Category: Domesticity

Tin miner’s rice bowl

Leave a comment

IMG_3415

I was browsing in an antique shop in Penang and saw a stack of these bowls. The pleasant and informative shop assistant told me they were given to individual tin miners for their rice ration. Each had a different pattern and many of them were etched with the name of the owner on the inside. The Kinta Valley in Perak (the state in which we live) was the centre of the Malayan tin mining industry from the end of the 19th century.‘Perak’ means ‘silver’ so it is possible that the area was named after the silvery colour of the tin. I bought this particular bowl because I liked the decoration, it has a faint mark on the inside signifying whose bowl it was and we live close to the area where the tin miner who used the bowl may have worked. It is a lovely object. Today’s workers in Perak eat their lunches out of polystyrene containers, which you then see lying in piles of litter wherever you go. That doesn’t seem like progress to me!

Cloud cuckoo land

3 Comments

IMG_3241

In an attempt to keep up the daily activity I enjoyed while in Auckland, I have been going out early most mornings for a brisk walk around the area of Ipoh in which we live. The other day I came across this house – yes, it’s a house, not a hotel! I think it is meant to resemble a chateau in some mountainous region of Europe, hence the steep roof to cope with heavy falls of snow. The grounds are embellished with a fountain complete with cupids and the postbox is beyond my powers of description.

IMG_3243 IMG_3246

I guess whoever built it wanted a house big enough to conspicuously display his/her extreme wealth but also wanted a design that no-one else would have. I think they succeeded!

Gecko

2 Comments

gecko

Every morning I do what I call the gecko patrol – going through the house cleaning up any mess left by the numerous geckos that live in our house, always grateful that there are no carpets and that the highly polished floor tiles are easy to clean. Despite this, I like having the geckos around – they are the reason we have relatively few insects inside. They also provide some entertainment! Our landlord attached a huge TV screen to the wall in the living room and behind this screen is obviously a favoured living and hunting space for a gecko, judging by how fiercely the gecko resident there defends his territory against any intruders. The gecko who lives behind the adjacent curtain makes attempts on the TV screen gecko’s space quite often and this leads to loud arguments and the occasional losing of grip on the wall. The local nickname for gecko is ‘chit-chat’, which seems really appropriate when you hear the arguing. Before you think that my life has been reduced to watching geckos, let me assure you that I also keep a careful eye on the bird life in our garden from my desk at the window!

In praise of dishwashers

Leave a comment

dishwasher[1]

Housekeeping in Malaysia is very different from what normally happens in New Zealand. There are usually two kitchens in a Malaysian house – the wet kitchen, in which there is a sink, a cooker and a washing machine, and the dry kitchen, which has a smaller sink, storage cupboards and perhaps also the fridge. There is usually no dishwasher because most households have a maid, one of whose many tasks is to wash the dishes. It is also fairly unusual to find dishwashers in appliance stores. However, we found one, bought it and had it installed beside the washing machine in our wet kitchen by an extremely obliging plumber who spoke no English and, I suspect, has not installed many dishwashers. On using the dishwasher for the first time, the floor of our wet kitchen was flooded, which you might say is quite appropriate! So we’ll have to get the plumber back and ask our neighbour to interpret for us as we explain that the outlet pipe is not working properly. Nevertheless I love having a dishwasher!