the right

I have paid close attention to detail. I made sure that the royal blue is the same as the blue of my computer desk and chair in the living room. I did not want to have the eye move from room to room and be offended by clashes of colour during the experience.  I really should find a blue dustpan, as the orange is a harsh colour and not repeated anywhere else in the home.  Also, the small plastic table in the kitchen is a brilliant red, so I am trying to remain with a scheme of primary colours throughout the house.  I tend to ignore that rule when I find a genuine bargain however. 

For now I will brew some fine Mink Coffee which I carefully brought from Canada, in my new glass french press (of sorts) and mix it with the whipping cream poured from a mini tetra pack and take it to my patio for a morning indulgence. I also have a coffee mug compliments of my teachers at one of my schools which they presented to me on Teacher's Day this month. I have seen coffee made here.  Normally you get a packet of instant stuff with TONS OF SUGAR, making it undrinkable.  However, some of the places take ground coffee and put it into a sort of sock and then pour hot water through this.  Can you imagine my delight when I found a french press in a store in Kota Tinggi?? It does not fit well, and the disc you press leaves a gap around the glass container, but if careful, you can avoid too much sediment getting into the cup.  I know there is a Starbucks in JB so might even pick up some of that (sorry Jenn and Marc) if this tetra pack works out this morning.This all may be a useless adventure. I have not had any coffee since my feet were in Canada. I have not missed it, but am curious to see if I can enjoy a cuppa.  Better be quiet though, Jeff and his friends are sleeping late as they spent a good part of the night laughing at my adventure in the hospital last month.  I was up far too late as well, but left the gathering after we finished off the popcorn prepared over the barbecue with a joint venture of our two woks as a popper.  Nice Canadian treat at midnight!

New screens and a clean house

I was just replying to a friend's e-mail when I realized how crazy things are done here. I purchased a cabinet today for my kitchen.  It is actually a shoe cabinet apparently, but I need somewhere to put food and dishes that I have accumulated.  I cannot stand the constant mess on a plastic table in my kitchen with everything I own there.  Never any room to prepare anything either. Now the funny thing about the shoe cabinet is that I could not begin to put a pair of shoes in it because the depth is only long enough for Levi's sneakers.  I dont think I have exceptionally long feet, so people here must have very very short feet.  It doesn't look like something to hold shoes, it looks more like a pantry cabinet that people have in Canada.  They sell a version of a pantry cabinet here but tend to add a couple of hundred ringitts to the price when they do. So a shoe cabinet is just right for me.  What I had mentioned to my friend is that buying things to be delivered here is a bit of a crap shoot. You purchase the product with cash and then go home and believe it will arrive in a few hours. So far, everything has arrived. But not sure what recourse one would have if the purchased item did not show up.  Having said that, I just heard the sound of a squeaky truck wending its way down my road with my  goods.  I am beginning to think that this cash only system rules over the North American plastic payment style in that there seems to be an honesty or maybe trust that westerners seem to have lost.
Now I better go fill the larder with the various bottles, cans, and packets that are strewn about my kitchen.

another Fox Paw - but not all my fault

This afternoon found me motoring down the highway to JB for a Justco run for food.  I found so many good things, in fact my dinner tonight consisted of bbq lamb chop, sauted baby asparagus with some kind of bubbly brown and white mushrooms. and English cucmber slices. Topped off with a big mug of tomato juice.  I was so excited when I spied a freezer loaded with ahi tuna fillets as well as scallops and many other treats I wanted to stop and eat right there. But the excitement turned to dismay when I reached in and felt all the packages soft and less than cool.  The cooler was clearly not working, so looks like I will not be buying any kind of yummy seafood until I can determine that someone else has bought it all after they refroze the fishies or they claimed the loss on their insurance.  Anyway, my feet took me to an aisle that sells shampoos. Nowhere can one buy a shampoo that actually cleans your hair. All those drugstore types that just build up some kind of scum is all I can find. I spied some kind of clear stuff with pictures of coconuts on the front label. But ALL the writing was in Malay. Usually you can find something in English, but not this stuff. It was with shampoos so I took a bottle. At the checkout I asked the clerk if it was indeed shampoo. He advised that it was.  Tonight I poured a huge blob on my head in the shower and fellt like I had emptied the grease pot from one of the local eateries on my hair. It took 4 -5 latherings with the drugstore crap I have and even after that I could feel a lovely oil slick that the Exxon Valdez could not hold a candle to.  I can't go to my hairwasher tomorrow morning as I have THE WONDERFUL SCREEN MAN ARRIVING, plus a colleague who is dropping his car for me to somehow get to the service people, plus Jeff's friends arriving while he drives others to the airport. So, I guess I will be a greaser for the next 48 hours.I am not sure what I bought, but maybe it would be better on a salad or in the frying pan.  I will have to take it to school to see if a teacher can interpret it for me after the holiday. I also patted myself on the back because I missed the overhead ramp to get to the store because some pushy driver hogged the lane and gave me no chance to get into it. I ended up driving through an underpass and then wondered where the heck I was going. I refuse to communicate with that GPS witch. We are not on speaking terms.  Lucky me! I saw the hospital where I was hold up for a while and knew it was just down the road from Justco. 

Oh yes, Jeff and I are invited to a wedding down the road on Sunday. We live in a community that is very interesting. Both Chinese and Milay live here. Not common to mix the two.  I saw some big marquees going up at the end of the road yesterday and told Jeff we might be in for a noisy bash one of these days when we saw tables, chairs and some kind of stage arrive. So, because no one talks to us, we wandered down together to check it out. There was a man (Malay)  there who had some English and told us his sister is getting married on Sunday. We were then invited to join them.  I think we will because it might just be what is needed to get us into the community. 

Now that I am clean and shiny (partly because of the oil slick on my head) I am ready to settle in with my homemade chai tea (no MILK no HONEY - and I discovered that a handful of black pepper corns make it outstanding) and a book loaned from a friend. Last night with Frannie's homemade screens on my bedroom window. And best of all, no one has seen the duct tape marvel I created - except Jeff. But I have more on him that a pathetic screen, so I am safe.

PS Look out Ryan, I just might end up on your doorstep in the next week or so

Screens Installed on Saturday

May not sound like a big deal to most readers, but this is the most exciting news I have received since I landed in this country.  I am sure I will make a video for here once I finish my happy dance without mosquitoes.  Gonna take Jeff out to dinner at Rosemerah cafe tonight. It is a long overdue thank you for such good care he took of me while dengue was part of my life.  Although it is one of the cleaner restaurants in town, I think I will abstain from eating.  The spices are serious and I just am not quite ready to tackle that in my system just yet.  Pretty boring entry today, but that is what kind of day it has been.
TGIF tomorrow and the beginning of a 2 week vacation too.

On a more serious note - Ghazi died.  The fall from the wall was just too much for the little dude.  Gordon should never have left such a little guy unsupervised. I actually picked him up today (with several layers of paper napkins and a piece of cardboard I cut from a box) and took him to his resting place on the grassy weed area across from my house. I am sure he will be a banquet for some local birds or something.  Kind of a gecko chip at this point.  

some oddballs contacting me

tried to make the blog invitation only but I think it only complicates reading it. So disregard the invitation I sent and I will delete the invitation only.

Medem Frencees to the rescue

On my way home from work last night I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some papaya. A sweet little girl about 2 or 3 years old approached me and began to whimper.  She took my hand and babbled in Malay. I was sure she had lost her mother, but totally amazed that she wanted me.  Jeff has the opposite affect on small children - they cry and run in the opposite direction when he is around. Loved telling him about this one.
I finally found some Malaysian woman who took the little girl and found her mother. This little girl didn't even want to leave me.  No, I don't need to take in children while I am here. I do draw a line.

Cart people in Canada - Cart dogs in Malaysia

Here in Kota Tinggi, as I mentioned earlier, there is not a great deal of evidence of homelessness. Not sure why, but I have only seen one older fellow laying on the concrete in the downtown area.  However, last night brought back familiar sounds of cart people meandering down my street very late at night. You know the sound – jingling and jangling of grocery carts on uneven pavement.  I was wakened to this sound and at first I thought it was someone turning on and off my water tap on the patio. It would jingle and then stop and then begin again. Much like the heavy spray from a faucet. By the way, that is the only faucet I have that actually has any water pressure. Maybe I should install a shower on the patio!  Anyway, back to the night noises.  I finally got up to see if I could see anything causing the noise. In the darkness I could see a large dog across the road and it appeared to have a rope or some kind of leash attached to his neck.  He was pulling on this rope with his head pulled off to the side, demonstrating a struggle with the weight of something attached to the rope.  He would pull, then stop and rest, and then try another direction and pull again. This went on all night until early dawn.  I finally was able to sleep and upon waking wondered what the heck the dog was pulling. It looked like a piece of furniture, but in the dark it was difficult to make out exactly what. Clearly this dog had been restrained by someone and he decided that he was a free spirit and needed to move on. Later in the morning I talked with Jeff and mentioned this noise event in the night. He said he also heard it and asked if I got up to check on what it was. We both saw the poor beast.  However, on his way to work this morning, he came to our intersection where we have to turn right onto the highway, and there amid the pylons was this poor dog laying in the middle of the road.  The rope wrapped tightly around the pylon – giving him no escape route and no chance of moving away from the pylon. Jeff, the big hearted Canuck, got out of his car, and began to untangle the dog. The dog was freaked out by this stranger and was pulling in all directions, completely unaware that he had an ally, not a foe.  He finally got the dog separated, but now Jeff was completely covered in mud from the night travels the dog had taken through whatnot. So now separated from the from the pylon he  pulled him over to a house at the corner where we see tons of dogs and hear them regularly at night. He knocked at the door and was greeted by an elderly Indian fellow covered with a small cloth about the size of a large wash cloth.  Surprisingly , the old boy could speak English, so Jeff explained the situation to him.  The old guy agreed to take the dog and see how he can find the owner. Jeff headed home to change his clothes and try again to get to work. 

Another example of Canadians that care.  Jeff said that the dog would have died on the highway – either by being hit by a vehicle or from the heat beating down on him. He was already unable to move at 7 am, so would not have lasted much longer in that condition.  Kudos to Jeff for helping him out. And glad it was him and not me.

The piece of furniture he was dragging was a large lawn chair! Maybe he was heading to the beach.

New Specs

Now that was quick service. And I think I will like them.  RM330 (divide that by 3 for CAD) and I have transition glasses that actually work in this climate. I can wear them as specs, go outside and have them as sunglasses, and drive the beater to and from meetings without being so fatigued that I can hardly see where I am. I am not a very fashion conscious sort  and the optometrist tried to convince me that the frames I chose were not suitable. Bought them anyway. I liked the brand name. It is the same as the dishwasher brand that everyone back in Canada has. Miele.  I figured that I cannot have a dishwasher here in Malaysia, so might as well have something that reminds me of one.  Still have to switch to the reading glasses, but I only need them if I am doing a great deal of small print reading.  I might even take a picture of myself in them and post them here.  But probably not. Those that know me, know that there are not a lot of photographs of me anywhere.

good news comes in small packages

OK, the passport issue is resolved. We as Canucks seem to have a privilege that our USA neighbours do not. We can come and go in Malaysia as we wish. The ones south of our Canadian border have to get a special stamp to allow this. Too bad we were not told as many colleagues were stressing about tickets purchased for travel this week and not being able to leave the country. But all is well and we can all go away (if we can afford it).

Don't have to travel to Batu Pahat on Thursday  for the grand opening. Rescheduled to after our break.

Maybe not a big deal to you in Canada. But here where we are it is a bonus to have these taken care of.