count down

This many more sleeps before the water boy arrives.

Laundry done, floors washed, patio washed, garden tended.

Guess it is time to make the Baileys now.

Ni hao ma?

Here are the things I learned this week.

Ni hao ma is Mandarin for "how are you'?  You say it like this: nee how mah.  


The head of the English department from one of the schools I visit taught this to me this week. 
The response (if you are well) is Hao xie xie,  which is pronounced 'how sheh sheh'


At another school I learned another thing in Bahasa Malayu.  


So often I hear 'la' at the end of the sentence, so asked 'what does la mean?'


Apparently there is not a real translation, it is used much like English speakers that keep saying 'you know' after everything they say.  
In a casual conversation you will hear someone reply to a confirmation question with 'ok, la'.  or some such thing.I tested my skills at 'la' on them. They enjoyed.   It is kind of fun to end sentences with 'la', so might just get into the habit.


Just yesterday I received a memo from my boss after I advised I had spent the morning with many parents.  They were all happy to talk with me, like people here are.  They like to see how and what that 'white lady' says.  


My boss told me that I am the 'orang puteh'.  This translates to 'white person'  I suggested that is better than being called the orangutan.   Today he improved the name to 'orang merah jamb'.  orang - people, merah - red, and  when you put merah and jambu together - pink.  So, person, pink = female / white


I guess the next lesson will be Tamil.  That should be able to nicely garble my speaking skills in many languages. I will definitely have to learn to flutter my hands while talking too.

My Canada

A friend sent me this map. It will give you a good understanding of the ex pats living among you elsewhere in the world.

Take a look. I had to make it too big to stay within the borders of this page but for those of you such as myself, we need the big print in order to read all the tidbits.  My own last stop there was the little strip on the west coast -hippies.  I like that.  To our west and south borders - America - my foot!  We are all America - those guys could not even come up with a word to call themselves. That is the USA!

English Week Celebrations

I spent some time yesterday at a school where I was a judge for a story telling competition. After that was over, the kids all wanted to shout out the Hand Hand Fingers Thumb story with me. I had the year two class stand at the microphone with me to lead the story.  Crowded under the canteen roof, we bleated out the words to the story together with great fun.

To view:

Hand Hand Fingers Thumb

story telling competition winner

Jalan Rosak

Jalan Rosak indeed is everywhere in Malaysia. When you travel on the highways here and call them a highway, no one knows what you are talking about, Although the maps indicate highway 3 or highway 92, or highway J172, you will get no help from a Malaysian if you ask anything about any of these.  You might be lucky to see a #3 sign on a stretch of highway, but not likely. The signs will more likely indicated  ‘road to Kota Tinggi'. If you are travelling to JB from Kota Tinggi you name a location (on the highway) by the name of some street that is along that route. For example, coming out of Kota Tinggi the street name is Jalan Kota Tinggi for a considerable distance, then as it approaches a T-intersection – simply known as a junction here, that same road becomes Jalan Sri Saujana, and so on.  When I first began my driving here and used that hag in my GPS I was constantly confused. She kept telling me to turn on to such and such jalan, and really all I needed to do was stay on the curve in the road and keep going.  BTW, there are few jalan (street) signs here so you have to guess what jalan you are on most of the time.  The word jalan is Malay for street.  Every road is called a street here.  Another way of naming your location is to say what street you are on (some highway between 2 points). If you are on your way to Mersing, the road you travel is actually highway 3.  You will never be found if you say you are on highway 3, but if you say you are on the ‘road to Mersing’, you will be asked ‘where’?  Then you say near Kota Tinggi or near Mersing, according to which is closer.  Someone might find you. Don’t say you are near the J172 cutoff. But you can say you are near the ‘Mawai road”. You will definitely be found. 

When I need a giggle after a long day and I have my GPS with me I will turn on the hag and get her to take me home. I do this simply to hear her try to say Kota Tinggi. She still has not mastered the word Tinggi and stumbles over it constantly sounding like she has a serious speech impediment and problematic stutter. She pronounces the double ‘g’ sounds with a ‘j’, but it is a hard ‘g’ sound,  and she allows several utterances of that ‘j’ stuttering along on her way to the next time she has to mention it.  Because that is the longest stretch of jalans on the way home I get to hear her make many faux pas with her pronunciation.  She can be more entertaining than the ‘Vinyl Café’ on CBC.

So, why are there so many Jalan Rosaks in Malaysia?  I keep forgetting to ask and forgetting to check my dictionary to find out what is significant with the word Rosak.  I asked the other day.  Rosak means ‘damaged’.  Need I say more?

Here Come the Judge (again)

I think I wrote about this in the past. Referring to the line in Laugh In  many years ago, I am going to be a judge once again for a story telling competition at one of the schools for their English week celebration.  Better find my judging robes and hit the road.  Probably need to take the famous Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumbs book so we can be heard across the hillsides as we beat out the words to the story together as well.

ONLY THIS MANY MORE SLEEPS 'TIL RY ARRIVES

Devices and Charging

How many devices do you own that require a charger? Have you ever wondered why one company can make several models of a product and then nicely require completely different chargers for each model. Nice huh?

Have you ever wondered why there are manuals to read when you buy a product?  Just the other day I was discussing this very thing with my son. He actually has discovered that many people do not read the manual.  I guess I might just fall into that category - sort of. I did not let on that I fit there, I didn't want him to think I was a bonehead.  I buy one product, then a different model of that product made by the same manufacturer and think I know everything.  I don't.  How did I figure out I don't?  I ruined a perfectly good battery, that's how.  I have an electric tooth brush, an electric face cleaner, two cameras, two, no three cell phones, and two computers. All have various types and sizes of batteries. None of them can interchange.  I have a compact camera so I can lug it around with me easily, and charge it frequently because I use it a great deal.  I transposed my knowledge of my toothbrush, which indicates you can charge it continuously (leaving it on the base plugged in) or charge it when the little light begins to flicker. It will complete the charge and charge no more. My toothbrush - I tend to charge when the light flickers. My bloody camera is not as smart.  I regularly plugged the puppy in when I was heading to bed, and disconnected it in the morning. This little lovely is not forgiving.  It only wants 4 hours maximum, and never before half used if I want it to be functional. Seems I over charged the sucker and now own a new RM100 battery to prove my point.  Too bad the toothbrush battery is not the same shape as the camera battery.

Sorry Ry, you don't have to go to a different country to find doorknobs that can't or won't read instructions. They live among you. In your own family.

Now You Can't Say I Never Gave You Something

Long day at work. Today I strayed from the syllabus for the TPD session.  I introduced communication class Frannie 101.  It was well received, challenging to some, but successful overall.  I can see that there must be further  activities in this direction.  What I did was write statements that the mentees had to (try to memorize - or at least speak naturally) and then converse while mingling with the others to find someone who had a statement that could either answer their question or make a suggestion according to what they had to read.  The goal was for them to LISTEN. One of the strips of paper and it's pair were "I have friends visiting and I want to take them to a good curry house'.  The pair was 'Have you tried my brother's new curry house in Kota Tinggi.'  Well it did get amusing. The next activity was to take turns adding to sentences that eventually develop a story that made sense.  One group started a story with I like curry and ended their story with 'If you want great curry, come to my brother's curry house in Kota Tinggi'.  Just like so many signs  indicate "to Kota Tinggi" in JB that a colleague commented  'All Roads Lead to Kota Tinggi'.  And the mentees don't stray far from original thoughts. 

 My boyfriend "Nando' made dinner.  I stopped by his place to pick it up, and then found some cilantro, tomatoes, and chopped garlic at Aeon.  Once home, I chopped and diced and created a nice little salsa aside the lemon herb chicken  with sliced cucumbers for a find repas.  I even topped it off with a Heineken - straight from the bottle.

Now with a Welch's chaser, I think I will call it a night.

Count Down

I had a phone call last night from the water boy.  He is coming to visit me in this many days. Do you think I am excited?  I promise I won't list every day here as I count down his arrival. Nor will I begin the count down to Canada. That would be a bit tedious.  So rest assured that only when I find an interesting marker I will post it here. Otherwise, the counting is in my personal space. We talked so long I hope we have not exhausted our conversation. I am sure that is not the case. Last year at this time we talked our faces off every day when we were together, so this visit will be no different.  A perfect world?  His sister would join us.   I told him to bring his elephant shirt. I have one too. That way, when we are out together, people will think we are twins, not mother and son.  Just that one of us has not had a gentle aging process.

Adieu to a Friend

I met with my friend this weekend who is leaving for Hong Kong at the end of the month. We both invited ourselves to our other friends who live in a very swish condo in JB. Not only did we have a marvellous B & B but a chauffeur taking us to drinks on a lawn overlooking the Straits of Johor and then a fine Intalian restaurant for dinner. Both the cocktail location and the dining choice were great. We kept pinching ourselves because we could not believe we were in Malaysia. Mojitos on the lawn and then lamb shanks and gnocchi made we oldsters ready to call it a night very early.

The three of us all tried to take a photograph to a have a memory of the last night we would all be together for a long time. None of us had the skills, each with our different 'smart' phones. We had waited until the sun had set to do the photography, so here is the result.  We know who we are - we can see 3 bobbing heads in the dark. Can you?

Guess we will have to gather elsewhere for a group picture.

Young Soothsayers

Again I amaze the children, and more so, myself.  Teaching again how to fold origami.  I wonder when they are going to figure out I am a fraud.  These simple origami creations I show them are simply things I learned as a child in Canada. But the magic of this latest invention was more than they could bear.  They could hardly contain themselves when they discovered their little thumbs and pointer fingers could manoeuvre the folded piece of paper into a fortune telling device.  I had many fortunes told this morning once all the art work was done and the paper folded.  Then they gathered into clusters to compare their devining talents.

Colours assigned, but has not figured out where to place his fingers yet

 Amazed how they can manoeuvre  these folded papers, they were afraid to take their thumbs and fingers out for fear of not 'getting it right' again

Having my first of many fortunes told

Comparing their soothsaying talents now they can operate the vehicle

Welch's Grape Juice Came Back!

I have been doling out wee bits of the grape juice I hoarded a few months ago when I learned that Aeon (the former Jusco) has discontinued the product.  I was so sad, a piece of home, a delightful tasty thirst quencher no longer available to me. I even went to the trouble of finding Welch website and wrote to them.  I must be the most annoying consumer on the planet.  However, to the delight of my wondering eyes today I saw a kiosk at the Aeon mall beside the grocery store. Welch was back!  I was immediately given a small glass to taste, but was more interested in purchasing that tasting. When I was finally able to help them understand I wanted to buy the stuff they produced a litre bottle.  I said I wanted more and was so happy they brought it back.  The clerk said "some white lady contacted the store and the supplier wanting the product available'.  Hmm I wonder who that was?

Fearing another discontinuance I bought a case of the stuff; which somehow gave me 6 personal size bottles as a promotional offer.   Now I am going to serve myself a huge icy glass of the nectar of the gods and smile.

Yay Welch's Grape Juice

Have You Watched This Video?

After watching Save My World, I recalled a video that I found a number of years ago that I believe delivered a very strong message.  Many of my blog readers sent comments to me regarding the Save My World video, telling me how much they enjoyed it as well.


I looked for the plastic bag video and discovered it still plays on youtube.

Here is the link.

The Majestic Plastic Bag - A Mockumentary

Delivered like a documentary like those we view of animals that are endangered or nearing extinction, we are taken on a journey of the life of a plastic bag.  Not very pretty.

Today, on my TGIF, I will hit Jusco and other shops for my weekly food supply with my many personal shopping bags. Don't forget your own.

Saving Gaia Singapore Style

This is the best commercial I have seen in ages. Singapore airs it on one of the channels I get here in Malaysia.

Saving Gaia or Save My World, as they sing, is beautifully done.  Good job kids.

just click on the link below to watch these future adults

Save My World

This video shows you the damage to Gaia in this part of the world. Not unlike the clear cutting of forests back home, palm forests and jungles make way for development of factories and housing, leaving a scar on the earth that opens up more problems when the monsoons hit.  Take a look.

How do They Tolerate it and Keep their Sanity?

I have been attempting to connect to the internet since 5 am - it is now 10 am and I have had two short spurts of connection which ended abruptly.  I have become a master of quick notes and searches, otherwise I would never be able to communicate or search for information here.  This post may never reach the readers.

I do not think there is a place in the world that has such poor technology in place as what we have here.  For some reason; perhaps the citizens do not realize there is much more to be had; it just goes along as it is.  If I ever get that cable connection I honestly hope I will have moved into a speedier and more reliable technical place.  For now, it is only a dream. And for now, I live only a nightmare. My neighbours understand my need to be able to connect with family back home, and use the internet to do my job.  The powers that be however don't seem to share the same empathy.

I go back now to building an activity for my mentees next week in order for them to be critical thinkers, speakers of English, and teachers of English in the classroom. Wish me luck.

Here is a couple of pictures of the mini conference my mentees were able to put together with some guidance from me.  They did a great job yesterday, even with the failure of a/v equipment that was needed to do a presentation.  It eventually resolved and that mentee did a great job, even though he bemoaned to me that he really did not present it well.  Evidence in that performance was over 70 e-mails in his inbox requesting the program he developed for a fun way to teach and test English.

Beginning the afternoon session with remarks and greetings from the District Language Officer on behalf of the Ministry of Education, we started the conference with a 'find someone who' activity and then mingling among various display booths, and presentations by mentees. We ended the gathering with a spelling bee for the assembled guests and participants.

The assembly of 100+ guests and mentees prepare to take part in the spelling bee

Winner of the spelling bee was an invited teachers who is not part of the TELL project. Good for her, she managed to defeat a mentee with the spelling of the word 'manoeuvre'.  Not one that many first language speakers can spell!

Dr. Yeet

I went to a doctor again recently because my lips have developed some attractive little masses due to lack of sun screen whilst out in the sun.  I could not seem to manage to get ahead of the little lovelies so gave in and returned to the medical office. Given some potion much like the overkill of thalidomide for an allergy rash, I disposed of the tube and headed to the pharmacy.  The Chinese pharmacist seemed to be on the right track, but still they persisted and I was constantly applying the stuff and still cracking my face when I opened my mouth more than a slit.  At work today I was not really sweating. I think my whole body was leaking.  There was not an inch of fabric on my clothing that was not drenched. I was not alone; everyone was fanning themselves and moaning about the heat. As I watched one teacher trying to fan herself with a scrap of paper I remembered one of my Chinese fans I keep in my brief case. No way was I gonna share this.  I greedily fanned my face, but that only broke out a sweat on the arm that was working. Still, I was better off than the others. You know what hot is when you look at the back of your hand and see it sweating. Have you ever seen the back of your hand sweat? Not likely, but here in the tropics in a heat wave that is exactly what happens.

Today, after work, Yeet arrived with a huge platter of sliced watermelon so we sat together on the patio and noshed on some of the slices. Included in her offering was two baby coconuts.  I sat in the heat, feeling slightly cooler from the watermelon, but sweating in a most unattractive manner.  Yeet, on the other hand was dry and composed.  She kept insisting that I drink one of the coconuts. Finally, I gave in.  Not sure how many times I have to be reminded of this cure.  She has told me many times that the cooling coconut water lowers the body temperature. God only knows if a medical doctor will agree with this, but frankly I don't care. It works. She has also recently told me that when the internal body temperature is high, the lips also get dry and cracked.  I know it works. I have drunk a pail of room temperature water and felt slightly cooled and hydrated, but sweat even more than before I did. I can drink a gallon of iced water and have the same results. But after only a few sips of the cool coconut water I feel the innards cooling off instantly and my mouth not feeling like it will shatter and break if I speak.  And no sweating.  When will I learn?  I never would have believed it had I not experienced the transformation for myself. I was not told that I would cool off and stop sweating, it just happened. Yeet is far too gracious to point out the fact that I am a dripping pool of sweat.  Her reason was that it was good for me.  Yes, Yeet, it is good for me. I just might have to find a space in my luggage and stuff you in when I return to Canada. I don't know what I will do without her helpful remedies.

I have the other coconut stashed in my fridge for tomorrow morning.  And I might just save some of the flesh from this one to churn up in the blender with my morning protein shake of papaya, mango, and blueberries with soy protein.

Singapore at Dawn

Thought you might enjoy this picture. If one lives in JB and has the advantage of living at the seaside, such as some friends of mine do, you can see Singapore from your high-rise living room window.  Once you cross the bridge that takes less than five minutes to arrive in Singapore there is a world of difference of what you will see and experience. Apparently not too many years ago, Malaysia was ahead of Singapore regarding technology, infrastructure, and all else. Something drastically changed that and Singapore now has left Malaysia in a cloud of dust in that regard.
My friends live in a condo that sits only a block or so from the shoreline, so the view is spectacular.  This is what you see if you arise before dawn.

It is an incredible place. Over 5 million people call Singapore home on a landmass of only 247 square miles. I don't know how to visualize this, but have been told that it would be a slightly smaller area than the city of New York. To give a comparison I can relate to, Vancouver Island has a land mass of 12,500 square miles and about half a million people living there.  There are several smaller island included in this population, but the bulk of the population lives in Singapore, the main island. There are green spaces that give you the feeling of openness, but the housing is definitely crammed in with matchstick high-rises that you see everywhere. The cultural diversity makes it a great place to visit. With Chinese making up over 75% of the population, followed by a very distant second and third of Malay and Indian, in that order, you can get right into any of those cultures just by choosing a neighbourhood to immerse yourself into.  I did attend the Depavali celebrations there last year. The entire area of Little India was alight and alive with celebrations of their cultural heritage. I declined the Chinese New Year celebrations this year, but probably should experience that before I leave.    

There is your geography lesson for today.

Nice to Live Where I Live

Today when I went out to water my plants I discovered the hose laying on the patio and the water running from the faucet.  Seems the connection broke and I could not get the water to turn off.  I got it to a trickle, but not off.  My neighbours were all out, so no help in that regard. None of the hardware shops are open on Sunday, so that was not helpful. I called 'waterman wong'. No answer. No voice mail.  So, all afternoon I regularly went out and dumped the pails of water on plants and gathered again and repeated.

About five pm I heard my neighbour's electric parking gate opening, so dashed out to meet them. Lucky for me, they had a spare water faucet and installed it for me.  Don't think I would get better serve than that back home.  It feels good to be part of a community. Many of my colleagues don't even know who lives next door to them on either side. I have been very fortunate having a close knit group where I live.

Saturday Drivel

After spending an entire day washing the main floor floors, I decided to see what mail I had. After trying for more than an hour, I conceded and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. Looking for a gecko to hold in my left hand, I gave up, so just waved toward mecca with a dust cloth. That seemed to work, and the internet connected.  I hope that it will stay connected long enough to write some drivel here.

Well, maybe a disconnect can give me an excuse for the lack of anything worthy of typing.  I did get a message from Jenn - a cd of the kids is in the mail for me.  Once I get that I can sit and stare at the computer without worrying about internet any longer.

For your treat today, a photo of Kolly, accessorized to the hilt for her pose.  Apparently she enjoys accessorizing herself these days. This will prove it.

Hat and specs, and her car waiting in the background, Miss Muffit is ready to roll. Either five o'clock shadow or sand adorn her upper lip and chin. I am going with sand.

Pen Pal Letter Reading

Once the students realized I had a letter from their pen pal, Erika, from Canada, they could not contain themselves. One little guy begged to be able to open it. Torn apart, he and three others began reading the contents to the class.  They all wanted to put her letter on the bulletin board with her photograph.  Instead, I had their teacher photocopy them each a copy so they could take them home to show their parents.

The also received a letter from their friend's grandmother (my friend) Pat.  Now they look for the books with the card in the front that says 'donated by' and are so excited that they have a letter from a book donor.  They then began turning to the first page of all the books in the cart to read the names of the people who donated the books. Pat is a hero - she has sent Curious George Books.  A few months ago, they actually met a couple of donors - two friends of mine who came to visit me.  These guys are becoming very worldly in this reading and writing venture they have embarked themselves on.

Being the first day I have seen them since returning from vacation, here are a couple of pictures of them once they discovered the replenished book cart.

I better get a book before they are all gone.

Let's trade when we are finished

SpongeBob is the BEST!

I wonder if I can read all 12 today?

SpongeBob is Great!

And, before the reading of SpongeBob SquarePants and his adventures, the video of the reading of the pen pal letter is here.

http://youtu.be/ElrPs7leQno

Hope you enjoy

TGIF

I didn't have to ponder my dinner decision very long. A plate of sesame seed covered broccoli and 3 white dragon fruits appeared at my gate while I was considering my dinner.  Nice!

And today - a trip to a school and then home for the weekend.  Nice again!

Maybe my elusive grandchildren will give me the honour of their presence on Skype this weekend?

Mayhem, Gridlock, and Gasless Vehicle

Don't worry. I did not snap a picture while driving. But this is exactly what I was in this morning on my way to the conference where I was doing a presentation. I was meeting my colleagues so we could take a cab there instead of trying navigate the city gridlock.  However, even though I began my journey at 7:15 this morning, I did not get to the meeting place until 8:45.  The trip normally takes about 15 - 20 minutes. I eventually discovered the cause - a semi spread across an on ramp lane and a driving lane, reducing the congestion to only one lane of  traffic.  To top it off, I used over a half a tank of petrol because I was idling with the air conditioner on, in order to avoid being a sweaty pool of dampness.  Soon turned that off when I saw the 'get gas now' light flashing on my dash.  Finding petrol stations here is nothing like home. They are few and far apart, and never on the right side of the road when you need one. I took a chance and kept motoring to the meeting site and dealt with the problem at the end of the day.  It worked. I am home and will put the feet up for a while and ponder the evening reaps.  I am thinking left over curry is in order. Beside I was treated to a very fine lunch. Preparing myself for a dead fish on top of fried rice, I soon learned there was a choice - lamb or fish. Lamb, of course.  Starter was a puree vegetable soup, followed by either chicken or beef pizza slice, and then the artistically arranged lamb 'something' atop cubed squashes and yams. Tres Bonne.  And to end - tiramisu.  Wow, I guess it was worth that picture at the beginning of the day.  I was seated beside the head professor from the college of education in Malaysia, who flattered me by telling me that although he was unable to attend my presentation, the feedback he has received is topnotch (his words) so I guess I did a good job.  Another accolade for we Canucks - everyone loves our accent. It is the easiest to reproduce according to the audience.  They also indicated they always know what we are saying. Go Canada!

Phonics in the Classroom

I have been having fun with the children with Winnie the Pooh and friends. And recently, I have managed to sit back and listen to the students read the Curious George books to me.  My goal seems to be coming to fruition.  I also was able to pick up a set of advanced phonics books in Singapore starring SpongeBob SquarePants. So I definitely have a herd of fans with that purchase.

No photos of the student reading - only videos.  I will try to get some shots later this week. Today I had a a class that was so enthusiastic about reading to me that when I asked one student to come to the front, I ended up with a group of little boys all shouting at the top of their lungs, reading the words on the pages.  I think I am glad I have a waxy build up in my ears.  Tomorrow I am doing a presentation to other teachers downtown, so will have fun with them dashing about in paper pirate hats making sounds of letters in order to find their teams. If I manage to get some humorous pictures, I will share them with you.

Now to nosh on another gift of curried veggies and a side of ciao bay chai, compliments of my kind neighbour.  I wonder what her motive is.  I received a plate like this on the weekend.  I was previously told that I must not eat curry too often.  Hmm, there must be something going on.  But, who cares, I love the treat, so will tuck in now. Bon Apetit!

Back to the Salt Mines

Work began again yesterday.  I was actually not ready to return. I was getting into the pattern of being a holidayer.  But, I guess that too has to end.  It was a good day, although not as productive as I had hoped. A colleague and myself are doing a presentation at a downtown hotel this week one day, so after all the meetings and professional development program we settled in to see if our presentations would work. Why? Because we have two miserable computers between us, and my wonderful MAC as the gem.  The last time we tried to do a presentation with the MAC, it connected, but we could not get it to display on the projection monitor. Now, after my holiday, I had actually visited a little genius of MACs in JB who showed me how to configure the settings on the computer. Ta Da, we have the technology.  Our other machines are useless. Mine occasionally turns on and works, while his usually requires a few thumps on the back of the machine, the air blue with cursing, and the occasional opening of the inner parts and waving of the air around this if he wants to use his.  As much as he enjoys teasing me about the MAC, he sticks closely to me because he also knows it is our only hope.   Now all we have to worry about is the power source at the hotel.

I discovered a little trick at the house regarding internet.  Not always cooperating, but it does give hope. I still await the home wireless system. The neighbours all crowd around behind me still and cheer me on with my communications with various parts of the Malaysian hierarchy regarding government and service providers.  But the other day, I took my computer up to my bedroom and stood by the window, holding it facing east and I connected. I had not found a connection for two days otherwise.  Now all I have to do (when the gods of internet want me to have this service) is  stand on one foot, blink rapidly three times, hold a gecko in my left hand, and wave at the sunrise from my bedroom window to get  internet to connect.  I see why the internet provider thinks I am asking for a service that I really do not need. Can't you?  Other than that, life seems to be sorting out well. I am the owner of two printers.  I had to replace the original gem I bought when I landed here. A fine 3 in 1 job figured out how to cease operation just after I purchased a new set of ink cartridges (which I of course opened - so can't return). That was very timely. Only one day after the one year warranty expired.  The other one is a replacement because the ink cartridges put me in the poor house with all the printing I do for my mentees. So, I discovered some sort of external ink well configuration that saves tons of money and shopping trips.  However, it does not come without a price.  It seems to want my companionship, so, each time I print, I have to crawl down to the floor beside the computer desk and gently hold each piece of paper that is going through the printer and release it gently with encouragement as it disappears. Otherwise, the whole thing shuts down and says 'no, I won't print'.  I have to keep both, because the second printer is just a printer. The first one is a printer, copier, scanner. I no longer have a copier option, but the scanner is a tool that is regularly used. So, now when I scan I must plug in the old dinosaur, configure the scanner and once completed, I have no option to save my document. I did discover it just saves it to my desktop, (usually the desktop) but I can also find the finished document elsewhere on the computer. Yay technology in Malaysia.  Good thing the house is big.  With this sort of planned obsolescence, one needs lots of space to house all the tools of work here.  I think it is the incredible humidity that does everything in here. 


Yes, speaking of humidity, I have begun using the air conditioner in my bedroom - not sure it really works. I set it to cool, fan, and dry at various times and the result is usually less humidity in the bedroom if I close the door. Also set the temperature to about 28 or 30, but not really sure that works either.  I have nothing to gauge that except when I open the bedroom door in the morning and feel a blast of wet muggy air hit me from the rooms beyond.  So something is working.  I think it is the 'dry' cycle.  Hey, maybe I have invented a clothes dryer here! I never leave that machine on all night - it drives me crazy with the noise, and I always am freezing due to the extreme difference of every day life and then this mechanical fake air.  I also have to slather my lips with a heavy layer of lip gloss due to the drying quality of this machine.  Yes, I am now convinced that I have discovered the dry cycle.  


Well, the gecko is squirming. I think he wants to go find breakfast, so I better let him go and get on with his day.  Adios for now. The internet will likely disappear once he is out of reach. Besides, I am getting tired of standing on one foot and the dawn is taking forever to break.

Carts are Ready to Roll

I have sorted and prepared the library carts for the schools again.  I somehow forgot to pick up the cart from the Chinese school so will have to figure out how to change their books and make sure everyone has a new assortment to choose from for the next two weeks. I guess I will just have to pick a few here and pick a few there from the other carts and just leave them for three weeks instead of two before the next rotation.  I am beginning to wonder why I took on this project.  Not really, my neighbour and her Singapore friend came over yesterday while I was sorting and we all had fun reading small excerpts from the books and having a giggle while doing so.  Dr. Seuss and the gang would have been proud!

Doesn't look like much, but there are about 50 books in each cart awaiting eager readers. And of course, one cart is missing. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this assortment of 250 books!

Here is the stack I picked up in Singapore last week to add to the piles.

And for breakfast - fresh rambutan - a gift from the neighbour.  Nice - it could have been durian, as that is now in season again. Roadside durian stalls are popping up all over the place again.

For some reason, I am not anxious to return to work. I still feel like holiday mode.  There is much to look forward to.  Letters from some pen pals which will have the students very excited.  A new interest from a Canadian teacher wanting to take part in the pen pal project. New books I picked up for phonics with Sponge Bob Squarepants as the focal point.  A special presentations to some non mentees at a conference in downtown JB mid week.  However, when I look forward, I see there are no more holidays until the end of August. arghhhh

Two Days Before Work

I know I am getting back into a routine when I hear the 'hello' over my gate.  This morning, as I poured my coffee, Hoo called over the gate with a plate of coconut treats and his welcome 'hello'.  Now, as the sun is setting, he came back with another 2 plates of delights.  A brimming plate of curried vegetables with a side plate of flash fried curry leaves.  Those little tidbits are like eating mini potato chips with a curry tree leaf flavour.

Volcanic Mountain in Bali

The final leg of the journey.  A lunch (Halal) at the site of the still active volcanic mountain  in Bali.
To see where this volcanic mountain is in relation to the village of Ubud, here you are:

The southernmost tip of the pink route is where the airport is on Bali.  We started each day from Ubud, which is midpoint on that route marker and travelled in all directions to get a taste of Bali life and culture. We travelled all over the island during our week there. The only area I did not explore was the most northern western tip of the island. I guess I will have to go back.

When we sat down to lunch, this is what we saw in the hazy overcast sky.

Before we left, the skies cleared and I snapped another view through the brilliant sunshine.

With a deep valley between us, we lunched on what else - chicken, and took in the breathtaking view of the mountain.

To our right, we could view the mountain top lake.  The best - it was cool outside. The last time I felt this temperature without it being electrically produced was in Vancouver last December.  What a treat, and the entire vacation was also at least 10 degrees cooler than Malaysia.  I will go back!

        As Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner so aptly say: 

'That's All Folks' and as I say "Bali Hai"

OOPS, one more

The dance that Lukmin insisted we attend was no disappointment. We had seen dancing the first night on arrival at the barbecue, but this was like play and dance all in one, and the actors were completely engaged in their antics and acting.  There was a moral to the story - the struggle between good and evil within one. Before it began, Lukmin took me to the woman dressed in Balinese attire and asked me to pose with her.  He took this photo with my camera. When we left the play at the end, there was someone outside the theatre offering me a plate that had been produced with that crazy photo etched into the surface. I should have taken it, but was shocked that someone had been able to do this, so said 'no thanks'.  How cool to eat papadoms off a plate with my face on it?  I guess I will never know.

A lovely lady greeted us at the entrance to the theatre

What follows is various acts during the play. It involves a tiger, a mischievous monkey, and loud and colourfully dressed actors.  Look on if you like.  The first is a picture of the tiger entering the stage. The second is a short video of what went on with his entrance. Two people in costume - with the lead person clacking the tiger's teeth.  Quite amusing.  The 'orchestra' section is to the left of the stage. They entertained us before the actors appeared and during the performance. They are in the third photograph down.

After an interlude of drums and clanks, the tiger appeared clacking teeth and all.

this video seems to 'fall off' so if it does again, just click on this youtube link:

http://youtu.be/t6g0pAdphJI

Just to give you an idea of what we listened to during the next hour.

Our orchestral entertainment came from this roofed area.

Here is a closeup of the characters. I do not have zoom lens on the camera I took with me, so I could not get these kind of shots throughout. Just wanted you to see the colourful costumes we witnessed.

It is nearly 10 am and I have been advised we have a power outage planned for the rest of today. I will have to return with the remaining photographs after that.  Come back later to see the entire play, if you like.

Power back, more pictures:

The monkey appears after the initial musical entrance of the tiger

The monkey and tiger together struggling for power

The beautiful women appear

Now the men, with their quest for the dark side

The struggle between good and evil, and of course, the women reign (in my mind anyway)

Baskets on Heads and Hillside Rice Terraces

One can quickly understand the perfect posture of the Balinese.  If you were to carry all that you were selling on the top of your head, you too would have this perfection.  I was completely fascinated with how they managed to walk in the crowds and drive scooters as well, all the time balancing these baskets on their heads.

Here are a couple of women doing just that.

Not a good picture, but when I tried to take a close up picture of a woman with a basket on her head, she waved me away and scowled at me. Clearly it was not something they find appropriate to photograph. So, I had to wait until they passed in order to take a picture.

If you look at the woman in front of the white van, you can see her balancing a heavy basket on her head.  Wish I could have a smiling face and a head topped wicker basket, but I guess those two are not something one will find together. 

Again, I have not done justice to this view. Before me was a kind of canyon of terraced rice paddies. Deep into the valley there were narrow rows of rice growing and fed water from an irrigation system that had been created for this field.  Here is where I picked up the stem of rice to post on the blog to show everyone what a ripe rice stalk looks like.  I think you would have to be part mountain goat in order to navigate this system of farming.  Can you imagine having to plough under the ripened stalks after the harvest?

I think this completes my Bali adventure.  What I do know, is that I will travel there again.  Maybe I will even take in a beach or two. But probably not.  When there is so much to see inland in such a small space, it takes days to feel and experience all there is to offer. A beach can be found anywhere. But Balinese culture is unique.

Bali Hai