TopCat

The stink of success

2010-06-20T23:00:00.002+08:00

A few months ago our school held a charity carnival called IU Day. We invited a company called "Truly Loving Company" to be part of the festivities. This company, called TLC for short, gives away their profits to charities. They were selling some of their products at the carnival, which are basic toiletry products. I wanted to support them so I overpaid for a bag that had some shower cream, talc powder and 3 bars of soap. That was in March and I've been slowly working my way through the shower cream ever since. A week ago I noticed a really bad smell while showering. I dismissed it as my usual horrible body odor but I began to notice it every time I showered. So I started to blame the water until I realized that the water would only smell for part of the shower, specifically the part of the shower when I was using shower cream. Bending down, I twisted the pump off the shower cream and realised the culprit was actually my jungle rain shower cream. Evidently a jungle rain reeks like rotting flesh. I've never had an experience like this where a shampoo or shower foam went bad with such panache (to my knowledge). May it never happen again!

Malaysia hits the 'tweens

2010-06-19T15:26:00.000+08:00

Those of us that work in middle schools deal with and observe a sad ritual every year. Students hit those tender ‘tween years and before our eyes go through identity crises. They try to mimic the most popular stars, girls striving to be razor thin and boys adopting mannerism or speech and fashion that makes them cooler. I still remember my brother buying a pair of overalls back in the late ‘80s when it was cool to wear them with one side unhooked. I’m sure it was something I succumbed to as well although in my tainted memory I was the kid who refused to buy a letter jacket and a class ring…oh, I did have a Mo Betta shirt. Guilty as charged!

What makes this a difficult transition to watch is when you see a wonderful and unique student changing to find acceptance within a certain group of peers. Language, fashion and attitudes are all victims of their attempts to find acceptance and prestige. Those of us who have walked through the fire look back through the flames with sadness, as what is unique and wonderful is burnt and mangled and usually replaced with cheap mimicry and the mundane. Students sacrifice their identity for popularity and coolness.

Often as I leave my work world and walk into the world of my personal life, I am struck with the fact that I see Malaysia in the throes of this same transition. In the last few weeks the local newspapers have crowed as Gordon Ramsey made a visit to Malaysia and cooked for the Prime Minister. Martha Stewart flew in during the same time frame and filmed a few episodes of her show in KL and Sabah. Malaysia also won a gold medal at the Chelsea Garden Show.

These accomplishments are all well and good and I applaud them but let us look a bit closer at them. Gordon Ramsey came to Malaysia. He graced Malaysia for a few days and made the PM a vegetarian meal on Wesak Day. Yipee! Doesn’t this sound a little too much like an interchange in the halls of a middle school? “Susan had a party over the weekend and I got INVITED! I got to go and all the popular kids were there. I even talked to a few and got to pick a couple of songs for the dance. I’m so lucky”. Really? You were a hanger on at a party where no one will remember your name or what songs you picked. All they will remember is that Susan had a party and that Susan has a great house with a pool.

Malaysia, Gordon Ramsey cooks for lots of famous people. Martha Stewart films hundreds of shows. Chelsea puts on a whole flower show. Malaysia will have arrived when the USA goes nuts for Eric Leong or Britain celebrates the arrival of Chef Wan or Chelsea crows about winning a gold medal at the KL garden show. You cannot achieved greatness by the simple fact that greatness came in close proximity to you.

The bad thing about all this is that Malaysia is a wonderful and unique place. It is full of beauty and wonder, sights, sounds and tastes that don’t exist anywhere else on earth. You are wonderful and beautiful but are in danger of trying to impress the cool kids to the point where you sacrifice your own identity. Look to your south, at the island of Singapore. They aped the West and now they have to import everything, including food hawkers to try to give it a little Asian flavor. Those giant durian-shaped buildings might as well be considered gravestones of a once vibrant culture.

Will Malaysia become sad imitation of the West like Singapore? Or will it find its own identity and bloom in its own unique and wonderful way? Only time will tell what will happen to this nation in its ‘tweens.

The Day I Won The Lottery

2010-04-25T08:43:00.002+08:00

Let's step into the way back machine and set it for 1999, September. I moved to Bellingham, Washington and needed a place to live. I found a house that had six bedrooms and only 5 guys living in it, so I moved in. Erek and B.J. have become my best friends over the last ten years. Paco was an Mexican illegal, fish processor and part-time DJ. Roman was from the Czech Republic and worked construction. Ian is still around Bellingham last I heard working for whatever phone company owns that call centre on Bakerview. Wow, what a fun trip in the way back machine...ahhh...ten years have passed. Let's step back into the future.

I was headed to Koh Phi Phil for my vacation during our term break. I went to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)and met my friends June and Adrian there. We waited and then they called the flight for Krabi, Thailand. June and Adrian boarded but I don't like lines so I just waited for the queue to diminish. As the last few people went out the gate onto the tarmac (not a jetway boarding) I got up and started out. I handed in my boarding pass and walked towards the plane and the tall, metal boarding steps. Suddenly, I heard "Travis, Travis!"

I turned around to see a white guy standing next to me saying my name and holding his hand out for me to shake it. He had a huge grin on his face and obviously knew who I was. I, on the other hand, drew a blank. I searched the recesses of my mind for who this guy could be as I pumped his hand and thought, "He obviously knows who I am." Then, the penny dropped. "ROMAN" I exclaimed. It seems that Roman had moved back to the Czech Republic, become a police man, then he and some friends decided to travel Malaysia and Thailand. Lo and behold, he saw me at the airport. I gave him my number and told him to call me and we caught up as best we could before I had to get onboard my flight. He never did call me and is back home now. As I took my seat, I thought, "I bet the odds of me running into him like that are lower than most odds when you play the lottery. You know, it's kind of like I just won the lottery."

Koh Phi Phi: A Gorgeous Tourist Trap

2010-04-19T23:10:00.002+08:00

Let’s face it: Westerners love Thailand. Hordes of them flock to Thailand from Europe to escape the brutal winters but also North Americans can be found as well. The culture is rich, the beer is cheap, the sex is plentiful and the scenery spectacular. Nowhere have I found an intersection of these ideas as evident as on Koh Phi Phi.

Evidently, in the early 1990’s Phi Phi was a sleepy little island an hour and a half by ferry from Phuket or Krabi. Then Alex Garland wrote a book called “The Beach” which was made into a movie in 1999 starring Leonardo Dicaprio. Suddenly the island became a mecca on the backpacker’s trail. Then it was devastated by the tsunami and has been rebuilt and is thriving once again. It teems with visitors from all over the world during the high season from early December to end of April.

Phi Phi is gorgeous. You can see the draw for the Northern Europeans suffering through six months of winter to step on a flight and spend two weeks basking in the sun and surf of Phi Phi. It is dumb bell shaped, with the western side being sheer cliffs that draw rock climbers from around the world to attempt routes up the various faces. The ‘handle’ of the dumb bell is a sandy beach with a bay to the north and one to the south. Sandwiched on this sand bar is a labyrinth of streets, shops, guest houses, restaurants, bars, massage parlours and tattoo shops. The sunsets looking to the northwest from Loh Dalum Bay are spectacular.

One of the sunsets on Loh Dalum Bay

“The Beach” is the now popular name for Maya Beach, on Lay Phi Phi, a separate island accessible by a 15-20 minute boat ride. Maya Bay is spectacular for several reasons. It is hemmed in by cliffs on nearly every side and these cliffs contrast with the turquoise-tinged water in dramatic fashion. It is also spectacular for the mobs that turn up there every day. Scores of boats ferry hundreds of people to the beach and bob just offshore waiting to take them back to Koh Phi Phi. One large vessel was spilling out snorkelers as if it were a plant spewing spores. In the end 200 or so of its offspring littered the water surrounding the boat. Maya Bay, albeit beautiful, becomes choked boats and people.

A view of Maya Beach and the waters of Maya Bay.

Tattoos seemed to be the fashion of choice and peeked out at you from under shorts and straps or covered entire backs. The shops were open air and as you walked past you could watch creations being inked into existence. Thai writing was a popular choice amongst the ‘farang’, which is Thai for foreigner.

Backpackers like their alcohol and it was abundant on Phi Phi. Bars lined the beach of Loh Dalum Bay and the revelers were spoiled for choice. Many of the bars put on ‘fire shows’. This is where young Thai males twirl batons or nunchuk like implements that are doused in kerosene and set ablaze. Some of the fire artists were amazing. Others were not and others looked to be no older than 12 or 13. Later, flaming limbo, flaming jump rope and a game of “jump through the ring of fire” were played using volunteers from the crowd.

A fire twirler in front of Apache Beach Bar

A bucket is the cheap way to get drunk on Phi Phi. Most shops sell a kit that is a bucket, a can of Coke, a small bottle of Red Bull and then some kind of whisky. You buy one, empty the contents into the bucket and consume via a straw. Now go jump through a ring of flames for sure fire (pun intended) fun.

As you walked to the west side, the beach was really nice with no crowds and a good breeze. In the warren of streets in the small town it was sweltering.

There are some Thais on Phi Phi. They drive the boats, staff the guest houses, are clerks at the small trinket or sundries shops but in general it feels like they are the foreigners. Phi Phi is done by Westerners for Westerners.

The good thing about Phi Phi is there is plenty to keep you busy for a week or two. Work on your tan. Dive a couple of days. Learn to rock climb. Trek up to the viewpoint. Eat and drink any kind of food you desire. Take a Thai cooking class.

In the end Phi Phi is an island paradise that insulates you from Thailand. British or American breakfast followed by a lie on the beach with a book and a bucket in the evening give no chance to see the poverty stricken rural areas with its dusty streets or the throngs and jams of Bangkok or the AIDS/HIV and sex worker issues that plague the country. Not only it is an escape from the brutal winters of Europe but it is also an escape from the Thailand as well.

Long tail boats decorated in Thai fashion.

Koh Phi Phi: The Dives

2010-04-19T22:10:00.004+08:00

The sheer walls of Lay Phi Phi make for dramatic scenery. Phi Phi is surrounded by awe inspiring vistas and tranquil seas.

This last week I spent most of 5 days on Koh Phi Phi. This is a very famous island on the west coast of Thailand, accessible by ferries from Krabi and Phuket. To be honest, I knew little about Phi Phi prior to my visit so I went in with unsure expectations, just knowing its reputation as an island paradise.

First let me start with the diving. We did 8 dives in Phi Phi. The marine park that surrounds Phi Phi has 6 islands total: Koh Phi Phi, Lay Phi Phi, Bida Nok, Bida Nai, Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island. The first day there was an option for a trip to the south, to Hin Dang and Hin Muang, two submerged sea mounts or pinnacles about 2 hours by speed boat. Our two dives there were good but not spectacular. One member and a DM from our group did glimpse a whale shark swimming past. This is the draw of Hin Dang and Hin Muang. A few years ago they were sites where whale sharks and manta rays were frequently spotted. The frequency has dropped off but it is still a popular site. It is in the middle of nowhere and still there were two liveaboards and our speedboat there the day we dove.

The second day we convinced our dive shop, Blue View Divers, to do 3 dives instead of their usual 2 dive trip. Our first dive was on the west side of Lay Phi Phi. It turned out to be a great dive with a couple of turtles and my best every viewing of a leopard shark. The leopard shark swam as close as two meters to me. Our surface interval was at Maya Bay on Lay Phi Phi, which I will tell you more about later.

Our second dive was Bida Nok. A nice dive with the usual suspects, the highlight being a huge school of baitfish that were flitting here and there in unison along a 10 meter wall in the middle of the dive.

Our third dive was the Viking Cave Artificial Reef. The reef is large concrete cubes, stacked on one another. The cubes are just the frames so you can swim through the center of them. The dive was fairly average.

The last day we were given the opportunity to charter a yacht for just 10USD extra and do three dives. The first dive was King Cruiser, a huge ferry that sank in 1997. The visibility was poor but the wreck of the King Cruiser is the largest one I have dove to date.

Next stop was Shark Point, which failed to live up to its name. Instead it is a reef teeming with soft coral and anemones. We saw several lion fish and morays on the dive.

The last dive of the trip was back on the west side of Lay Phi Phi and a very sad dive to end our trip. The highlight was a reef octopus hiding in a hole near the end of the dive.

I really enjoyed the yacht. It was nice to just relax and lay on the deck while doing surface intervals. So peaceful. I just wanted them to stop the music and kill the engine most of the time so we could just hear the waves and other ocean sounds. Alas, they did not. The downside was that we did long surface swims each dive, the last one being about 200 meters. I would’ve liked to be dropped closer to the dive sites. I definitely would do the boat, the Dragonheart, again but I don’t think I would pay what they will eventually price it at. We had a special trial rate.

Phi Phi is not a diving destination. The dives were all good dives but nothing spectacular. If you dive Krabi, Phuket or Phi Phi you will be diving pretty much the same sites from each place.

It solidified in my mind that I don’t enjoy diving with most Western dive operators in Asia. They only offered two boat dives a day and never mentioned a night dive. Most dive operators I have dove with in Malaysia offer three boat dives. The dive masters were nice but a bit demanding. One required that we do buddy checks on every dive even though we had the same buddy and same equipment on each dive. Releases don’t wander around your equipment between dives. Also, when the signal to take a safety stop was given, you had to immediately start your safety stop. You couldn’t finish looking at something and start it a minute or two later. It had to be NOW!

I have found the dive operators in Malaysia more flexible, albeit sometimes too lax on rule following, but generally I prefer the Asian style.

Phi Phi is a place where the dives are another activity that is added to the overall list of things to do on the island rather than a specific reason to visit.

Our yacht, the Dragonheart.

Crown of Shyness (FRIM)

2010-02-28T17:46:00.002+08:00

Friday was a public holiday in Malaysia so a few of us went out to FRIM or Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Basically it is an area where they have protected the rainforest and put in trails to walk on, a canopy walk (which was closed), a Malay teahouse and there are tours as well. We were just out hiking along when we met a Malay family who had a tour guide, a young girl from Malaysia Nature Society (MNS). We joined the tour and she showed us this amazing phenomenon called the 'Crown of Shyness'. In the rainforest there are certain trees that will give room to other trees and don't even touch as they spread out to form the canopy. I have pictures below but it doesn't do it justice. It reminded me of those optical illusion pictures, when you looked up it made you dizzy and you searched to figure out what was going on. It is one of those things that you never expected and are surprised by it. Stunning really.

We were headed down the slope and our guideline was already staked out by this massive caterpillar.

The National Mosque and KL Train Station (CNY Adventures Part 2)

2010-02-17T19:15:00.007+08:00

The inside of the mosque. The guys on the right are performing their prayers (solat).

KTM HQ from Masjid Negara

Interior of the mosque

They made me wear a gown thingee as I was in shorts. The hood is for women but when you are having a day out and you have just bought novelty green frame glasses you gotta get your Yoda on.

KTM HQ

KL Train Station

Yup, still having fun with the glasses

Interior of the train station. Just uploaded then realized its not centered :(

By the end of the day I had scored some sweet new glasses and a new T-shirt (2.50 USD).

Then you gotta have some fun with the silly pics setting on the Macamera. Kinda froggish.

Petronas Twin Towers and Some Joss Sticks (CNY Adventures Part 1)

2010-02-16T17:36:00.005+08:00

The fountain in Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square)

Petronas Twin Towers

The Towers reflected in the fountain.

I'm a little yellow from the streetlights.

Sometimes you get tired of seeing the Towers in virtually every ad, commercial, movie, etc and then you see them again and realize just how spectacular they are.

Lots of Chinese families visit the temple at midnight on Chinese New Year. They light incense sticks...in this case giant one.

Giant Joss Sticks.

The Night Market

2010-02-14T08:54:00.001+08:00

Kuala Gandah Elephant Santuary (Deerland too!)

2010-02-13T22:17:00.003+08:00

Don't forget to wash behind your ears!

Fun for some, pain for others.

Bottle feeding a 6 month old elephant.

A few students get to ride on an elephant.

Mommy, I'm dunking the elephant underwater!

The teachers pose the the Malaysian Sun Bear and Encik Abdullah.

Should we let the bear lick sweetened condensed milk off the face of a student? Sure, why not. What could possibly go wrong there?

Monkey butt!

As the conga line wound its merry way into the jungle, the evil monkey planned its attack on the noble American teacher.

Deer me!

Korea in Pictures

2010-02-13T19:31:00.004+08:00

This is Hey Jang Guk or Hang Over Soup. That big dark red thing is congealed blood. It was probably my favourite new dish.

Sometimes self-photos don't turn out very well.

Snow in downtown Seoul.

Unfortunately they didn't let me ring the bell. It would have been fun.

Me atop the Seorak Mountains. We cheated and took the cable car to the top.

Min Ji's grandparents, Min Ji, her stepdad and me.

Sunrise at this very popular place for watching the sun uhhh rise.

At the cultural village...old style building.

Also outside the cultural center complex.

Very wise advice for us all.

Camp outs and Childhoods Lost

2010-01-24T19:17:00.002+08:00

This last Friday we had a 'camp' at school. I would call it a lock-in or sleep over. The students came at 4 p.m. in the afternoon and left the next morning by 11 a.m. Now this is a common thing to do. In the churches I have attended over the last 10 years I have probably organized 8 such lock-ins. What amazed me was the 'hoo ha' made about it. There was a parents committee, hats were made with a camp logo and lots of flashlights were purchased and given. Every student who attended got a certificate. I kind of chuckled and then it hit me, oh, yeah, these are ASIAN kids.

Now I don't intend to be racist but these are observations that I have garnered over the years. Of course there will be families that are total opposites of this but here are some broad sweeping generalizations.

Asian kids live very sheltered lives. Most of them really got into the camp out when most American kids would have been bored to death. Some families in the US camp out the entire summer at the lake while Asian kids have probably never even spent the night in a tent in the backyard (Malaysia child, "Mommy, what is a backyard? I saw a picture of one once"). Several years ago, the Korean church I was attending asked me to help with a camp out. I organized the camp out, which was held on the church property in Bellingham. Every afternoon we would go to a place to swim or hike or climb around on rocks. I remember vividly the first day when we went to Larrabbee State Park, one of my favorite places in the Ham. I thought I would have trouble entertaining them but they were fascinated with the tide pools and we started trying to climb up some of the rock faces there. 4 hours flew by and as we left I realized none of the kids had ever been there despite the fact it is only 15 min from B'ham. I have biked and run there from the Ham. This trend has continued as I have known more and more Asians. Most of the kids I have known have rarely been afforded the opportunity to camp and to be outdoors for long periods of time. As I was teaching one of the kids how to roast a marshmallow on Friday night I felt a deep pang of sadness. I consider it essential to childhood to know how to make smores, to camp out and swim in the lake. Malaysians do like to go swimming in waterfalls as a family activity but most Asian children are very overprotected.

Let me finish with this thought. Perhaps it is worth it to trade the outdoors experience for parents that care deeply about their children's well being. Many American parents allow their children to experience far too much at a young age. Parental neglect, to my knowledge, is rare amongst Asians. The opposite is true. The care fiercely for their children. Grandparents raising children is now common in the USA but I don't know of a single case of this in Malaysia. The grandparents may live with them but aren't their sole guardians.

In the end, as with many things I've seen and experienced, a middle road is best. Care fiercely for your kids but allow them to experience (and to fail sometimes) all that life has to offer, when they are ready. P.S. Stand back ready to catch them should it be too much :)

Korean Christmas

2010-01-24T19:13:00.002+08:00

Well, I’m in the Beijing airport (not one of my faves) on my way back to Malaysia. What to tell you about Korea?

My first impressions of Korea were very good. Nice airport. Great highway system. Comfortable housing. Good public transport. I thought it would be more vertical, it seems most apartment buildings are not over 20 floors where KL seems to be populated with many that are 30 or even higher. Or maybe that is an wrong perception.

After a couple of days we went out to see Min Ji’s aunt, who bought us a 300 USD meal (for 4 people). We rode the bus one hour from her house to the center of Seoul and then another hour from the center of Seoul to Suji where Min Ji’s parents live. I started to dislike Korea a bit at that point. It was the same, endless apartment buildings and urbanization as far as the eye could see.

The next day we went across the peninsula to Sokcho, a beach resort town. We left very early, 3 a.m., in order to go watch the sunrise at a famous spot. The sunrise was very spectacular and I wish I had better pictures but, alas, my battery died just before the sun actually came up. We then spent the next two nights in Sokcho. The first day we spent celebrating her grandfather’s 82^nd birthday and the next we went sightseeing. The Seorak Mountains are nearby and we rode the cable car to the peak of on of the mountains. Then we went north to the area near the DMZ where the current dictator, Kim Jong Il (is he still alive?) of North Korea spent his summers. His parent's summer home is now a museum.

Christmas Day we were out in Seoul after going to church. We went to an exhibit called “From Monet to Picasso”. It was a traveling exhibit from the Philedelphia Art Museum. We also went to a huge clothing market that evening, one that is famous in Seoul. The next day we went to Sherlock Holmes with Min Ji’s step-brother and then to lunch.

He also reserved us a spot at a nice buffet at the Ramadan in Suwon. Now, there is a buffet experience in Asia that most Americans never have experienced. The buffet is all you can eat and open for two hours. This one was from 8-10 pm. So, you go at 7:45 and when they let you start filling your plate, you have to start slow. Eat the best. I had raw oysters and tuna and salmon sashimi for my first go. Basically, you keep eating till it closes at 10 p.m. They have several varieties of food, like lamb, beef and chicken in Western styles to Korean to Japanese. I tried to eat my weight in steak tartar, tuna and oysters because they were so fabulous. There was also a chocolate fountain to dip fruit in. All this cost 40USD per person.

The last day we went out to church and then off to the Korean National Palace. After the long train ride, we came out of the station to find it snowing. It turned out to be one of the best experiences that I have had in ages. The snow muffled the city sounds and the palace complex was sprawling so it felt like you were back in the ages it was used. That and it was gorgeous in the snow. It was a fitting end to the trip, in fact, a fairytale moment that will always rank near the top of my travel experiences.

Korean parents

Min Ji’s parents were amazing in that they paid for everything. Add to that the fact that we went to the best places to eat and I would guess that just in food alone they spent 300 USD on me. Add into that her aunt’s meal and I was treated like a king. The hard part was that her parents treated me like a child. Min Ji was given a 15 minute lesson on how to ride the trains when all was needed was to tell us the stop to get off at. I was told to tuck in my shirt by her step-dad. It made me realize something. I have had several Korean friends and they lived with their parents but sequestered themselves in their rooms. They didn’t watch TV with them, didn’t talk to them much and seemed to do little more than share a house, not a bloodline. Now I realize that is how they kept their parents out of their lives. They kept the relationship active, still living with them, they just didn’t tell them any details or else they would have gotten an earful on how to handle their lives and then expected to act on that advice.

The other side of this was a realization for me as to one reason that Asia crushes creativity. I didn’t bring a plug adapter because I thought they would be easy to find when I got there. Min Ji’s step-father swore you couldn’t buy one in Korea. I stopped two whites in the street and asked them where to get one. They told us a store called ‘Home Plus’. We went there and found the adapter. Min Ji’s step-dad didn’t think it would work and was didn’t conceal the fact that he hoped it wouldn’t work. When I got it home, of course it worked. In this situation I realized that many good ideas, such as Google, Facebook, etc have come from younger people. However, in Asia, the hierarchy is set up so that you have to wait to get to the top. Therefore, when you get to the top, you feel it is your turn to spew idiotic ideas (not always, of course) and that others should blindly follow you, just as you did when you were in their shoes. Hence creativity is crushed. I have seen this some in Malaysia. I call it pak cik syndrome and I have spent many a night over a cup of teh tarik listening to how to cure diabetes by eating chicken livers and other mad tales. Min Ji’s step dad told me I could get to the airport at 9 am for my 9:30 flight. It was kind of shocking how openly (nonverbally) and badly he wanted the plug adapter to not function.

Korea dreaming

Before the trip I had secret fantasies that I would love Korea and move there next year. I can say I don’t really feel that way anymore. You can make good money as an English teacher in Korea but the country is so populated you should be ready to never be alone. We watched the sunrise with maybe 300 other people doing the exact same thing. We went to the top of the Seorak Mountains with tons of other people. I did some figuring and the peninsula of South Korea is roughly the same size as the state of Oklahoma. 50 million people are crammed into Korea whereas Oklahoma has 3.6 million. That means Korea is 14 times more populated, which means the density of the population is intense. KL is a city of roughly three million and it is too big for me sometimes. The Seoul/Incheon urban area ranks in the top three largest cities by population on some lists.

Secondly, I found the level of English low. Maybe I should say confidence level because I think Koreans can speak English but they just don’t think they can speak it so they are shy to talk to you. One major place I found this evident was at church.

My church in KL has a fellowship time after the service and usually I find myself chatting for 20 or so minutes with someone just about every Sunday. We went to church three times during the stay and I only met one Korean besides the pastor. I did meet several English teachers. That was the very good thing about the church. In KL, you either get the hedonistic foreigner or the Christian ‘worker’. Seems that an average, Christian person steers clear of KL. It was good to be reminded that lots of Christians work in other countries and still live out their faith.

Malaysia's National Past time

2010-01-17T14:34:00.003+08:00

Ask anyone what America's national past time is and you will get one quick answer from 99% of people: baseball. If you were to survey other countries my guess is that sports would enter into most of the national past time arguments. In Malaysia there are no sports. No Little League baseball, no Saturday morning soccer leagues, no professional sports, no high school athletics, no university sports teams. Nothing. In fairness, I will say a handful of people play futsal (indoor soccer) and there are a handful of pickup soccer or basketball games. If you were to compare Kuala Lumpur to Denver, Colorado it would look like this: Denver-hockey (Avalanche), basketball (Nuggets), American Football (Broncos), baseball (Rockies) and soccer (Rapids), probably 40 or more high school teams, probably 6 universities with teams. Kuala Lumpur: a few soccer teams in the Malaysian Super League or whatever it is called. Now, I could launch into America's unhealthy obsession with sports but but I'm not, this blog is about Malaysia's national past time.

So, what do Malaysians do during the weekend? What would be their national past time? Simple: the mall. When foreigners arrive in Malaysia and are taken to their first mall, they usually have to pick their jaws up off the ground. I have never been to a mall in the US that would be considered equal to the top dozen here in KL. On any weekend, the mall is packed with a crowd greater than the Christmas crowds in the USA. Two facts I can't back up but believe to be true are these. 1) Malaysia has more shopping malls per capita than any other city on earth. 2) The parking areas are roughly double the size of a US mall because of the massive number of visitors. One of the largest malls in the world is in KL, Berjaya Times Square. It supposedly has 7.5 million square feet of shopping. I have been there once and was completely unimpressed. (Wikipedia is confusing, saying on one page that Times Square it the 13th largest mall in the world and on another page that it is the largest. Let's split the difference and say it is 7th largest in the world. And my students wonder why I won't let them cite Wikipedia!)

I created the national past time comparison because last night as I left the Curve (FYI, 1 km from the Curve is 1Utama, another huge mall) the scene reminded me of the one you see in the US after a sporting event finishes. Stop and go traffic inching out of the parking areas, long lines of red tail lights trying to enter onto freeways, 20 minutes waits to get from the parking spot to traffic that is flowing near a normal pace.

A few final thoughts about sports in Malaysia. Malaysians love soccer but they love the English Premier League. The time difference means that many games come on late at night, after midnight. Guys will get up and watch the game in one of two ways (that I know of). One is to watch it at home. The second is to go to a local restaurant (mamak stall) that is open 24 hours and meet up with friends. I really miss the community aspect of watching sports, like a good Super Bowl party (at a decent hour). Lastly, Malaysians will like one of four teams in the English Premier League: Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. If they like a different team, check their passport because they may be imposters!

Error of attribution to culture

2009-12-16T08:04:00.004+08:00

Once you have lived overseas for a while, you start to realize that many of your assumptions about culture are not true. Most of this realization comes via comments others make about your home culture, as they assume that you represent the norm for what every country you hail from, in my case America. I have created a term for this called error of attribution to culture. By this I mean that someone observes a behavior in a person from another culture. We then conclude that all members of that culture must act exactly the same. We attribute their behavior to an entire population. Saying it another way, we take the actions of one individual and stereotype the entire culture as being exactly the same.

The offending wallet.

An example of this that I have seen recently is my wallet. For years I carried a wallet in my back pocket. The wallet would become a thick monstrosity as I accumulated receipts and business cards. Eventually it was like sitting on a phone book. I took quite a bit of good-natured ribbing about this. So, last year when I thought it was time to get a new wallet, I bought a front pocket wallet. This is basically a couple of leather pockets and then a money clip for your cash. I love it. It worked better in the US because you can pay everywhere with your credit or debit card and just keep a bit of money on you. Here in Malaysia it doesn’t work as well because I carry more cash due to a high rate of credit card theft. You give you card to someone, it comes back but they swiped it in a machine and then make a second card and charge things on your account. Malaysian money is also poorly designed for this. Denominations are 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 so if you break a 50 to pay for a 7 ringgit item, then you get 4 ten ringgit notes and 3 one ringgit notes. Therefore, my money clip often looks untidy. I pull it out and people notice it. They then say, “So this is the kind of wallet Americans use.” I laugh and try to set them straight. “No,” I say, “I’m the only person I know with a front carry wallet.” But I know the damage is done. They will forever think that Americans use the kind of wallet I do.

Of course this is a two way street. We have all met people of different cultures and labeled an entire culture bases on our interactions with .00001% of the population. What I’ve tried to do is show how this is different than stereotyping. Stereotypes are the nerdy Asian kid, the AK-47 wielding Arab, the loud and boorish American. Those are based on a larger sample of the population. This is how we personally stereotype a culture based on our own experiences. Perhaps the safest thing to do is see each person as unique and try to shed our own or societies stereotypes. It is only then that we can really get to know the true heart of another person.

Economies of scale

2009-12-14T09:31:00.004+08:00

This blog will deal with the idea of economies of scale so let’s make sure the definition of that is clear. Economies of scale are when it costs an enormous amount of capital to build something but then as that item operates it becomes cheaper and cheaper. A classic example is a power plant. Let’s say that it costs 1.2 billion to build a power plant. The first kilowatt generated cost 1.2 billion dollars to make. However, as the years pass it becomes cheaper and cheaper with each unit produced. Usually with items such as power there is little marketplace competition because of the massive amounts of capital needed to get the first unit produced.

Economies of scale impact us everyday and not just when we flick on the light switch every morning. Some economists may disagree with me but most of our lives are made easier by this idea. Walmart sells millions of items each year at lower prices than their competitors because they allow the factory producing it to work on the economies of scale principle. The factory that supplies Walmart’s hair ties for them can actually lose money on the first million if they can make money on the second million and the third million and so on.

This impact has given us better lives. We have more income to spend on other things because we can get cheap items at the local Walmart. Even the smart rich people shop there for their daily necessities.

What is the unmeasurable cost of all of this? I believe it is the standardization of our lives. As economies of scale caught on they swept across America. You can see the proof of this in franshises. I’m sure McDonald’s did something right back in the day, maybe even made edible burgers. Today they are just cheap, quick and for children.

Americans, well, everyone in general, love this standardization. We love the fact we can drive 500 miles and stop at our favorite restaurant and order our favorite item and it will taste just like it did in our hometown. I see it all the time in Malaysia as Americans like to hit TGI Fridays and Chili’s. We know what we are getting. Gone is all the guesswork.

Actually, I was shocked by it last year when I moved back to Oklahoma. Ask any person in Oklahoma or Texas what their favorite restaurant is and they will tell you a chain restaurant. Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse or On the Border. (Ok, may be not EVERYONE) In Bellingham there were many, many more local restaurants. Skylark’s Hidden Café, Grace Café, The Bagelry, La Fiamma, Bob’s Burgers and Brew (now a franchise) are all my favorites. New Orleans is much the same, with many restaurants being one of a kind. In fact, it may be a way to mark the quality of life in a city, by the uniqueness of the restaurants found there. This is a new thought as I write this blog. Oklahoma City definitely has seen the number of restaurants explode with the growth of Bricktown.

This whole idea came about because the other night I was sitting in a Malay food stall and I ordered roti canai. Roti is a staple here, a kind of tortilla that is fried on a griddle and served up with some sort of gravy. That night it was dhal, a lentil based curry that is flavorful but without spice. On the side was sambal, best described as Malaysian salsa without vegetables. I mixed the dhal and sambal and proceeded to devour the roti in a couple of minutes. I sat back and thought about how good it was. I wanted another. So I summoned the waitress and ordered up a second roti canai. Then I started thinking, “Why do I never order a second of anything in the USA?” Then I realized it is mostly due to the economies of scale. It tastes the same every time, everywhere. I have never eaten something and then said, “Wow, that was perfect, give me one more please!” Because everything is standardized, everything tastes more or less the same. Maybe you have been to a bake sale or food fair and had this experience but they are increasingly disappearing from the landscape of the American experience.

Roti canai with dhal and sambal. When done right it is the best thing in the world.

Malaysia still has this unstandardized life. The roti guy at the bottom of the hill makes wonderful roti, crisp the way I like it, and the dhal and sambal blend together into a delectable, savory slurry of perfection. The guy down the road a bit may be selling roti having the consistency of wet socks and gravy that is bland and dull. You never know. And when the cook gets it just right, well, order up another round.

Standardization means the loss of creativity and ingenuity. Take chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is everywhere, most notably on the back of every package of Toll House Morsels sold. So why is that some people can make amazing cookies and others can’t? Well, we decided to get rid of that and now you can buy cookie dough at our local grocery or with your pizza.

We need economies of scale to give us a higher quality of life. But we need to keep them in check so that the uniqueness is maintained and our lives are a bright tapestry rather than a dull, drab coat of gray. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go see the roti guy. There was no teh tarik in the post but in real life there was. Nothing beats a good roti and teh tarik breakfast.

Changes

2009-11-28T13:45:00.002+08:00

(Disclaimer: I'll change my mind about all this in a week.)
I have only lived one year of the last eleven in Oklahoma. That was last year when I lived with my parents and went to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas to get my teaching certificate. I then moved back to Malaysia about 4 months ago.

Over the last few years I've enjoyed going home to see my family and friends. But I never thought it was the place I should be until the last month. It's strange in someways. I have missed so many Thanksgivings but this one I really feel the desire to be home. I'm not homesick per se. I was homesick when I left Malaysia in 2007. It's more like a feeling that it is the right place for me to be. I have desperately missed my active lifestyle from the last year...the 1/2 marathon training, riding across Oklahoma on a bike and other possibilities.

Teaching here has given me more experiences that working in the States would have. In 14 weeks of teaching I have put on a school dance, had my club put on an awareness week which included selling ribbons and performing skits, been emcee for Sports Day and next weekend we will have 200 orphans at the school for Christmas Cheer. The next weekend we will be off for a leadership camp...oh, and I forgot the conference I went to in Thailand. Whew, no wonder I'm tired. I say living overseas crams several years into one and it is doing the same with teaching. Hopefully next term I'll be running a Model U.N. club to boot.

Therefore, I am surprised by these feelings that I should be home, that I want to be home. Lots of good things are here. I keep voicing the fact I want to buy a house here. But, somewhere I wonder if it isn't time to go home, be with my family and put down roots. I really want to spend more time with my family, especially my granny.

I want to do so many thing that I so often find that no matter what I do there is a draw in the opposite direction. I would love to settle down in Bellingham one day but I don't know when and how that will occur.

All this is to say I don't know what the future holds. I love being in Malaysia and will enjoy each moment here to the fullest. I am just musing over what choices I will have to make in July. Happy Thanksgiving.

Shotgun blogging

2009-11-27T19:19:00.002+08:00

Well, I haven't blogged in a couple of months so I thought I would sit down and write a few thoughts.

How is school?
School is good. I absolutely love my students. There are a mix of good and bad of course but I often find myself thinking what wonderful kids they are. We have been reading "Rules" in class on Fridays and have an aquarium with a few guppies. I was the organising teacher for our fall dance. I thought it went really well. One thing you have to get used to is the fact that people don't praise each other in Asia. Compliments are rare. A few other teachers thought it went well and I thought it did so I just have to be happy with that. The funny thing was that two weeks later I was emcee for the sports day and that was met with loads of compliments. I scratched my head a lot at that one. The dance was a much bigger affair than reading the placings of students in the 100m etc.

I struggle a lot with how the school is run. The last two years I worked at great schools in the states where they accepted all comers and were run efficiently. Here we have a two day admittance test and only take the best and brightest. The school is run in typical Malaysian style. That means someone comes running in with an 'important' task. You drop everything to do it only when you get it finished you find it wasn't that important. The real struggle is the amount of admin work teachers do. I have to update school folders for all my students, so the first week of school I spent 5 hours typing their biodata into a spread sheet. Now we are finishing our term and I had to write 187 1-2 sentence comments about each student I teach. I then had to write 19 more comments (one paragraph) for my homeroom students. I don't mind this but, for example, I listed an actual instance where a student gave up. The comment was edited to read 'gives up when the going gets tough'. I rarely get to focus on creating great lessons and really just try to tick off all the duties required of me in a week, doing none of them with excellence. Unfortunately I have a personal creed to do things with excellence. Dang those personal creeds!

I go back and forth almost daily on whether or not I'll teach here next year. I have always wanted to teach multiple years in a school but putting up with poor management makes me wonder if it is worth it.

Actually, I was offered a job in Texas in October. I say 'offered' but I was asked to apply which is about the same thing. I turned them down because I feel a duty to finish the year with my students here. However, last weekend I had a 'panic' attack. I was really missing my family and my former active life of running and bicycling etc. Here I work 11 hour days and don't have the support network (living with my parents) that allows me to be active. Again my sense of duty wouldn't allow me to email and see if the post was filled. But then a day will come and I will have some great interactions with students and I think "I'll never leave here." I suppose all teachers fight similar battles emotionally.

How is Malaysia?
I have always fought this problem that I have three distinct spheres: Oklahoma, Bellingham and Malaysia. I feel equally at home in all three. I love being back here. I am often taken aback when people ask me basic questions about Malaysia. I forget that I am very obviously NOT Malaysian. This time the weather has been wetter than any of the other years I have been here and it has been harder because I don't ride my motorbike in KL traffic in the rain, if possible.

Random Tidbits
I'm going to Korea over Christmas, something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm very excited about it. I had planned on a trip to the Similan Islands in Thailand before that but I won't be making it because I have to take 5 students to a conference on leadership the weekend before I head to Korea. My school year will end on July 23 and I'm not sure what I'll do after that.

My computer hard drive crashed and I've been adding songs again. There are a few songs that I always get. I was thinking about that recently, how I always make sure they are a part of my music library. Some are (in no particular order):
Live--Lightning Crashes
Van Halen--Humans Being
Van Halen--Jump
Billy Joel--We didn't start the fire
Madonna--Vogue
Bruce Hornsby--Mandolin Rain
U2--With or Without You, Beautiful Day and Where the streets have no name
Smashing Pumpkins--Disarm, Tonight, Tonight, 1979 and Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Cranberries--Linger
Some newer ones that I just think of as entire albums
Coldplay--Viva la Vida
Parachute--Losing Sleep
Nickle Creek's first CD
Emmy Lou Harris Red Dirt Girl

Thoughts on a six year plan

2009-08-13T10:09:00.000+08:00

Well, I’m back in Malaysia for my second stint here and thought I would write about things that are going through my head concerning the present and future.

Things I learned while in the USA for the last two years: I love my family, they are just amazing, love my friends, amazing as well and my love for Malaysia did not diminish either. I think sometimes when you live overseas you are acutely aware of all the faults of your home country but being back in the US for two years made me remember all the wonderful things about it. In all honest, it was a tough decision to leave. Lastly, I realized that the place in the world I want to end up is Bellingham, where the largest concentration of my friends are and my family can visit much easier than Malaysia.

Things to consider in the 6-year plan: The first thing is that I love my granny dearly and she is turning 82 in February. She is still in great health but no one lives forever and I want to spend time with her while she is still very active. I went to New Orleans three times with her over those two years and want to spend that kind of quality time with her. I’m also glad that I’m gone for a bit because I push my parents too much on what they are going to do after retirement. Being in Malaysia means I won’t be hounding them so much about things.

Possible scenarios: My first thought was to live in Malaysia for 6 years and then return to the USA. I would return with a lump sum payment of about $40,000 USD, which would make a nice little down payment on a house. My instinct right now is to teach only 4 years in Malaysia, which would give me roughly $25,000 when I leave. So here is what I am thinking. I will save for two years and then purchase a house in Malaysia. I will continue renting myself and rent the house out, making double payments on it for two more years. After four years I will return to the USA and get a job close to my parents and my granny (they will be together), hopefully living with them. In the meantime, I will use the 25k from Malaysia with some savings to put a down payment on a house in the Sunnyland neighborhood of Bellingham, a house I will then rent out.

This scenario sets me up for later in life, Lord-willing, to one day move back to Bellingham but to also have a retirement home in Malaysia where I can either spend my summer school holidays or 4-6 month chunks after I retire.

Disclaimer: I am always thinking and scheming. Some come to fruition, such as moving to Malaysia. Some don’t, such as my dog poop scooping business. Please take all I have said with a grain of salt.

Goodbyes

2009-07-08T05:16:00.002+08:00

Well, I have taken a job teaching geography in an international school in Kuala Lumpur, so I am headed back to Malaysia, arriving on July 29. I will then sleep 22 hours and be ready for action. That sounds like a solid plan for beating jet lag. I'm very excited about moving back but of course will be sad to leave. I loved, more than I can describe, teaching history to 8th graders this year. I liked the 6th graders but I think I hit my stride in that final 6 weeks when I was substitute teaching. Of course, I am my own worst enemy on classroom management when I suddenly break off course from a lecture on the Dust Bowl to wondering if all that grit made for whiter teeth when they brushed and if that was where the idea for pumice might have come from. 3 minutes later I'm trying to get the conversation back on the Dust Bowl and kicking myself for my vagrant conversation.

Anyway, all of this to say I will miss the people I have met here. Another group of people who are very special to me are those at my church. Not being able to do normal things, I have been attending a Korean church in Wichita Falls and I have been doing the children's sermons on Sunday mornings for the last few months. I will miss the kids, who are extremely cute. I don't think I was ever that cute as a kid.

Mom, tell the scary man to let me go!

The pastor and his wife couldn't escape my reach either.

Notice how far they sit away from me. Hmmm, I'm rethinking that pledge to go organic and stop using deodorant.

Most of the kids have to be held in place by their moms or they run screaming in terror.

Freewheel Oklahoma 2009

2009-06-20T08:07:00.004+08:00

Last week I was off on my bicycling adventure, otherwise called Freewheel Oklahoma, an annual ride that usually starts near the southern border and finishes up in Kansas. This year we covered 415 miles according to the official certificate I was given at the end. Basically, you ride several hours each day, covering between 50-70 miles a day. We left on a Sunday and arrived the following Saturday in Kiowa, Kansas. You could do it much more quickly but we rode way to the west and then went back to the east. I'm guessing that riding hard you could go from Texas to Kansas in about four day.

What surprised me was how early people got up and started out. Some people were on the road by 4 a.m. Do you know how loud a tent being rolled up is that hour? Oh, we camped along the way and put our luggage in a trailer that was then moved to the next town where we would be spending the night. Indoor camping was available as well. I usually left out around 6:30 a.m. and arrived about 11 a.m. Then I would shower and find something to eat. The hard part of the whole trip was the afternoons, which would have been fine if I had been traveling with friends but mainly I just spent the afternoons reading. I did meet quite a few people but not really anyone that wanted to hang out with me the whole day.

It was definitely a good time and I would do it again next year if I weren't moving to Malaysia. Maybe I'll have to start Freewheel Malaysia.

Posing in my spandex just before leaving Duncan.

Not sure what dad is doing here. My butt has spent many hours in that location.

On the road to Apache.

The campsite in Apache. Mine is the little yellow tent in the lower left hand corner. About 1,000 people either ride or follow Freewheel. A ten year old girl rode every mile and one guy turned 70 during the week. Also, a guy who was a leg amputee did it as well.

Cheyenne in the pre-dawn light. Makes for a great morning ride, watching the sun rise.

This is Thomas in the mist. By the way, there is nothing in Thomas. They don't even have a restaurant, just a little place called the Big T that makes take-away food.

The Wheatfield

2009-04-23T00:55:00.003+08:00

These are pictures of a wheatfield that I ride past when I go out for my bike rides. I have been wanting to take pics of the green wheat and the tree which has not yet leafed out. Later, when the wheat ripens, I want to go back and juxtapose the golden wheat with the greenness of the tree. That should happen by late May. Until then, enjoy the tree and green wheat.

Belief

2009-04-22T12:51:00.002+08:00

In a dream I saw us three
You and I and she
We walked along the misty fringes
Lost and stumbling nowhere
Surveying the crags and precipices
When out of the fog I beheld
A bridge across the chasm
"Onward", I cried, "Hope is here!"
You, ever the cynic, paused
"We don't know where it goes."
"To lands of milk and honey", I cried
"Where streets are paved with gold!"
"Well, to get to a place like that
you need more than a bridge.
It can't be real", you scoffed.
She, ever the skeptic, jumped in
"How do we know the bridge goes to
any wondrous place? You haven't seen it!"
"No", I replied, "but it could be true.
I want to believe."
Onto the shaky bridge I stepped.
Its destination ever unsure
You and she, wrapped in your
Cynicism, scoffing and skepticism
Hung back
I believe and so I test the unknown
I would rather try
Than die never knowing.

Pilgrimage

2009-01-19T09:40:00.002+08:00

Over the Christmas break I read several books. One was called "The Ramsay Scallop". It was about two people in medeival England who are sent to Spain on a pilgrimage. The book is peppered with people that they meet and the things they learn while heading to Spain, which was quite a trek in those days. It made me think about pilgrimage.

Psa 84:5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you (God), who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage historically has been a trip undertaken to gain some sort of blessing at the end of the journey. I realize that this is slightly skewed in many ways but at the same time as some truth in it. Sadly, this idea of pilgrimage has been eliminated from the modern Christian vocabulary. I noticed that the KJV often uses 'pilgrim' in verses the NIV translates as 'alien'.

To me, this idea of pilgrimage is still a valid one and one that needs desperately to be reclaimed. This reclamation also needs to include the idea that pilgrimage is to a place as in the Middle Ages. Well, not to an earthly, temporal place. I find it interesting that the Bible often refers to this life as our pilgrimage or our journey. To reclaim the original idea, I feel we Christians need to see that we are on a journey to our home. Our lives are this journey back home. We are pilgrims traveling through this world. Pilgrims are not people who accumulate material possessions nor are they ever fooled into thinking that the land they travel through is their home.

However, this day in age, most Christians have become settlers in a land they were only meant to pass through. They set up shop and establish themselves. Then there are looks of shock upon our face when the world proves to be fickle and fleeting. When the chaos comes again we are just as shocked as anyone. If only we had kept moving and kept our faith in what is eternal rather than misaligning it with what is temporary.

A question that has run through my head multiple times this week is this: Should we be foregoing certain things so that others may benefit? If all we have is this world, then the answer is take all you can. If we look the coming of a heavenly city and a Saviour, then we can forgo many of the things of this life, looking forward to the eternal and complete fulfillment of our longings.

Pilgrims in the Middle Ages often forsook certain luxuries. Perhaps we too should consider this again. Is it right to have 30 pairs of shoes when some go barefoot? I read recently that hunger could be stamped out in Africa if we just spent all the money on food that is currently spent on cigarettes. Pilgrims understand and make these types of decisions on purpose. Settlers try to build a surplus because they don't know what the morrow brings.

We were not made for this place and when we try to stay here we only show our satisfaction with lesser things. Let us press on to the high calling of God in Jesus Christ--and our heavenly reward.

Dilemmas

2009-01-04T02:54:00.002+08:00

Most New Years come with a sense of turning over a new leaf. We make resolutions that we think will make us better people. There is often a sense of anticipation at what lingers on the horizon of the coming year. Most years, this is the feeling that I have. Not this year.

Since coming back to the USA from Malaysia in September 2007, I thought that I would go back once I had attained a teacher's certification. I thoroughly enjoyed working in a middle school last year I am looking forward with great anticipation to the next 14 weeks as I student teach. Through it all, the question that keeps echoing is, "What next?"

I have loads of ideas. Teach for America is a program that places teachers in innercity schools in places like New Orleans, Houston, Washington D.C. and New York City. I am applying to that program. I have great friends in Bellingham, WA and could try for a job there. Recently I was in Pensacola, FL and that is a possibility.

However, day after day, I can't shake the feeling that I want to go back overseas again. There were tons of struggles living in Malaysia but it was worth it. So much so that I still call Malaysia home, after all, I lived there for 5 years and have been back in the USA for 15 months.

I also miss scuba diving. The only other time I have had this same feeling was when I broke up with my girlfriend in my first year of university. Something is missing that I love and I want it back. I was reading today an article about Layang-Layang, one of a few places in Malaysia I have yet to dive (also Pulau Tioman and Aur, and Labuan) and seeing scalloped hammerheads and manta rays makes me want to get on a plane NOW.

Living overseas is definitely not for everyone. It exposes your every weakness, from interpersonal to food quirks, the gamut but I miss it. I miss living in a place that people saved for a year to spend two weeks in and I lived there every single day. I did quiet times on the beach five minutes from my home. Everyday was an adventure. I don't hate living in the states but I certainly am rarely surprised by what happens in an average day.

So here I am faced with a few dilemmas. Do I stay in the USA and get a job that pays well and builds a retirement pension? This will also cement my status as a teacher and lead to better jobs. Or do I go overseas? If so, where? Brunei? Malaysia? or maybe Jeddah, Saudi Arabia? It's on the Red Sea, some of the best diving in the world. Korea pays well and I think Air Asia is starting a cheap flight from there to KL. I'll be praying and applying for the next few months. We will see what happens in this new year of 2009. One thing for sure, one year from now and my situation will be vastly different.

Happy and blessed new year.

A Brave New World

2008-12-18T09:36:00.002+08:00

About two years ago I read Adolfus Huxley's A Brave New World. One of the main topics of the book is about how people are now raised in Hatcheries and Conditioning Centers. No longer do humans have meaningful relationships, they live a life detached from raw emotion. The amazing thing about some of this type of literature (Fahrenheit 451, A Brave New World, 1984, The Giver) is their uncanny ability to predict the future that is now upon us.

I live in Oklahoma, perhaps the reddest of all Republican states and the populace would stand up and scream, "Blasphemy!" if you ever accused them of being socialist. Yet, in this milieu of extreme conservatism I find the most shocking marker of these novels: children raised by the state. Just yesterday, the Oklahoman, our newspaper, lauded the state as 'best in the nation' and committed because Oklahoma pioneered pre-kindergarten. Not just a program for low-income families, this program is funded for all comers regardless of family income level. Now nearly 20,000 students attend this program. How can one of the most conservative states of the 50 endorse this plan? Is it not cradle to grave socialism?

Now our president elect is talking about this topic and making people giddy with delight. 10 billion dollars have already been pledged to make this a reality. Look at the wording in the article...a bit scary. Don't these people read good literature?

Now, am I the only one who sees this as a major step towards societies described in novels such as A Brave New World? No longer are parents and society responsible for raising children, it has now become the job of the state. Maybe we can start assigning these children jobs at birth and start taking them away from their parents before they get a chance to interact with them and contaminate them. If we can get them brainwashed quickly enough we can get rid of crime and creative thinking. They will become flawless citizens ready to contribute to a global economy. Yes, let's get these kids even before age 4. Age 0 if possible.

FYI, all these novels end badly, as will this.

Gandhi and Aragorn ticket

2008-10-28T02:21:00.003+08:00

This will be my last political blog (I promise) before the election but I had it rattling around in my head and thought I should get it out.

I read some of a biography of Gandhi this summer. I didn't get to finish it before the new semester started and life got busy but it was a great book...I'll get back to it over Christmas.

I am very impressed by Gandhi. He was a man of action. He believed that understand something and not act on it was strange. For example, he admired Tolstoy, because Tolstoy, in his last days, abandoned a life of wealth for a life of poverty and religious piety. Tolstoy and Gandhi actually exchanged a few letters before Tolstoy's death.

Gandhi was also a man, from all appearances, unaffected by material things. He was concerned once when he was given an expensive gift and set up a kind of charity so that he would not get the gifts, the charity would. If memory serves me right, the charity benefited his newspaper in South Africa and it ran for many years off of those gifts, which were intended for him.All of Gandhi's worldly possessions at the time of his death.

Gandhi also believed in people. While in South Africa, a supporter turned on him. Gandhi refused to hate the man or to take revenge. He said that was the easy and little thing to do. The honorable and great thing to do was to still value the man. Gandhi had even loaned the man money. Later, the man returned to Gandhi and he forgave him.

A few weeks ago I was watching "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring". In the closing scenes of the movie, Boromir comes to Frodo and wants the ring. He realizes his error in the end and dies an honorable death. As Frodo flees from Boromir, he comes upon Aragorn. There is a poignant scene where Frodo offers the ring to Aragorn. Aragorn reaches for Frodo's hand, seemingly to take the ring, then kneels before Frodo. "I would have followed you to Mordor, to the fires of Mt. Doom," says Aragorn, realizing that Frodo is leaving the fellowship and Aragorn will not be with him.

As I consider my home country, the United States, and where we are as a nation, I say we are badly, desperately in need of a Gandhi/Aragorn ticket. We need leaders who see the presidency, not as a prize to be won, nor a power to be wielded at their own whimsy, but a sacred trust given to them by the citizens of this country.

The simple fact that pork barrel projects exist shows how far off the mark we have gotten. Gandhi stood up for the rights of the oppressed. Now we have leaders who just want to make sure they get their fair share (or more) of the pie. And rather than seek the differing opinions of their opponents, they seek to belittle and discredit them.

There is much good to be said about the American political process. The fact that in 2000 the presidency came down to Al Gore deciding to abide by a Supreme Court ruling is amazing. In many countries it would have led to violence and bloodshed.

It is time that we remind the entrenched powers that their power is not a right but a trust from the people. Democrats and Republicans have power because we choose to give it to them. This November, I am voting for a third party in the hope that millions others will do the same. I don't think a third party candidate will win but I hope that these candidates gain a larger percentage of the vote and remind the main two parties they are not the only game in town. If the Democrats and Republicans want to stay on top they had better start serving the people or the people will find better representatives.

Why are teachers masochists?

2008-10-22T11:49:00.002+08:00

I have been in the teacher certification program for about 5 months now. Currently I am observing a sixth grade class once a week and have a fabulous supervising teacher. It is one of the highlights of my week. I just love teaching.

Then I go to my university classes. My professors bore me. They can't teach well and yet they are the ones tasked with making me an excellent teacher. One professor brought in an article entitled "Texas's testing system forces higher dropout rates". Guest speakers bemoan the standardized testing system now in place in almost every state. They tell horror stories about parents, alcohol and drug abuse and pregnant teenagers. Other students in my teacher training program complain that their supervising teachers are burned out and just like to deride their pupils.

Why is this? Why are teachers so pessimistic, so masochistic? The first day, in a fit of brilliance that has yet to be equaled, my professor proclaimed that only teachers and the clergy aim to make a person better. Most other professions just aim to keep the status quo. So, here we are training for this noble profession and most of the current teachers can't stop spewing vitriol. I believe that for whatever reason, it has been allowed to become teaching culture. No nurses are given articles on how some patients still die, no architects told that some buildings collapse and the rigidness of building codes are reasons to frown. Sure some nurses hate their jobs and some architects are pessimists but usually it is not so. Teachers are a different breed. This includes my university professors that instead of inspiring hope, inspire fear of a warped educational system.

My take is that there are problems in any profession. Patients do die and building codes are a pain to deal with. But, when I enter that sixth grade class tomorrow morning, I know that there are lives that can be changed, futures to be brightened and interesting lessons to be taught, even about history . :) I thank God that I am blessed with a courageous supervising teacher who doesn't follow the depressing pattern that so many teachers fall into. Doctors restore people to health, teachers change the future everyday.

Memories...of the way we were

2008-10-06T11:44:00.001+08:00

A long time ago I did some blogging on a site called the World is Round. If you would like to see those posts you can just click here.

Moth

2008-10-06T11:40:00.002+08:00

I love taking macro shots, as you well know and this is one from last Thursday when I went out and about with my mom, granny and brother.

Well now...

2008-09-19T04:29:00.002+08:00

I've become a real cynic politically...well, maybe in general. I wrote a blog recently about how Obama and McCain aren't really that different, which I still stand by. The problem is, Republican doesn't mean 'conservative' these days. I found a great quote which illustrates my point.

“I fear the government has passed the point of no return,” said Ron Chernow, a leading American financial historian. “We have the irony of a free-market administration doing things that the most liberal Democratic administration would never have been doing in its wildest dreams.”

This was taken from the New York Times. Basically, we have had a Republican administration violating all the rules of fiscal conservation for the last 8 years. They bailed out failing banks and now AIG to the tune of just over 800 BILLION dollars this year. Now, I am not for paying higher taxes but at least with the Democrats they come out and say they will not be fiscal conservatives (although Clinton was, balancing the budget).

Neither Obama or McCain has a plan for getting the American economy back on track. At least Obama is honest with his taxation plan, I know what it will cost me. So far, for the last 8 years with the Republicans, we have been told it will be cheap but found out it cost many people their house, part of their retirement pension and all of us at the gas pump. Hidden costs are still costs.

What I don't understand is that some people sit and gripe about how Obama is going to raise taxes. Would you rather have higher taxes you know about or watch as the economy spirals into unknown territory and your pension plan, tied to the stock market, bleeds more red than a horror flick? Gosh, don't raise our taxes.

Wilson's Arch

2008-09-02T03:47:00.002+08:00

Photos from my trip through Utah, which I drove through on the road trip from Washington to Texas.Wilson's Arch, south of Arches National Park

Come'on, let the sun shine in.

I love the colors of the rocks.

It is a big arch.

There is a hole in the arch, dear Liza, dear Liza, a hole.

Downtown Seattle

2008-08-27T08:48:00.007+08:00

I wrote about hanging out in downtown Seattle so I won't bore you with that again, but here are the pictures from that afternoon.

King Street train station and Qwest Field

Train station from the inside

Pike's Place Market, famous for its thrown salmon

Fruits and veggies for sale in Pike's

This used to be called Bank of America Tower but I guess they didn't charge me enough in fees as now it is called Columbia Center

For those scoring at home

2008-08-10T09:18:00.002+08:00

Well, I have managed to escape the Texas heat and return to the solace of the Northwest. I flew to Seattle Wednesday, got to spend a bit of time with my second cousin Barbara and her husband Dale. They dropped me in downtown Seattle for to catch the Amtrak to Bellingham but I was 3 hours early, so I killed those hours in downtown Seattle.

I can remember when I first moved to Malaysia how hard it was for me to be in a big city. Now I just love the way the city pulses with life and energy. For most people, their goal is a little place on two acres outside the town but I think a downtown condo is more my choice these days. Ditch the car, walk to the art museum and the grocery store. That is the life!

Today I did two dives with Washington Divers here in Bellingham. We went to the Keystone Ferry Terminal a popular local shore dive (you dive next to the ferry terminal not actually in the terminal). It is amazing how much different diving is here than in tropical waters. You have to wear tons of neoprene and then because of the neoprene lots of weight. These two dives were the last two I needed to finish up my Divemaster course. Now I can make money diving! Hoping to get my Instructor certification next.

Tomorrow about 11 of us are headed for Sun Lakes in Eastern Washington for 4 days of camping. When I get back I'm then headed out with my friend Dave for an overnight backpacking trip. Looking forward to all those hours in nature.

I'll get some pictures up from all these adventures but I didn't bring my laptop so I don't want to download the pics onto a friend's computer. But I promise pictures in the future. See you in a week.

Macro madness

2008-08-06T11:07:00.003+08:00

A few months ago I went and took my camera and macro lens to a state park near Bellingham. I just love shooting with a macro lens, probably more than any other lens. Here are a few of the better shots from the afternoon.

The good ole days

2008-08-05T12:52:00.002+08:00

My brother thinks you can track a person's age by when they thought Saturday Night Live stopped being funny. It hold pretty true.

However, I would like to posit another idea. I was driving the other day in my parent's car, which has XM radio. They have a channel for just 90's music. As I listened, I thought, "Wow, this is really good music, way better than today's music." Then I froze. Yikes...is that a sign I'm getting old?

I mean, the 90's had the advent of grunge rock, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Weezer, Bush, Stone Temple Pilots. It had New Kids on the Block, Mariah Carey, Madonna, and a host of others. Rap was still young and not vile. MTV actually had some music videos. VH1 had pop up videos. Wayne was in his world and all was right in heaven.

I'm not old, right? Tell me I'm just correct and not getting set in my ways. Ahhh, those dang kids and their new-fangled strawberries and music ring tone. Why I remember when you used to call...

Pictures from New Orleans (Christmas 2007)

2008-08-03T05:33:00.002+08:00

Oak Alley Plantation

Houmas House Plantation

Houmas House

Ohhhh and artsy shot

Street performers

Movie Reviews and thoughts

2008-08-03T05:20:00.003+08:00

Well, I have been to see three summer movies this year. Here is my review...albeit quick takes.

Hancock: Yawn. Not good at all. If you are on a transpacific flight and it is on, watch it. Otherwise, don't pay to see it.

Dark Knight: Good but overhyped. I liked Batman Begins better. My pet peeve: why does Christian Bale have his stupid Batman voice? It sounds so stupid...like he is trying to act scary.

Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Not very good. They replace Rachel Weiss with Maria Bello. Bello is not even close to the actor Weiss is. Brendan Fraser and Bello have zero chemistry. It was good to see Datuk Michelle Yeoh (from Malaysia) but there is not much good about this movie.

Lastly, a musing about Colin Farrell. Why is he popular? Miami Vice and Alexander were horrid movies. I caught part of SWAT the other day and that was bad. How has he become a big actor? Are looks really that important?

Hike to Oyster Dome

2008-07-28T05:22:00.003+08:00

A couple of months ago my friend Amanda and I hiked to the top of what is called the Oyster Dome near Bellingham. It wasn't particularly a great day for wonderful views but you could see some of the San Juan Islands from the top. Definitely a good hike and worth another visit on a clear day.

Well worth your time

2008-07-26T00:59:00.003+08:00

I know at times I can be quite cynical and harsh, case in point is my rant on politics a couple of days ago. This is not one of those posts.

A few months ago I read about a professor who gave his "Last Lecture". He was a lecturer at Carnegie-Mellon and diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live. The university asked him to join their "Last Lecture" series, which was just the idea of what a prof would say if indeed it was their last lecture. For him, it was true. I started watching it on youtube, and even though it is long, I just couldn't stop watching. It was funny, interesting and moving. It was a good reminder that even though there are lots of things to rant about, at the core much is right and good in the world. So, here is the "Last Lecture" if you want to take the time to watch it or parts of it. He passed away this last week. For some reason my embedded video isn't working, so here is the link to it.

Puerto Rico

2008-07-24T11:53:00.002+08:00

I'm trying to get back to posting more. This is from my spring break trip to Puerto Rico. Fabulous place...I highly recommend it. I'll try to post a few more pics later.

A blog on politics...take it with a grain of salt. I'm just ranting.

2008-07-23T08:02:00.001+08:00

Ok, I’ve had this post rattling in my head for a few days and I just have to get it out or I’ll go crazy.

I can’t really believe the America I have come back to. It is polarized. You are Democrat or Republic. You want Obama or McCain. It is really quite befuddling because neither is what they say they are.

Bush claims to be conservative and is on issues such as abortion. However, if you look at his blank check spending (Iraq War) and you find he is not a conservative at all. Another example would be the growth of debt and the increase of bureaucracy. In reality Bill Clinton was more conservative in his financial policies that Bush.

Now we come to McCain and Obama. They are actually quite similar beliefs in the different packages. The difference is on how the media portrays their policies. Obama rates near the middle of Democrats and McCain to the left (liberal) side of Republicans. See this site for further info.

I had decided not to vote, then I thought, “Well, I should do my civic duty, I’ll just choose a third party candidate.” So, I looked at all the other candidates and decided not to vote. Here is my problem. You are either one or the other and it makes little sense logically. Let me explain.

Conservatives are against abortion. They say that life starts at conception and it is murder to kill a fetus.

Liberals are for a woman’s right to choose. They argue life starts at birth and the mother has a right to end her pregnancy.

Conservatives are for the right to bear arms. They say private citizens should be able to arm themselves and defend themselves against criminals.

Liberals are for gun control. They argue that guns wind up in the hands of criminals and private citizens who prone to use them in ways that cause violence and death.

I don’t understand these positions. You see, conservatives argue life is sacred and shouldn’t be ended in an abortion. I support this. I believe life is sacred and should not be taken away. But, then you come to the gun problem. Conservatives think you should be able to carry around guns and defend yourself. A recent case is where a man shot two unarmed thieves (killing them) he caught robbing his neighbor’s house. How sacred is life? Well, evidently, sacred as a fetus but if I catch you in my house with my DVD player, forget it!

The reverse is true for liberals. Women have the right to choose to end a pregnancy but if you carry a gun and kill a person robbing your house, you criminal! Go to jail! You didn’t have the right to choose to shoot the robber.

(I won’t even include the death penalty in this analysis because it just gets worse.)

For me, human life is sacred. It should not be ended with a gun or by an abortion doctor. Why do I have to choose Democrat or Republican? I can’t because they don’t even come close to putting together a coherent framework of belief I can get behind. Have fun voting in November. I’m moving to Canada.

A face only a mother could love

2008-06-07T10:34:00.002+08:00

After months of not updating, I thought I would put up a pic of what happens if you make "pppbbbbfffttt" sounds and then snap a pic. It is also my profile pic at eHarmony. Why am I not getting any profile hits?

Snow, Glorious Snow!

2007-12-03T14:21:00.000+08:00

The first snowfall of the year occurred this weekend. It was the first snow I had seen in several years and I had a great time out walking in the snow. I also enjoyed calling my mom and rubbing in that it was snowing here and not where she was.

The kids couldn't wait to go sledding. This was early the first day before it got deep.

Not a common site at the state park

Winter wonderland

Signs of the season

Yes, I know I can't sing

2007-11-11T05:29:00.000+08:00

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I wrote this song before I moved to Malaysia 5 years ago and now that I have moved back to the States it rings even more true. It is about leaving good friends behind and not knowing if and when you will get to see them again. Please remember I am not musical or a singer...just putting my feelings to song.

Frog

2007-11-05T06:12:00.000+08:00

Stories about my father on his birthday

2007-11-04T03:47:00.000+08:00

My father’s birthday is tomorrow so I thought I would regale you with stories from my youth.

Most of you know I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma. We grew wheat, cotton and peanuts and raised cattle and hogs. Lots of people ask me “How many acres did you farm?” and I always have a hard time answering that. Our farms were Simpson’s, Holmes’, the North Farm, “Where we lived”, the 80 and Great-grandmas. That is over 800 acres but not all of it was “broke” (cultivated) ground.

For a while we raised lots of pigs. We had a farrowing house and had several sows. Suffice it to that after a good rain it stank badly around our house.

We would take our pigs to Oklahoma City to the Stockyards to sell them. If I remember right, Justin and I were in school and Adam was too young to be in school one particular year. My dad would take Adam to the Stockyards and sell the pigs and then stop at Hydro on the way home, mainly to put the money in the bank. Across the street was what used to be known as a “5 and dime”. For some reason the first trip to the Stockyards that year he and Adam went across the street to the store and bought each one of us boys a tape. These tapes were produced by Fisher-Price and were stories, fairytales or retelling of historical events.

If I remember right, I would get a history one, like Ben Franklin, Justin a story one like Tom Sawyer and Adam a fairytale like Jack and the Beanstalk. We spent hours listening to those cassettes and I still remember scenes from them. In fact, I think we had them pretty much memorized word for word!

Was there every any real hope for me not to love history? I’ve always appreciated the fact my dad bought those tapes because it wasn’t anyone’s birthday or Christmas, he was just doing it because he loved us.

Most kids love it when they get out of school. When I got out of school, especially my freshman and sophomore years in high school, it just meant we went to work in the fields. My brothers were in a different school that had a later release date, plus they were younger, so that meant it was just my dad and I out in the fields everyday.

The start of school holidays also marked the start of the planting season. We needed to get the cotton and peanuts planted so that we could move on to the task of wheat harvest in late May or early June.

We would wait for a good rain and then as soon as the field was tillable, my dad and I would head out to plant. I would drive one tractor with a ‘crustbuster’ hitched behind it. A crustbuster cuts a wide swath, 20 feet or so, and its many long metal teeth break up the soil and prepare an appropriate planting bed.

My dad would drive my grandfather’s cabless tractor, my grandfather’s 4010 John Deere, if memory serves me correct. Both cotton and peanuts were planted in long rows. Behind the tractor was an implement called a planter. The planter had four hoppers, which were tall metal cylinders that held the seed. Behind and below the hopper was a wheel, which, when the planter was lowered via hydraulics rolled along the ground. This turned gears under the hopper and allowed seeds to fall one by one from the hopper. These seeds fell straight down through a tube and came out between two metal discs. These discs, when lowered to the ground, made a furrow that the seed fell into. Remember that wheel? It then rolled over the furrow and covered the seed.

Crustbusting was much faster than planting. I could finish a field in a couple of hours but the planting might take 12 or more for the same ground. Once I was finished, my job was to sit in the pick-up at the end of the rows. My dad would plant four rows down, then four rows back while I waited in the pick-up. When he got back, he would raise the planter, after which I would turn the wheels to cause the seed to fall onto the ground to make sure the seed was falling freely between the discs . Sometimes the fall would be blocked by mud or clods of dirt. I would then fill the hoppers with more seed and my dad would set off again.

Every few rounds, my dad would get down off the tractor and we would go to the last row he had planted. Kneeling in the soft brown dirt, we would dig to find a few of the seeds. We were checking to make sure the spacing was far enough that the plants wouldn’t choke each other out but not so far that very few plants would populate the field. We would also check to confirm the depth of the seed was appropriate. Too deep and it would never sprout. Too shallow and it would be washed away or never sprout as well.

One year in particular I remember that “Kokomo” was a song I listened to a lot in the pick-up as I waited for the tractor to complete its circuit. We finished the last field, Hudsons, after probably 10 days of planting. They were long days, sometimes 12 hours long. I just remember it was hard work.

After the last rows were planted, my dad parked the tractor and headed back to the last few rows he had planted. I followed him and we knelt there together in the bright late afternoon light. The pungent smell of tilled ground was strong as he started to dig up the last seeds of the planting season. Satisfied with their depth and placement, he reached up and took off his dirty-covered hat and looked at me. “Let’s pray for the crop” he said. I took off my hat and together we bowed our heads and prayed for God to bless the work of our hands and bring about a bountiful harvest by bringing timely rains and to keep the insects and disease at bay.

I like to think we had a bumper crop that year.

I’m sure my father barely remembers kneeling on Hudson’s farm that day or those cassettes but I do. Happy Birthday Dad!

Quotes of the week

2007-10-28T10:35:00.000+08:00

I heard two good quotes this week, the first from my new job at a middle school.

Student to his friend as they were leaving the cafeteria: "Dude, there is no way you could beat me as a level 66 paladin because I'm a level 65 shadow priest."

Michaelangelo: "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." Michaelangelo's response when asked how he could carve an exquisite angel statue from a mere block of stone.

Derring-do or do it?

2007-10-18T11:29:00.000+08:00

I used the term "derring-do" with my friends the other day and they thought I was weird. Hmmm, that happens a lot! Anyway, I argued that lots of people knew what derring-do meant. None of the 8 people we polled knew the definition. So, I am trying to get a larger sample to find vindication. Please take the two seconds to vote!!!!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Sanwiches and Good Parents

2007-10-10T13:58:00.001+08:00

The other day I was in the grocery store picking out tomatoes when I realized I am my father’s son. I didn’t realize it that weird way when you are 18 and you say something that just slips out and then you cry, “NO!” because you realize it is exactly what your mom or dad would have said in that same situation. This time it just made me smile.

My dad likes sandwiches. On the farm, us boys used to help out during the summer while it was school holidays. At noon we would head back to the house for lunch (usually while listening to Paul Harvey!). Sometimes mom would cook but so many of the meals were sandwiches. Not meat and bread sandwiches but Dagwoods, with thick cut tomatoes that dripped onto your napkin with every bite you took and the napkin by the end. Come to think of it, my dad should have a show on the Food Network showing how to make homemade French fries and sandwiches. It would be a hit.

So there I was, in the produce section, hand-selecting the expensive tomatoes. You know, those vine-ripened ones from the hot house that cost twice as much as the other varieties. Then it hit me, this is what dad does, buys these same tomatoes, because only the best tomatoes should be on a sandwich. Here I was doing exactly the same thing because I missed sandwiches so bad in Malaysia.

My parents have had huge impacts on my life. I had both of them as teachers and as I pursue teaching as a career, I can’t think of finer examples to follow. My mom was teacher of the year last year and the hours she puts in are amazing. If only those kids knew the number of nights she falls asleep grading papers in front of the TV.

I had my father for world history and algebra one, so my memories of his class are much stronger. I had such a poor high school education and his classes stand out as one of the bright spots. I still know the Vietnam War, from the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to the Tet Offensive to Operation Rolling Thunder and General Westmoreland because of my father, not because of a great university class.

I told a friend yesterday one person I admire in history is Hannibal Barca (not the fictional mass murderer, the general from Carthage). “Your weird,” he said. I still remember mom and dad helping me with that sixth grade term paper on Hannibal. If I’m weird he can blame my parents.

As I watch my friends raise their two-year old daughter, I see them striving to be good parents. But I want to tell them they already are good parents. No parent is perfect, even mine weren’t. Good parents try, they spend time with their kids, they share experiences, they ask for help. What a hard job, where the object of your affection may never, ever turn to you and thank you for all those days you worked so they could have a better life.

Thanks mom and dad, for sandwiches and so much more.

The Greatest Canadian

2007-10-09T06:15:00.000+08:00

I have a few Canadian friends and a question I have asked on a few occasions is, "Who do you feel is the greatest Canadian?" Usually their attempts at an honest answer are interrupted by my annoying interjections of, "Is it Shania Twain or Nelly Furtado?" Anyway, I found a poll online and it was helpful for me to know a few Canadian greats, so, on this day, Canadian Thanksgiving, I offer you the list of the Greatest Canadians.

Tommy Douglas (politician)
Terry Fox (cancer survivor who ran across Canada)
Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister)
Sir Fredrick Banting (discovered/developed insulin)
David Suzuki (geneticist)
Lester B. Pearson (Prime Minister)
Don Cherry (hockey commentator)
Sir John A. MacDonald (Prime Minister)
Alexander Graham Bell (Come here, Mr. Watson, I want to see you!)
Wayne Gretzky (Married a Hollywood B list star)

Here is the link to the home page if you want to read more about each of these individuals.

I also found a list of great Americans. You can see it here. It must be old because "Dubya" is number 6 and I don't think he would rate that highly now.

The World's Funniest Game

2007-10-06T02:10:00.000+08:00

I have played lots of games in my day. Card games, games with people in circles, board games, geocaching (is that a game?), organised sports and the list goes on and on. A few years back I was introduced to a game that I consider to the the funniest I have ever played. This game doesn't have a name that I know of, so I call it the sentence-draw-fold game.

It goes like this. Every person gets a blank piece of paper, with or without lines is unimportant. Everyone writes their name at the very bottom of the paper. Then each participant writes a sentence at the top of the paper. It can be anything you want but just a single thought encapsulated in one sentence. It shouldn't be too long either.

Second, once your sentence is complete, you pass the paper to your left or right. The direction doesn't matter, as long as everyone passes the same direction, i.e. to their left. Now you have a new piece of paper with a sentence written at the top. Now the real fun begins. You read the sentence and then you must draw the sentence in a picture just below the sentence. So, if the sentence is, "A man is driving a car", you draw that just below the original sentence. You don't want to draw it too big, because the paper should be passed and drawn or written on several times but draw large enough so that the picture can be understood.

Once you are finished drawing, you have to fold the paper. Your paper should have a sentence at the top and a picture just below it. Fold your paper where the next person can see ONLY your picture, not the original sentence. The original sentence must be obscured by the fold but the picture must be visible. Now, pass your paper to the next person on your left (if that is the way you are passing).

Now you will get a paper with a fold and a picture. Looking at the picture, write a sentence that you feel encapsulates the picture. Then, fold the paper to cover the picture and leave only your sentence showing. Now pass to your left for the next person to draw under the sentence. Draw, fold, pass. Write, fold, pass.

When your original paper finishes the circuit (you know this because you wrote your name at the bottom of the page) you may unfold the page and begin guffawing. The game usually works best if each person gives a short presentation of their original sentence and the various evolutions it went through. I am not kidding, you will laugh during this part.

Here are a few examples to show why (It may help to click on the picture so you can enlarge it and see it better):

The original sentence is "I like to hike in the mountains" followed by a great drawing of a man smiling as he hikes. This one goes off when the bedroll in the second pic looks like a halo and the backpack looks like wings. I am the one who finished the page with the great drawing of Daniel in the lion's den, a far cry from "I like to hike in the mountains".

This one was going well until I got a hold of it. Somehow my frightened princess was mistaken for a frog and my knight for a space alien. Can you believe it?

On this one I laughed harder than I have in ages. The first sentence is simple, "It was a very beautiful day." The next player kinda cheated (mainly because she had taken some good natured ribbing about her drawing skills) and had the man saying the original sentence. The trouble was, she forgot to draw his feet. So, the sentence changed to "The sun is out in a beautiful field of flowers, and one can talk." I cried I was laughing so hard on that one.

Now, some will say that they can't play this game because they can't draw. I am not a great artist either but that is the beauty of this game. It is all in the interpretation. A great picture may lead the sentence way off the path, while a couple of stick men may move it on without change.

Give it a try and if you like it post a comment letting me know how much laughter it created. Honestly, your face will hurt from playing this game.

Geocaching

2007-10-05T05:33:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday I went geocaching with my friend Dave. (Just as a note, if your name is Dave you may want to be my friend because I have one uncle and at least three friends named Dave.)

Geocaching is a little like organized treasure-hunting. First, someone goes out and hides a 'cache'. Then they go home and get on the internet. They record the GPS coordinates of the cache and a few details (if they want to) including clues about where the cache is hidden. Then, you go to www.geocaching.com and find those coordinates and clues and go out with your handheld GPS to find the cache.

The cache is usually a Tupperware-type container. Inside are small trinkets and a logbook. You sign the logbook and if you choose, take a trinket and put a new trinket of your own in the container. Items such as travel bugs and special coins can also be in the cache. These are special items and you are expected to log the fact that you found it and then you can't keep it but you must put it in a different cache. Some of these coins and travel bugs have goals, such as making it to a certain location etc.

Dave and I had coordinates on 5 caches and we found 4 of them. We speculate that the fifth was found by 'muggles', a term stolen from Harry Potter meaning non-geocachers as the cache was probably just beside the trail. I say probably because we never found it and can only speculate.

I found geocaching was great fun and an enjoyable way to spend a few hours out traipsing around in the woods. Many caches are in neighborhood parks but some are extremely remote. And, for you Malaysians, there are also caches in that part of the world as well. Happy hunting!

Hot Wheels

2007-09-27T01:49:00.001+08:00

I bought a new car last week, a Mazda 626, 1997 model with 123,000 miles, or a Mahzda as my Canadian friend calls it. (FYI, the Canadian dollar pulled even with the US dollar last week. Thought you should know.)

I hate buying cars. Why do we allow the practice of car selling to continue as it does in the USA? For me it is the same as going to the corner store for a tube of toothpaste. The tube has a list of features on the price tag and then the price of $12. A salesperson talks to you about the chloride etc and even lets you brush once with the toothpaste. Then you offer $3 for the toothpaste and they "go to bat" for you against their manager, to get him/her to agree to the lower price. (Please!!! Honestly, I once had a sales lady use this term when I wouldn't sign a hastily scrawled contract saying I would buy the car if she could get the trade price for my pickup that I wanted)

Eventually, you pay $6.50 for the the toothpaste, plus tag, title and tax ($8.12 out the door). As you sit on your hemmorhoid donut on the way home, you manage to convince yourself you paid the right price for the toothpaste.

Why is this legal? Can't they just markup cars like they markup products at any store and tell you the price? Why should the price you pay be contingent on your ability to 'drive a hard bargain'?

Anyway, I paid $3500 (out the door, or on the road as they say in MY) for my car and feel that is an OK price. No bargain, mind you, but I don't think I got taken. If you think otherwise, please don't tell me and allow me to live the delusion that is my life. Thanks for you cooperation.

The long anticipated Mataking-Sipadan photos

2007-09-20T06:20:00.001+08:00

Before I left Malaysia I knew I wanted to dive Sipadan, the most famous of Malaysian dive sites. I also spent 4 days diving another island in the area, Mataking. I finally figured out my camera (arrgghh!) and got some great underwater shots. Nudibranch

Clown frogfish. There are two of them. I only noticed that after I looked at the photo because my dive master was in such a hurry.

A huge school of jack or big-eye trevally.

Giant frogfish-yes there is a fish in this picture.

Purple-fringed flatworm.

This turtle was in Mataking but you see about 8-10 turtles PER DIVE in Sipadan.

My dive buddy, Rombout (a Dutch guy who was staying at Seaventures).

Whitetip reef shark resting in the current. There are lots of these at Sipadan, sometimes you can see 10 or more on a single dive. And no, not dangerous or aggressive, unless you are trying to eat bloody, raw steak.

Donald the Rhino

2007-08-25T22:35:00.000+08:00

I was hanging out with a 5 year old this weekend who was pretending he was a rhinoceros named Donald. I composed a short limerick about Donald:

There is a fellow named Donald the Rhino
He's the cleverest rhino that I know
He knows loads about bugs
And a bit about slugs
Plus he can fold a mean origami dino

I was then challenged to rhyme it using rhinoceros, so here goes.

There an adventurer named Donald the Rhinoceros
Who had as a goalto swim the Bosporus
As he swam along
He composed a song
And as a result became quite prosperous.

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike

2007-08-18T18:16:00.000+08:00

I'm visiting friends before I leave Malaysia and I spent the morning and afternoon out on a little bike ride through the kampung (village) down to a beach about 6 km from their house.

First, I was riding and older style bike. Really cool looking but by the time I started back it was killing me in the you know what. The ride was really nice when I started out but I took a long time. The kampung is very rural but there are houses everywhere and they are in no kind of order. It's as if God took his Monopoly set and turned it upside down. Houses fell everywhere and then the roads were traced through the empty places. So, the road meanders this way and that and you have do idea if your on the main road or one that dead ends at a clump of houses. This meant that I would head down a path and just hope it was the main one. Needless to say I made lots of U-turns. It was very fun at first to meet people and ask directions but on the way back, it was hot and about 2 pm and I just wanted a shower.

Definitely a fun ride. Here are some pictures from the adventure.

My faithful steed

Kites for sale on the beach

Nasi kerabu--don't adjust your colour, it is blue rice.
Also, this meal cost me RM1.80 and that included drink.
Malaysians get tired of hearing how strong the US dollar is, but that is $.50 and in Penang the same meal would cost twice that.

Ipoh Mali

2007-08-08T14:33:00.000+08:00

A couple of months ago I wrote about a song called "Ipoh Mali" in a post called "The Surreal World".

I recently found the video for Ipoh Mali on YouTube, so here it is in all its glory.

The show must go on

2007-08-03T12:57:00.000+08:00

This is the best news EVER!!!!!!

A chicken in every pot

2007-08-02T18:06:00.000+08:00

Here in Malaysia the elections are getting close but actually it is just a guess. The Malaysian system works like this: the party in power can call for an election at anytime but they must do so within five years of the last election. The current prime minister, Abdullah Badawi was elected on October 31, 2003.

Why do I think there is an upcoming vote now?

Malaysia does not have freedom of the press. In fact, newspapers are owned by political parties here. This entire week the front page of The Star, the main English daily, has been trumpeting the benefits of the Northern Corridor project and how great a city Penang will be once all the new plans have been implemented. It seems suspicious to me (although not completely out of the ordinary) to have of this publicity of what a great job the government is doing. (Isn't that generally what any government is supposed to do?)

If there is an election, there will be an announcement and then in two weeks the vote. Also, a flag will blossom from every pole, tree and house in the country, flying their party's colors.

My prediction is a vote before Jan 1, 2008.

I wish the USA would adopt some of these political measures. Wouldn't it be great if there were, say, two months of campaigning and then the primaries, then two more months and the general election? I would love to see just two weeks but I'm trying to put forward a feasible plan. The primaries are months off in the States and still candidates are campaigning and have been doing so for months. Don't these people have jobs?

I do appreciate free speech in America when compared with Malaysia. Actually, both can learn from the other. Malaysians should ask a few more hard hitting and piercing questions and Americans should learn to respect a person's position and title just a bit.

Just a last thought here: Yesterday's Star showed the future of Penang, which includes this "global convention centre" with two malls and two five star hotels. Penang's population is about 500,000-600,000 and can't even support the 6 malls that we currently have, why in the world do we need more? Komtar can't even be considered a mall anymore, it is so nasty and vacant since Prangin Mall went in next door. Oh well, I guess that is the definition of 'development', --more malls.

Sledding on Mt. Baker

2007-07-22T17:13:00.000+08:00

Sorry these posts are in such a random order, this obviously happened before I went to Hong Kong, it is just that it took along time to upload to youtube.

The gist is that I went sledding, on inflatable pool toys, with my friends, in July, in 80 degree weather on Mt. Baker. Enjoy the photos and video.

Brrr so cold!

I'm like a bird

Trekking back up the hill after a ride down

Tara!!!!

SuperNikki

Erek contemplates his path down

TopCat even got in the act

The choo-choo train leaving the station

Hong Kong

2007-07-22T16:54:00.000+08:00

I stopped in Hong Kong for 3 days on my way back to Malaysia. I didn't enjoy it so much. It was hot, hottt, HOT. Cities are just a trap for heat and allow no wind to flow. It was expensive. I can have breakfast for $.50 USD in Malaysia, the cheapest meal in HK was about $4 USD. I went to the Ladies Market and the Temple Street Market and they were full of the same items you get in Malaysia except more expensive. There are just hordes, gobs, stacks, crowds of people. Way too many people. Lastly, I went to Victoria Peak to take night photos and they have put a stinking MALL on top of the Peak. You can eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp and watch the lights of Hong Kong. Something about that is just sick and wrong to me. I was asked to fill out a tourist question sheet at the airport and I thought the girl was going to cry when I rated my experience as a 6. Honestly, visit Penang. We have a tall hill-without a mall, good night market shopping and cheaper food. Here are some pictures to fool you into thinking it is a nice city...

Typical shot of Hong Kong harbor.

View from the Peak, err, mall at night.

Tai Chi on the promenade.

Neon Chinese

Chinook Pass

2007-07-22T16:04:00.000+08:00

My parents flew up to Washington and we drove over to Leavenworth and then down to Yakima before heading back to Seattle. These are pictures that I took at Chinook Pass. Mt. Rainier looms in the distance.

Alpine lake

I think this is Mt. Naches

BFFs

2007-07-22T15:37:00.000+08:00

TopCat and his BFF's..too bad Barn was behind the lens!

Sunset at Silver Lake

2007-07-22T15:22:00.000+08:00

Silver Lake at twilight on a summer day.

The sweet smell of...

2007-07-22T15:19:00.000+08:00

Today I saw a girl smelling her hair as she walked down the street. Since I have no idea why a person would do this, I thought I would ask you, my all-knowing reader.

Question: Why was the girl walking down the street smelling her hair?

Please choose an answer multiple choice style.

Answers:

A) She was very pleased with her new Herbal Essence “Orange Blossom” shampoo.
B) Some people twiddle their thumbs when bored, others smell their hair.
C) It was simply a sign that Coke a Cola’s “Original Formula” hair powder should not be approved by the FDA.
D) She is an egotistical maniac in love with her long, luscious, great-smelling hair.
E) Even bad smelling hair smells better than the Oklahoman standing next to her, staring crazily at her.
F) ????

Submit your answers in the comment section.

Summer blockbusters

2007-07-22T15:12:00.000+08:00

I have been traveling and writing stuff, random things, so get ready for a flurry of posts that have no real connection.

Random thoughts: Easy to get internet anywhere in the USA...Asia not so easy. Hong Kong has this PCCW network but you have to pay. Why can't we standardize the electrical plugs around the world. And why can't the USA just cave in and go to the metric system. I will run for President in 2012 with these two matters as my platform.

The real post:

A few years ago, there was a summer blockbuster. It also happens to be one of my most hated movies. Armageddon. How in the world did this movie not do anything but flop? I also remember that summer the movie “Deep Impact” came out as well and was a much better take on the whole ‘giant asteroid hits the earth’ theme.

What made Armageddon bad? 1. Lots of hype 2. Most of the action sequences involve the old ‘Star Trek’ staple of a shaking camera and people falling around in a spaceship 3. Clichéd characters—the Russian cosmonaut, the outlaw oil driller 4. Clichéd plot—the good of the many outweighs the good of the one 5. A theme song that rivaled “My Heart Must Go One” for most overplayed song of all time (“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”) All this equals a movie that should have bombed as badly as “Waterworld”.

One other thought on movies. I caught “John Q” the other day and I still think that movie would have been much better if they had allowed John to give his heart rather than make the movie the typical happy Hollywood ending. So much for original ideas.

Fourth of July

2007-07-06T02:48:00.001+08:00

I celebrated July 4th last night with friends in Bellingham. We watched the fireworks from the bay at a yacht. I took pictures of the fireworks show over the bay which I will share with you. It gets dark so late this far north. The fireworks started at 10:30 and it wasn't completely dark (still a glimmer of twilight) until after 11. The sun comes up at the crack of dawn as well!

Sunset at Birch Bay

2007-07-04T14:19:00.001+08:00

Random birds of Washington

2007-07-04T10:23:00.001+08:00

Black-capped chickadees

Rufous hummingbird

Pacific slope flycatcher

Hiking Boulder Ridge near Mt. Baker

2007-07-04T10:06:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday my friend Dave and I went hiking on Mt. Baker at a place called Boulder Ridge. The snow melt has been slow this year, so we started at a lower elevation but still reached snow after 30-45 minutes of hiking. The day was overcast until we headed home but still afforded us views of the peak of Baker, a dormant volcano. Dave told me when he was a Boy Scout they would go on hikes where if you fell down you were given 7 points, kind of fell 3 points and just touched a hand 1 point. I would up biffing it on the trail back for a full 7 points and also sliding down a steep, snow-covered slope for another 7 points. Needless to say Dave won the game. Still, who could complain about being out in the woods on a glorious day!

Looking up Boulder Creek to Mount Baker. The headwaters of this creek were our destination.

This Western Tiger Swallowtail was hanging out near the trailhead.

Looking back down the trail towards Baker Lake and other mountains.

Posing in the shadow of the mountain.

Another picturesque view of Mt. Baker.

American Goldfinch

2007-07-04T10:03:00.001+08:00

The American Goldfinch is the state bird of Washington. I found this one in the cranberry bogs near Westport.

Westport days

2007-07-04T09:51:00.001+08:00

Back in February of 1998 I left Oklahoma and moved to Westport, Washington to work at the Westport Maritime Museum. I recently returned for a short visit and found little has changed. Some more condos have been built out by the beach but mostly it has resisted the change of the last 8 years. Still a great place to spend a few days and if you get a day of full sun it is like hitting the lottery. Still remember the July 4th that I worked giving tours in the lighthouse and it was foggy and I had to wear a 'jumper'!

Gray's Harbor Light

Sand dollar that washed up on the beach

As I was walking I started to feel really small because I was the only person on the beach and it just went on and on and finally disappeared into the mist. Japan is somewhere to the right.

Generational Movie Watching

2007-07-03T06:23:00.000+08:00

Different generations have extremely different styles of watching movies.

(65+)

This generation sees movies as a once in a great while event. As they have gotten older they have attended them more frequently but generally they go see a movie every few months. A movie is still a big event for them.

(45+)

This generation grew up watching movies and still go see quite a few. They will watch one or more a month. As they were growing up, though, you watched a movie and then several years later it would come on one of the big three networks and they would catch it a second time.

(30+)

They grew up going to movies frequently and especially in their teen years maybe watching one a week. Later, they would rent or buy the same movie and watch it again, maybe once or twice a year.

(5+)

This generation loves movies. They will watch the same DVD day after day and memorize the lines. Some of them have seen "Finding Nemo" 500 times!

The Back Forty Idioms

2007-06-28T14:04:00.001+08:00

I have been talking about doing a blog based on farm-related idioms for awhile now so here goes. I'll let you supply the meanings in the comment section. PS- using Google is cheating.
PPS-I'll post all the answers in a couple of days but you win a gold star for each one you get right.

tough row to hoe--

high cotton--

that dog'll hunt--

buying pig in a poke--

shut the barn door after the cows get out--

can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear--

light a shuck--

long in the tooth--

never look a gift horse in the mouth--

like a chicken with its head cut off--

dog and pony show (not really farm related)--

come a gully washer--

cotton shower--

That should be enough for this time. Stayed tuned for more or give new ones in the comments section.

Video Games

2007-06-25T08:09:00.000+08:00

I remember the magical Christmas of 1987. There, under the tree was the Nintendo we three boys had asked for as a present. Ironically, my mom also calls that day as the last one we willing played outside. I was playing N64 the other day and reminiscing about some of my favourite games. Here they are, in no particular order. I’ll miss a few of the great ones, of course, but these are the ones I remember as I write this post.

Nintendo:

Zelda: Link, Ganon and the Triforce. I still remember figuring out you could use the rupees to buy bombs. Should have read the manual.

Super Mario Brothers: Took me ages to beat this game but what a great game. How about that warp zone? We also watched the Super Mario Brothers the TV show. Not as good as the game.

RBI Baseball: This one didn’t have all of the teams but it had some of them, plus an NL and AL all-star teams. We named home runs based on the person who hit them first. An Andre Dawson was one you never saw the ball after you hit it and cleared the lights. A Mike Schmidt hit in the center of the lights and an Eric Davis was a line drive that actually went through the wall down the left field line.

Tecmo Super Bowl: Never owned this one but traded a friend for it. You could play a 16 game season and then go to the playoffs. At some point, if you were say, 10-0 the computer would say, “No, you will not win the next game.” At which point your best player would get hurt and you would fumble sixteen times. Bo Jackson was one of the best runners on the game.

Super Mario 3: Maybe the greatest game of all time. A frog suit, a Tanooki suit, wandering spade cards and so many secrets it made your head spin.

Mike Tyson’s Punchout: Never beat this game but it was infuriating and addicting.

Metroid: Samus is a girl?

Super Nintendo:

Personally, I consider the Super Nintendo to be the pinnacle of video gaming.

Final Fantasy 2: First RPG we ever played. It was also the first game with a deep storyline and I remember how shocked I was when characters died or fell in love.

Final Fantasy 3: Even better than Final Fantasy 2, this one had Cyan and Terra and Shadow the ninja. Also, you could have two players during the battle scenes with the second controller managing two of the fighting party.

Super Mario Kart: I love games that are hard. This one was hard but non-stop fun. I was obsessed with time trials on Rainbow Road, one of the tracks. I would race it over and over to set lap and track records.

Secret of Mana: This one was one of the first of the action RPGs where there were three characters onscreen at a time and two were controlled by players. Also, I loved how you started out with a lance and could then take it to the blacksmith and make it more powerful after getting certain items.

Chronotrigger- One of the later game releases in the SNES’s life but a great RPG nonetheless.

Street Fighter 2: This one started the fighting game craze. The hype for it was unbelievable.

Ogre Battle: This game was great but hard to find, so we just rented it.

Tecmo Super Bowl: We actually owned this one, which was just better graphics and an update of the player rosters from the NES game. Also, it was easier.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Great memories of this game. Loads of secrets.

Super Metroid: Samus is back.

Super Castlevania: Mode 7 and great bosses at the end of the game.

Donkey Kong Country

N64:

Super Mario 64: I actually remember sweating as I controlled Mario walking along narrow walkways with drop-offs to infinity on both sides.

Goldeneye: The ultimate party/dorm game.

WCW Nitro: Wrestling game that was great for parties.

Mario Kart 64: Not as good as the original but a great game.

Killer Instinct: Combo Breaker!

Playstation:

Resident Evil 1 and 2: One was ok but plagued by load times but 2 was one of my favourite games of all time.

Final Fantasy 7: This game made RPGs popular because it had good graphics and chocobos.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater: This was the last game I played that as I was playing I thought, “Wow, this is so cool!”

Crono-Cross: Worthy follow up to Chrono Trigger.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: Great game but they made it twice as long just by turning the castle upside down. What a cheap way out!

Suikoden: Little known game that was great fun.

Metal Gear Solid: Great game but too short.

Florida

2007-06-22T08:56:00.001+08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the pictures that I took during my trip to visit my brother in Orlando. They don't follow any theme other than they were all taken in Florida and I thought they were worth the time to process and put on the blog.

A rose in a garden we visited near St. Augustine.

Gotta have a cool spider picture or it isn't a good post.

The St. Augustine light, one of the most famous in the United States.

Castillo de San Marcos

St. Augustine is the oldest settlement in the USA, founded in 1565 but the fort was built after the city, it is just 330 years old.

The light at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

2007-06-22T08:46:00.001+08:00

Here is a series of photographs I took at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Mostly they are wildflowers. We (my parents and I) saw lots of painted buntings in the refuge, it is definitely the place to go to see them.

Many of the vistas in the refuge are unique with the pinkish red rocks, some of them jumbled into hills.

My Granny

2007-06-22T08:40:00.000+08:00

Granny and Boat

You know that stereotypical grandmother figure: You arrive at her house to find granny in the kitchen, with a homey little apron tied around her waist. As you come in she wipes the flour from her hands and ushers you to the kitchen table. There on the table is a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of cold milk. “Have a seat, dear,” she coos, “Granny made a little snack for her precious one.”

Not my Granny. (We called my dad’s mom “Grandma” and my mom’s mom “Granny”) My Granny is a good cook especially famous for her salads and knox blox and her lemon meringue pie. However, I do not think of the picture above when I think of her.

We used to go to my granny’s house in the summer and stay a week. We would often go to the lake and swim but we also engaged in other activities. One of these was picking up cans. Before people got conscious of the environment, we used to litter the sides of our roads with trash. One of these items was aluminum cans. So, we would load up, my granny, my two brothers and I and go traipse up and down the sides of the highway filling black garbage bags with discarded cans. We would then crush the cans and take them to a recycling center and get something like $.25 a pound for them.

Another thing we always did was go “garage saling”. Every Thursday for the last 30 years my granny and her sister, Maxine, would get up and go hit all the garage sales (where people sell off unwanted junk from their house). When we stayed with her in the summers, we would tag along and granny would give us a couple of dollars to buy stuff at the garage sales. I still remember purchasing a cow’s horn (not attached!) and a couple dozen golf balls and a game where you flicked the game pieces, a little like “carom”.

My granny is also the ultimate hippie. She has always shopped at the “Bent Can” or close out stores that sell the cans that are dropped and get bent or the label is torn off etc. She also did the recycling of cans I mentioned earlier, saved rainwater to water her flowers and rarely used the air conditioner even in the 100 degree days of summer.

All this sets the stage for the story I want to tell. My granny makes lye soap. She then sells it or gives it away and there is always a demand for her lye soap. Recently she has had a problem finding the lye that gives lye soap its name, due to the fact it is an ingredient in the manufacture of crystal methamphetamine, a popular drug.

She told her friends of her desire to make lye soap but lacking her ingredients. They offered to give her some ingredients, not lye, but animal fat. So, she came home and my parents helped her unload a box of tallow or animal fat, unprocessed, just cut off the carcass. She then rendered it on the stove, “My house still smells”, she moans, “I had to use two burners and wasted so much gas.”

Then we went to town and looked at three different stores and finally found some lye.

She started to make lye and was going to use a large wooden box to pour the liquid into and then allow them to harden over about a week.

As she poured the concoction into the wooden box, it developed a leak and the liquid poured all over the floor. So she had to spend several hours cleaning the lye mixture off her kitchen floor! No lye soap this time. Did I mention she will be 80 next February?!?

What's on your Ipod?

2007-06-20T04:40:00.000+08:00

Well, for my birthday my mom got me an Ipod. I have resisted the mp3 device revolution because I am not one of those people who has to listen to music all the time or they go crazy. However, I thought it was time to enter the 21st century at last and I got an Ipod Nano. What I soon discovered was that an Ipod is very little about music. There are literally hundreds of thousands of podcasts on almost every subject imaginable. So I am loving my Ipod but just have a hundred or so songs on it. A popular interview question is: “What’s on your Ipod?” so here is my answer.

Podcasts:

Car Talk: If you have never heard of this show you are missing one of the best things out there. It is a couple of guys from Cambridge, Massachusetts who answer calls about all things automotive. Hilarity always ensues.

Radio West: I only have on program from them about great speeches in history from Churchill to Reagan to Lincoln. Very, very interesting hour of moving speeches and memories.

Martin Luther King Jr: Spurred on by the program above, I downloaded his “I have a dream” speech

John F. Kennedy: Inaugural address “Ask not what your country can do for you…”

Booker T. Washington: Address at the Atlanta Convention “Up from Slavery”.

Socrates

Napoleon Podcast: Up to this date, a 23 part podcast on the life and impact of Napoleon. So far I have listened to 2 parts (each is an hour) with my parents and we found them excellent.

Military History Podcast: Hannibal at the Gates and Alexander the Great Hannibal is my favourite non-religious historical person. Started with that term paper in the fifth grade and still continues today. One day I want to hike the route he took through the Alps from Spain when he invaded Italy and the Roman Empire.

Max Out Radio: Podcast on nutrition and health.

Coffee Break Spanish: A great podcast that is 15 minute lessons on how to learn Spanish.

Music:

Van Halen-Greatest Hits: I’ve loved their music for a long time.

Modest Mouse: Giving this one a try.

Emmylou Harris-Red Dirt Girl: My aunt sent me this CD about 7 years ago and I still love it. Any songwriter that can use “drawn and quartered” in a song is worth a listen.

The Monkees: The original boy band!

Van Morrison-Moondance: Very different, very good.

Cream: Clapton at a young age.

O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack

Coldplay

Counting Crows

Bruce Hornsby/Billy Joel: I love piano driven songs.

Cranberries: Linger and Zombie are classics.

Natalie Imbruglia: I have no reason why but I love this CD and often in the past craved certain songs off of it. Yes, I know she is a former Aussie soaps actress and “Torn” will be her one hit wonder. To each his own, ok?

U2-The Singles: Who doesn’t love U2?

Where were you?

2007-06-15T05:39:00.001+08:00

I've been listening to some great speeches in American history on my Ipod and it got me to thinking about world events and where I was when I heard about different tragedies.

1) The space shuttle Challenger explodes (28 January 1986)

This is the first major event that I remember. It was when I saw the flag at half-staff and I asked questions that I found out that the space shuttle exploded. I was at school at Victory Christian and saw the flag during recess. That week we went to get a dog from Gerald Neighbors and we named him "Challenger" because we got him the week the Challenger exploded. Additional note: We also had a dog named "Dollar" because my brother bought him at an auction for a dollar. My brother was young, saw the dog and bid one dollar to buy the cute dog. The problem was, he didn't have a dollar to pay for the dog after he was the highest bid, so the guy standing next to him gave him a dollar to buy "Dollar".

2) Oklahoma City bombing (19 April 1995)

I was in university at the time and had an early morning chemistry class. 100.5, the KATT, a popular radio station had a popular morning show with the DJ's "Rick and Brad". After chemistry class I went to my pickup and started it up. The radio came on and Rick and Brad, who usually finished their shift during my class were still on air. It took me a minute to figure out what was happening because I thought it might be a comedy skit and I didn't know what the word 'triage' meant. Once I figured it out, I went home and watched the live coverage at my apartment. 168 people were killed in that bombing.

3) September 11, 2001

I got up early because I needed to go to Canada and took a shower. As I was shaving I turned on the radio my roommate BJ kept in the bathroom. There was no music, they were just on news and talking about the first tower collapsing. I immediately woke up BJ and we watched a couple of minutes on TV before I went to Canada. After I got to Canada they closed the border for awhile and I wound up spending much more time there than I expected.

4) Tsunami (26 December 2004)

I was at a friend's house checking my email when I felt the house shake. At first I thought I was getting dizzy but I had experienced an earthquake while living in Washington state, so I quickly realised it had been an earthquake. I went for my scuba dive training at a local pool and then started to go to my friend's house for a Christmas open house. Before I left, he smsed (texted) to say not to use the main road. The back road was congested but I was on motorbike so didn't have much trouble. After I arrived I found out there had been a tsunami and that was the reason the roads were closed. It had washed boats and other debris onto the roadway. As we talked, we heard a sound like a jet landing. We looked out from his balcony, which had an ocean view, and was a much smaller secondary wave coming in from the open ocean. It was months before the world realised over 200,000 people died that day. I still remember the Internet reports that evening were reporting 9,000 dead.

5) Space shuttle Columbia (1 February 2003)

I don't remember where I was when I heard about this but I remember I went for a swim and stopped at a roadside Malay restaurant the day after it happened. On the table was a newspaper with a picture of the explosion as the front page news. I had just arrived in Malaysia and knew almost zero Bahasa Malaysia. An elderly man in a Muslim skullcap and sarong came over and sat down. He spoke no English but he looked at the picture on the newspaper and wanted to say something. Eventually he said, "Sad" and walked away. I've always been touched by his desire to express sympathy that day.

Second star to the right and straight on till morning

2007-06-11T08:57:00.000+08:00

Malaysia is hoping to send an astronaut (or bolehnaut) to space in the next couple of years, so on Friday, June 8th I went to see a shuttle launch in Florida in case I am named to an adviser to the space program in Malaysia.

We went to Titusville, Florida and watched the launch from there because they close off some of the areas close to NASA and won't let you get really close to the launch site. The street was just lined with cars and people out with their families and their lawn chairs to watch the launch. It is a huge event that thousands of people turn out for. We found a place about 5 p.m. and sat down to wait for the 7:38 p.m. launch.

This osprey glided by several times during the two hour wait.

While we were waiting, a lady amused us by talking to her dogs. Personally, I think people have entered dangerous territory when they start calling their dogs "kids" and themselves as "mom" and "dad" to the dogs. Perhaps indicates a loss of perspective...but I digress.

When time for the launch came, I have to admit I was really excited. The shuttle program will be retired in 2010, so this is probably the only time I'll ever get to see a launch. When the ignition hit and the clouds of smoke plumed up from both sides of the launch tower, I got goose bumps. I mean, this thing is blasting off to visit the international space station and will orbit the earth for 11 days. Not a small feat!

This picture is just after lift off and is darker because I properly exposed the flame from the rockets.

We were a long distance from the launch site so I was thankful for my 400 mm zoom.

Long after the shuttle was in space this trail lingered in the air. Beautiful!

Red-cockaded woodpecker

2007-06-11T06:41:00.000+08:00

I'm currently in Florida spending some time with my brother and having fun, hence the long silence in posting.

On the drive to Orlando, one of my goals was to stop by the Apalachicola National Forest in an attempt to see the red-cockaded woodpecker. These woodpeckers live in specific trees located in the southern United States and are declining in numbers. An estimated 14,000 birds are all that remain of this species.

I stopped in Apalachicola to enquire about the possibility of finding this rare bird. I was directed to the nature centre, where a helpful lady called an avid birder. She relayed to me that I needed to head east over the bridge out of town, then turn north on state route 65 towards Sumatra. An aside: Although the same name as a large island in Indonesia, this Sumatra is pronounced with a short 'a' sound in the middle syllable where the island is an "ah" sound.

My adviser told me to drive north and keep my eyes open for trees marked with white painted bands around the base. These marked the red-cockaded woodpecker's colonies. These colonies appear to be clusters of trees that are near one another that several different birds nest in.

Several trees in the area had white bands painted around the base and a letter as well. Trees were marked 'A' through 'N'.

I drove north and almost caused a car crash when I saw the first white-banded tree. I jumped out, camera in hand and binoculars around my neck. Unfortunately, the bird was not waiting for me to snap his picture. I began to walk up and down the highway, as there were several trees with white bands along a 300 meter stretch of the road. Suddenly, I saw a bird with the distinctive undulating flight pattern of a woodpecker. It landed on one of the white-banded trees and my heart hit 200 beats per minute. But, this was one shy woodpecker and never came to the side of the tree so that I could see her! After 20 seconds she flew out of sight. Arrgghh! Soon the same bird came flying back and I whipped the binoculars up again, as this time she was in clear view. Nooooooooo! Just a red-bellied woodpecker.

I began to walk up the road towards the first tree when a smaller woodpecker flew into a tree about 20 meters off the highway. Again my pulse hit an erratic rate and the bins came up again. Yes! This was a red-cockaded woodpecker. I took out my camera and took a few distant snaps of this elusive bird. I feel very luck to have had the chance to get a two minute viewing of this rare and unique bird.

The red-cockaded woodpecker

Painted Bunting

2007-05-25T10:08:00.000+08:00

During my time home at Christmas, I bought a birding magazine. The main article listed 10 birds that the author thought were the best to see in America. Amongst those 10 was the painted bunting. Also, my granny is a bit of a bird watcher and really wants to see one and has never lain eyes on one at the age of 79.

So, the other day, I dragged my mom out bird watching. As we walked along a bund, she spotted something red in a nearby tree. I checked it out and then handed the binoculars to her, breathlessly exclaiming, "It's a painted bunting!" It sat there for about thirty seconds, then flew on to a place where two weirdos weren't disturbing his peace. I think this event almost converted my mother to the ranks of ornithology because later that night I was cooking dinner and asked my dad where mom had gone. "She outside watching birds", he replied.

Later in the week, I went to stay at my childhood home. As I stopped the car, I saw something in the top of a dead tree. I got out my binoculars and was stunned to see yet another painted bunting! Were they under my nose all those years growing up?

I was sitting in the living room later and saw Mr. and Mrs. Painted Bunting catching insects in our old firewood pile so I got a book and drove the car down next to the wood pile. After about 12 chapters, they got brave enough to come back and I got a decent picture of the female and a couple blurry ones of the male. Needless to say, it made my week.

Bird of myth and legend

A less flattering, chicken-like pose

The female is less spectacularly coloured but still nice in her greenish plumage

More wildflowers

2007-05-25T10:01:00.000+08:00

Scissor-tailed flycatcher

2007-05-25T09:54:00.000+08:00

The long tail looks like a "v" or scissors when flying.

The scissor-tailed flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma really a spectacular bird to watch. Most of the time photographers hate to take pictures of birds on unnatural perches such as wires but honestly, 8 out of 10 times you will see the scissor-tailed flycatcher on a barb wire fence catching flying insects and returning to its perch on the wire. So, the question is: Is it really an unnatural perch?

Wildflower-Indian Blanket/Fire Wheel

2007-05-20T10:32:00.000+08:00

Hackberry Flat birdwatching

2007-05-18T08:17:00.000+08:00

I went to Hackberry Flat today, which I last visited when I was home in December for Christmas. There were mozzies galore along with some waders, such as the black-necked stilt and American avocet, for them I have created separate posts. The weather was great and I had good views of many birds.

Green-winged teal

Red-winged blackbird

American avocet

2007-05-18T08:09:00.000+08:00

The American avocet is a large wader with a very slender bill that has a slight upturn at the end. I enjoyed watching them foraging for food in the shallow waters of the flats.

Black-necked stilt

2007-05-18T08:04:00.000+08:00

Black-necked stilts were also on the flats. They are lanky birds but very smart looking in their black and white plumage. They remind me of basketball players at a very posh party.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

2007-05-17T11:14:00.000+08:00

I'm now at home in Oklahoma. I'll be in the US a couple of months visiting friends and family. I love the fact that being away changes how you see things when you return. My parents were both teaching school today, so I spent the day out photographing. The wild flowers this year are amazing and I'm sure I would have overlooked them if I were still living here. The views today were absolutely stunning!

A rocky outcropping.

Wheat harvest is just around the corner.

Why are my allergies going haywire?

Oklahoma's state bird: the scissor-tailed flycatcher.

Prickly pear blossom.

A purple thistle.

One Tree Hill.

A scrumptious snack-pollen.

Scrumptious but a bit stringy.

Killdeer.

A prickly pear in bloom.

Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve

2007-05-17T10:47:00.000+08:00

On my way back to the US, I had a day layover in Singapore. Now, Singapore is an ultra-modern city with every convenience you can imagine, in fact, it is probably in the top five most developed cities in the world. If you know me or read this blog somewhat regularly, you know or can guess I am not the sort of chap who enjoys a good afternoon shopping on Orchard Road.

I headed out to Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve, which is on the north end of the island. It is a large preserve which encompasses some prawn ponds, some freshwater ponds and an area of mangroves. The reserve is well laid out with many kilometers of trails. There are several hides that overlook muddy areas that probably teem with shorebirds during the peak migration months, the northern hemisphere winter months. Being as it was mid-May, there were just a few common redshanks, egrets and herons on the mud flats when I visited.

Compared to Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Reserve, Sungei Buloh is much larger. In KK the walks were almost strictly on raised boardwalks, while Sungei Buloh most of the walks are graveled paths on bunds. There is a boardwalk and it is actually longer than the one in KK. The whole reserve is well done and was great to see how some of the wild places in Singapore are being preserved.

A flower growing in a freshwater pond.

This lizard made an excellent model, posing for me for several minutes.

Oriental magpie-robin. Note the leg band.

This pink-necked pigeon was near the visitors centre.

This group of school kids were excited about seeing a little heron on the riverbank.

I just liked the symmetry of this plant.

Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre--formerly Kota Kinabalu Centre Bird Sanctuary

2007-05-04T15:36:00.000+08:00

Let me explain something about myself: I get crazy ideas.

A couple of years ago, I was lying in bed thinking about things when I got an idea for "Penang Mangrove Centre". I spent the next three days drawing plans and diagrams and even went out to Balik Pulau to take some pictures and scout out a place for the centre. Then I realised I was looking at around a $300,000 USD investment and I put away my research and idea.

What I envisioned looks something like the Wetlands Centre in Kota Kinabalu. This is a place where the public can go and walk through the mangroves that line the coastlines of Malaysia and other southeast Asian countries. These mangroves are also disappearing at an alarming rate, to make room for seaside resorts and posh condominiums. However, these mangroves are a vital ecological feature that prevent erosion and provide other valuable services. One of these was serving as a barrier during the tsunami.

Here, just outside of KK, you can walk along a raised boardwalk. Below you fiddler crabs scurry left and right, back to their holes, seeking shelter from your presence. Kingfishers call in the distance and green pigeons sweep past looking for new perches. Mangroves form islands in the shallow, brackish water, their twisting and knobby roots reminding one of the Ents that inhabited Middle-Earth.

At the end of one of the raised boardwalks is a bird hide. From the hide we were able to see the activities of a nesting colony of purple egrets. These large birds would glide in carrying beaks stuffed with grasses for their nests. By my count over 20 of these graceful birds were in the distant nesting area.

Just behind the main building was a small pond. Here white-breasted waterhens were guarding their three newly hatched chicks. The waterhens were semi-domesticated, used to being fed by the workers at the Wetlands Centre.

Malaysia is rich in ecological treasures such as this one. Sadly, eco-tourism in Malaysia does not mean tourism which protects the environment. It means people invading the environment en masse. An example is Sungai Sedim, which I did a post on earlier. They built the world's longest canopy walk there which was not sensitive to the environment. It is built now, and as Malays say, 'nasi sudah menjadi bubur' or 'why cry over spilt milk'.

For me, places like the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre should exist all over Malaysia. They should be visited by families and scores of school children. Mangrove trees should be planted (and they were in KK) by science classes.

As you can see, I loved my visit to the Wetlands Centre and hope we see many more of these springing up across Malaysia, bringing us a better understanding and appreciation of the wild places we must work to protect.

White-breasted waterhen

Boardwalk through the mangroves.

Fiddler crab--More information here.

Kota Kinabalu

2007-05-04T15:03:00.000+08:00

Kota Kinabalu or KK is the capital of Sabah. After two nights on the mountain, we spent the better part of three days puttering around KK and having a thoroughly enjoyable time.

One of our first stops was the Sabah State Museum. First, let me state that I used to work in a museum and secondly I can sometimes be a bit critical. The museum was interesting and informative but needs updating badly. I don't think the main exihibit, "History Tunnel" had been changed since the mid-70's. It had lots of good information but like most things in Malaysia they spent a ton of money building it and allocated no budget to maintain it. The secondary exhibit was on the "Kaamantan" or harvest festival and all the pictures showed the date as 1996, nearly 11 years ago. Don't even get me started on the lighting!

A short aside: Possibly due to its reputation as "wild" it was easy to find interesting books on flora and fauna in Sabah. The museum store had several volumes I would love to have on my shelves. I keep resisting that dragonfly book but I don't know if I can keep up the will much longer. Still holding out for the nudibranch book. :)

On the hill below the museum were several traditional houses. The Murut longhouse was the coolest. It has rooms for the families and then a big common area. In the centre was a trampoline-like mat, slightly sunken. Maybe someday the museum will add signage to explain the purpose of the trampoline. Pictures in the longhouse make me guess it was used for traditional ceremonies.

KK is not a big city. The main area is about 1 km wide and 2 km long. There are backpacker hotels galore. We stayed at Tourist Hotel by Wisma Merdeka. If you are looking for a clean, newly remodeled hotel for cheap, stay there. I highly recommend it.

Down by the docks there are two areas of interest, the first being the handicraft market and the second the esplanade. The handicraft market reminded me of a tiny Chatachuk Market (which is in Bangkok). My question was why every stall in the market was selling the same goods? This often happens in Malaysia. You will find six stands selling pineapple right in the same area. Or pomelo. Or corn. Or handphones. You get the idea. How do you choose one stall over the others?

The esplanade is right on the water and a great place to see a sunset. You can get the typical "ikan bakar" there (barbecued fish) but there are other places such as English pubs, trendy bistros and karaoke bars.

KK is a great town and the people, in my estimation, were friendlier than those I typically encounter in peninsular Malaysia. You don't need a week to explore the town, because it isn't that big, but it can occupy your interest for two or three, especially if you venture out to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, which we didn't have time to do. Next time!

An unshaven TopCat is master of his domain, Kota Kinabalu. Taken from Bukit Bendera (Flag Hill)

A water lily outside the Sabah State Museum.

Even closer to the water lily.

I call this one "thornberry".

Have I mentioned I like bugs? Spiders are so cool. Check out his eyes.

Mount Kinabalu / Gunung Kinabalu

2007-05-04T11:59:00.000+08:00

Let it never be said that Malaysia does not have enough public holidays. In the last week we celebrated the installation of a new sultan, Labour Day and Wesak Day, a Buddhist holiday. Ahhh, perfect time to get away and have a tour around Malaysia.

In East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) is the highest mountain in Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu. In February, when I began planning this trip, I found out it was impossible to get a permit to summit the mountain, so I had to be content to just go there and hike around the base. I still want to summit the mountain, which is 4,095 meters (13,435 ft.) tall and the third tallest in Southeast Asia.

The area around Kinabalu National Park is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is (I think) the highest honor an area can receive. Here is the list of world heritage sites. It is an important area culturally, to the Kadazandusun tribes and other tribes, geologically and diverse in flora and fauna. Even if you don't have time to summit the mountain, there are many things to see just around the base.

My only regret is that we didn't book 3 nights at the mountain. After arriving from Kota Kinabalu in a 4x4 taxi (RM15 from the bus station at Padang Merdeka) we didn't have much time to explore before nightfall. The weather was cool and rainy. Several of the lodges at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges even have fireplaces! The next morning we hiked all over the lower area, including to the power station where you start the trail that leads to the summit. We also hiked the Liwagu river trail which was very nice and not so demanding, but of course we were headed down.

If we had more time, there is Poring Hot Springs nearby which would be interesting to explore. If you are interested in going to Mount Kinabalu, especially to the summit, book well in advance. Secondarily, don't take the shuttle bus down, which is RM40 per person, just walk to the road below and wait for a bus or taxi. Soon after we stood by the road, a taxi stopped and we were able to get back to K.K. for RM20 per person.

The summit of Mount Kinabalu. Actually, as you can see, there are multiple peaks. The tallest is called Low's Peak.

I call this one 'spiny flower'.

Indigo flycatcher

Mount Kinabalu is renowned for its orchids. Just to maintain honesty, I took this picture in the botanical gardens at the base of the mountain, not in the wild. :)

On the hike we found this waterfall which originated from a pipe. I thought it looked cool so I took a picture.

Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre

2007-04-18T16:37:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago I went diving for several days in a place called Lankayan. That trip, including pics, are now on the scuba blog.

On the way back from the island, we were taken to a place just outside Sandakan, Sabah called Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. Orang utan or in English orangutan is one of the few loan words from Malay into English. Orang utan literal means "man of the forest".

Every year, many orang utans are taken as babies from the wild and kept for pets. This is an illegal practice in most countries. They never learn the basic things they should such as how to find food in the wild or how to swing along a rope. Often, once the orang utan starts to grow up, the owners grow tired of it and don't know what to do with this pet. Or, they get caught possessing an illegal animal and are heavily fined or jailed. The role of the rehabilitation centre is to help these primates return to the wild. This is a long and slow process. Often, young orang utans arriving at the centre are much more comfortable living in a cage. (Yes, this story can be used as a powerful illustration in a variety of ways.) Slowly, they are led back into the jungle. Some return to the cages for months before learning to build nests in trees.

They are coaxing into the jungle by the use of feeding platforms. The first platform is not far away from the cage and eventually they are lured deeper into the jungle. Some will never stop returning to the feeding platforms, while other individuals, after a few years, stop showing up at feeding times and choose instead to disappear into the vastness of the Borneo jungle.

The pictures are not of wild orang utans. They are semi-wild, living in the jungle but still psychologically dependent upon humans. Then centre is about 40 years old and has rehabilitated scores of orang utans. Every year about 40,000 visitors stop in for a look at these interesting creatures.

For those of you wanting further information, see Appeal UK or this site.

If I tried to eat like this, a trip to the emergency room would follow.

A close up shot.

This one seemed to have something wrong with his/her eye. Sometimes they are abused while kept as pets.

The tattoo on the inner thigh is done by the centre as an identification mark. Plus, wild orang utan chicks find tattoos uber-sexy.

The feeding platform. You can see pig-tailed macaques vying for food as well, which was bananas and sugar cane. I asked if orang utans and macaques would mix in the wild and was told yes but I find that hard to believe. I think the food is the only reason they are mixing.

Just hanging out at a friend's house, mom!

This pig-tailed macaque had big plans for the day. A nap followed by a snooze and then some more eating.

This one is intently contemplating a banana peel. Maybe it had a golden ticket in it.

Mgghmhag....ahrrrugh...this banana is sure tasty!

After that, if I was going somewhere, I was run-ning!

2007-04-16T17:57:00.000+08:00

Well, I did something I have never done before this last weekend. I went to KL and ran in a footrace. It was a 9 k at the Curve (a mall) in Damansara. I was a little disappointed in my time but still not to embarrassed by a time of 1 hr 4 min 30 sec for the 9 k. Now I am considering registering for a biathlon (6k run, 1 k swim) before I head back to the USA in May but it may conflict with a business trip. Argghh!

I went to East Malaysia about 10 days ago and I am just dragging my feet getting all the pictures up and an a story written for that.

In other news, the trapdoor spider video I took is up to 724 views on youtube. Pretty impressive, I think.

I have written some blog entries for the scuba blog, so click here if you are interested in reading those. Some pics as well.

Rilek at Pulau Perhentian

2007-03-30T14:20:00.000+08:00

Last weekend I was able to kill two birds with one stone and get in a little scuba diving and have a business meeting. I went diving on Pulau Perhentian or the Stopover Islands in English. It actually means the Stop Islands in English but literal translations never work.

I took my family and friends to Pulau Perhentian last year and I think that they thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I did! Well, I can say they hated the all night bus ride to get to the island, which I don't enjoy much meself. 8 hours of twisty roads while trying to sleep leave one with a fearful neck ache.

Needless to say, it was a great weekend! You can read about the dives on my other blog by clicking here.

Mom: TopCat, move back to Oklahoma.
Me: Ahhhh, sure, I'll think about it.

The beach at Teluk Dalam. Much like the ones at Ft. Cobb State Park.

Can't post without some kind of cool bug. This spider was the size of my hand (leg span). He was having the catch of the day, moth, grilled with lemon and capsicum.

Does this even need a caption?

Sittin' on a dock of the bay, wastin' time.

Malaysian Cars

2007-03-22T15:10:00.000+08:00

A couple of days ago I was taking my morning run around the park (sweating like you wouldn't believe at 8 a.m.) when I saw a Proton Arena. Quck background note, back in high school at Oney, there were basically two cliques. If we split into more than two someone would have been alone. So, there was the druggie clique and the rest of us. Anyway, one guy named Jim had this El Camino, which was basically a car/pick-up hybrid. Because of this, El Camino's will forever be associated in my mind with druggies and white trash. Anyway, the Proton Arena is basically an El Camino with a rollbar. Smart move Proton!

The Proton Arena, fastest selling car in the Ozarks.

Because I find the Proton El Camino so strange, I also want to share with you the ugliest van ever made. It is the Proton Juara. In my mind the way it was made goes something like this:

Proton engineer: Oh no! I have to present a design for a new van today and I totally forgot.

Wife: Honey! You are so absent-minded. So, remember your son has that shoebox car competition in his science class this afternoon and you promised you would be there.

Proton engineer: Shoebox car?!?! Hamzah, your dad is sorry but he needs to borrow your science experiment for a few hours this morning.

The Proton Juara. You'll know she isn't dating you for your car!

Just to be fair, I hate lots of cars on American roads but most of you have already seen them, so I just wanted you to know other countries are producing ugly cars too. Please excuse me while I go wash my Fiero. (Note: I had to write Fiero because I have forgotten what most cars look like in the USA or I'm afraid they have new body styles and are now really cool. Have I been here too long?)

Tall buildings

2007-03-16T15:20:00.000+08:00

I don't know why but I love trivia and things that other people could care less about. For the last couple of years I have been watching construction of the world's tallest building in Dubai and just the other day I caught a Discovery Channel programme about it. Now I found out that it has competition. They are building another tower near Dubai that may reach 700 meters, over twice the Empire State Building.

Here are links to the one being built, the Burj Dubai:
Official Site
Wikipedia

And to the other tower, which is just getting started, the Al Burj (Burj means tower in Arabic):
Official Site
Wikipedia

The developers for the Burj Dubai also have the world's best hotel: The Burj al Arab
Official site with virtual tour and reservations

That's were I'd like to have my honeymoon. Well, there or French Polynesia. :)