Haze

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This is a view of the sunset over the limestone hills that surround Ipoh. When the air is clear (or clearish!) as on the evening we took this photo, it is very attractive. However, there is usually some haze caused by the heat and also the pollution from the numerous factories around the city. In the last couple of weeks, the haze has been very bad because we haven’t had rain for many weeks. It is extremely hot and the dry conditions are conducive to fires, which add greatly to the haze. It all makes me long for rain in a way that I haven’t since living in New Zealand. I think it is fortunate that I lived previously in South Africa – otherwise this kind of experience might do me in! Our neighbours tell me that a drought like this is very unusual and they are also disconcerted by the brown grass, wilting plants and trees shedding their leaves. May it rain soon and return our tropical surroundings to their usual lush greenness.

Fauna

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Magpie-robin

One of the delightful things about living in a new environment is getting to know the local fauna. There are plenty of birds around here because of the river, the lake and the dense vegetation on the surroundings limestone hills. There are the usual suspects – sparrows, mynahs, doves and swallows – but there are also herons and kingfishers because of the abundant fish life in the river and lake, and small birds that visit our garden and are new to us. Two examples are the black-and-white magpie robin and the sweet yellow-vented bulbul who visit in pairs, the male with his tufted head. My attention is often distracted from the computer screen by vervet monkeys swinging from tree to tree across the river from our house. They are noisy creatures, chattering to each other and sometimes they have loud arguments. Twice I have glimpsed furry, brown squirrels leaping through the trees. We have also seen huge lizards lazily crossing the road or swimming in the lake. There are also frogs and huge cicadas – when I first heard them I thought one of our neighbours had started up a chainsaw! Most impressive of all, we’ve had a snake in our dining-room. It came in through the ranch-slider while we were out on the front veranda and I walked right past it without seeing it! Jim, coming in after me, noticed it. It was struggling to get traction on the highly polished tiles so was easy to get into a box. Not knowing whether it was poisonous or not, we treated it with great respect and Jim released it as far away from the houses as he could get without crossing the river. I hope visiting snakes will not be happening often.

Driving in my car

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I now have a little white Malaysian Myvi (see pic) in the carport. It means that theoretically I can go wherever I like around Ipoh and further afield. However, so far, I’ve only driven to the supermarket. Why so unadventurous? One reason is the traffic here – lots of it, particularly scooter riders, who come at you from all directions. For many families, scooters are their only means of transport, so you often see whole families on one scooter – Mum and Dad seated with the baby between them and the toddler standing up in front of Dad just behind the handle-bars. I am terrified of knocking into one of these and being responsible for injuring a child. I’ve decided that the best time for going out is the middle of the morning, when most people are already at work and schools have begun. The other reason for my reticence about driving is my lack of familiarity with the layout of Ipoh. That is getting better with time and I guess getting lost is one of the ways I will learn my way round. I promise that I will get better at this so that, by the time you come on a visit, I will be a competent and entertaining tour guide!

Heat

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When I lived in New Zealand I was never really hot. I can confidently predict that I will never be really cold in Malaysia, unless I’m watching a movie at a cinema. More on that later. This photo is the view from upstairs in our house. It was taken early in the morning, which is the only time one can comfortably go for a walk. We usually head out at about 7am, which is when it starts to get light, and walk (in my case) and run (in Jim’s) round the pathways of Sunway City. It is lovely, with the sky turning pink as the sun rises, the birds waking and the river glowing green. Last weekend we went to see The Monuments Men at a local mall. The air conditioning must have been turned to maximum – it was freezing in the cinema. I had taken a cardigan but was frozen by the time the movie ended. I then noticed that some of the people around us were wearing jackets. I wondered why some of the stores stocked jackets – now I know! Don’t rush to see the film unless you are particularly keen to see George Clooney in a World War II army uniform. It was entertaining but I doubt it will win any awards.

Penang

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Last weekend we drove up to Penang and stayed one night in an hotel in Georgetown. The bridge you drive over to get from the mainland to the island is impressive. We drove straight into the middle of this old town, found the hotel parking and, leaving the car with bags still in the boot (we were not able to check in till 3pm), we set off on foot to explore. Georgetown (named after the then Prince George) is a maze of winding streets and beautiful buildings, jetties and temples, some restored and others crumbling. Every corner reveals yet more enticing views of little shops, small restaurants and milling people. Like all the other parts of Malaysia we’ve seen so far, it is marred by rubbish lying in heaps and stinky drains. Yet this does not detract too much from the beauty and interest of this old fishing and trading settlement. The temples, mosques and churches are magnificent and remind one of the religious diversity of this part of the world. It was also extremely hot! We took a break with a fresh lime juice in a café in Armenian Street but finally the heat got too much and we made our way back to the hotel with its welcome air conditioning. Later in the evening we ventured out again and, after a drink at the magnificent Eastern and Oriental Hotel, we made our way down to the clan jetties, where people still live in little wooden houses on stilts over the sea. Next morning we drove along the coast road. It had been our intention to look for a place to swim but whenever we got a glimpse of the water, we could see the rubbish bobbing around. We’ll definitely be going back to Penang, not to swim, but explore some more. Some of our photos are on our Pinterest board at http://www.pinterest.com/debrajburnett/penang/

Size matters

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I have never thought of myself as petite, neither do I think of myself as huge, but in Malaysia I am extra-large. All my New Zealand “summer” clothes are unsuitable for Malaysia’s climate. Denim, though 100% cotton, is just too heavy. I have, therefore, been looking for light cotton or linen clothes. At the beginning of this quest, I would go into the changing room with medium or large items, only to scurry out and tell the usually tiny shop assistant that they were too small. I now only look for XL on labels and there are not too many of those available. After such a salutary experience, I am surprised, on catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror, to see that I am my usual size. In my head, I feel that, like Alice, I have grown to an abnormal size! I guess I’ll just forget the whole thing and carry on reading my book.

Cheers

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I only drink three things – water, coffee and dry, white wine. All three present problems now that I am living in Ipoh. We can’t drink the water from the tap here. There is an abundance of cheap bottled water in the shops but I have a conscience around all those plastic bottles going into the landfill. So we have this system of boiling and refrigerating water every day, though I have this small anxiety about opening the fridge and finding no water in the jug – almost nightmarish because one needs to drink a lot in this hot climate! The coffee is usually sweet and white, and comes in already mixed sachets. Finding a strong coffee without sugar in a café is very difficult. However, we came across a small café in the old town, where you could actually smell the coffee and they were happy to serve me a cup with a little jug of milk on the side. It felt like a victory! The absence of wine is remarkable, given that there is plenty of beer, Scotch, and other spirits to be had wherever you go. There is a very small selection of wines in supermarkets and they are all very expensive. When we went to a roof top bar for the view of Ipoh and sun-downers, I resorted to a cocktail – hence this pic. I guess I’ll be healthier with only boiled water to drink!

The Year of the Horse

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We are in the midst of new year celebrations in Ipoh. These are the lights that greet us as we drive into our area of the city. Many of our neighbours are Chinese Malaysians and they have their families visiting, large gatherings at dinner time and very loud firework displays in the middle of the night. The noise of the crackers reverberates around the limestone hills that surround Sunway City. On the first night of the new year I woke with a start, certain that I was in the middle of a war zone! One of our neighbours who is Hong Kong Chinese invited us for high tea on the first day of the new year. We sat around the table, which was loaded with sandwiches and cakes, and were plied with cups of English breakfast tea. Very pleasant particularly as they had their air conditioner going full bore. We then piled into Jim’s company SUV and drove into the old city for a delicious Indian meal. Happy year of the horse!

Reading

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Anyone who knows me knows that I spend a lot of time reading. Jim took this pic of me in our hotel room in Kuala Lumpur a couple of weeks ago. He had meetings over two days so we stayed the night in the Gardens Hotel. There is a spectacular shopping centre adjoining the hotel – miles of shops, including all the designer outlets – Gucci, Armani, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, etc, etc – and an amazing food hall. While Jim was catching up on emails, I ventured out in search of coffee. I eventually found the San Francisco kiosk, where they were amazed that I wanted no sugar in my coffee, and scuttled back to the room feeling very much the country bumpkin. I also had the prospect of a day on my own in KL, ending with finding a cab to take me to the company’s offices to meet Jim. It doesn’t sound onerous but the size of the city, the number of people and cars and the maze of roads and highways (called expressways here) was daunting. So a coffee and a bit of a read was what I needed before my big adventure. I was reading The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal. I’ve been tardy getting to this book, which was published in 2010 when it won the Costa Biography Award. It has been on my reading list since then, so when I saw a copy in Browsers in Hamilton, I pounced. I can highly recommend it.

Pangkor Island

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Pangkor Island

Last Sunday we drove from Ipoh to Lumut, a port city on the Straits of Malacca. We then got a ferry to Pangkor Island. This ferry has to rate as the most awful vessel I’ve ever been on. It is low-slung, sailing close to the water. All the passengers sit inside (fortunately with some cooling) and none of the windows open. I was lucky to sit beside a filthy window so that I could watch the horizon to keep the seasickness at bay. I had to very deliberately turn my thoughts from what might happen in an emergency, though there were life jackets on the overhead shelves. The first stop on the island was at a fishing village, where most of the houses were built on stilts over the water. Some fishermen lived on their boats judging by the hammocks and laundry hanging from the anchored boats. We got off at the next stop, which is the main settlement on the island. We then hired a scooter (I am grateful that my adventuring partner is a natural on two wheels!) and drove around the south side of the island. We stopped at a populated tourist beach to buy cold water and sat on a bench for a breather. A young Malay man was supine in a hammock close by. He came over to find out where we were from and was delighted that we came from New Zealand. His girlfriend had had a lovely holiday in what we ascertained was Rotorua from his description. He told us he was a part-time policeman and that he was spending the day “just smoking weed and relaxing on the beach”! We found a more isolated beach for a swim. The water was green, fairly clear and flat as a pancake – and I was with a surfer! It was not at all salty and had an almost oily feel to it. However, it was very refreshing on a day when the temperature had reached the mid-30s. Every settlement and beach on the island was marred by garbage. I struggle to understand why people who make their living from the environment pollute it. It is also not conducive to tourism. Next time we go for a swim, we’ll take a rubbish bag and clear the bit of the beach we want to sit on!