What we bought

For most of my stay in SE Asia and during my travels with Doug I have resisted making purchases. Not hard since I am not much of a shopper ever. How many t-shirts does one need?

Kuching offered attractive options: pepper; sago; beaded and woven products produced by the indigenous tribes; spices for some favorite foods (including laksa and fish assam; a new cloth bag (as an alternative to plastic)to add to the 30 or 40 bags we already have;t-shirts (to give away). Today we added a container for cooking spices and a sieve for cooking noodles. Consequently we have replaced the pounds we lost when we delivered books and clothes we brought to Malaysians. In a very small way we have contributed to the economies of Malaysia and Singapore. As far as the malls go, both countries seem to be doing well without our purchases, although this is somewhat deceptive, for example, we have learned that hotel occupancy is down.

Electronic Hell

Trying to communicate with anyone further away than Doug has turned out to be impossible. My handphone doesn't seem to work in Singapore - although Doug figured out that we might be able to make calls (and we assume receive them) if we make it a long distance call - from Singapore to Malaysia to Singapore. For the length of stay and the number of calls we will make it doesn't seem worthwhile to get a S'pore SIM card. (We had assumed we would pay roaming charges, but how to get things going seems to be a mystery - we tried the hotel concierge and he was as befuddled as we were)

The hotel charges in both Singapore (where we are now) and Kuching (our previous stop) for Internet seem high. Our Sincapore hotel charges S$.85 per minute (at roughly 1.46 US $ per Singapore dollar). We are now in Starbucks - no problem here but the NCSU server that hosts my e-mailo seems to be down. Tomorrow we are back in KL. The handphone will be back in business and accessing e-mail will be easier.

Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to. We arrived in Singapore o Saturday and have visited with friends that we have known for over 35 years. We went on the Singapore Night Safari last night - the crowds were unbelievable. Doug commented that it was the first time he saw poor crowd control in Singapore - a lot of pushing and shoving. We did the major things (show & tram ride. We decided to save walking along trails until another time.

We spent a week in Sarawak. Three days at the Mulu Caves. We spent Christmas in Kuching with friends who first encouraged us to come to Borneo - a valued friendship enriched by all the pleasures of East Malaysia.

Prior to going to Sarawak we had an unexpected dinner in KL celebrating the 20th anniversary of a communications academy topped off by visit to an impressive foundation building that had just opened and a search for a local dish that I hadn't tried.

Over the next few days I will fill in the details and catch up with prose and pictures.

Meeting with Human Rights NGOs

Scheduling meetings with NGOs can be a challenge - workshops, meetings, and last minute issues are not uncommon. This seems to be especially true of human rights groups. The number of consuming issues seems endless. When I first arrived every one was on hold while the groups were engaged with the August by-election in Penang (the first election after the March election's set back for the government) Then there were the spate of detentions under the ISA (Internal Security Act).

Today I was to meet with Sisters in Islam to discuss a "workshop" in July on collaboration. The meeting was short because SIS was getting ready to file papers to protest the banning on one of their publications. Despite the short time the meeting was productive and helped me pin down a direction. A SIS member gave me a ride back to the hotel. When I last saw she was preparing to take Malaysian Islamic scholars to Indonesia. She mentioned that the Malaysians found the trip "eye-opening" - Indonesia is far more open to addressing concerns about gender equality.

This morning I called Irene Fernandez. Thirteen years ago she was sentenced to a year in jail for publishing "false news about the abuse of migrants in detention camps." She was acquitted of these charges in November. The progress of her case has been in the papers on and off as long as I have been here. She has a long record of activism, so I hope that a meeting will be possible. I have been honored and humbled to talk with people who have truly shown political courage.

Today I visited United Voices I have met with several disability groups and have felt proud of what the US has accomplished with the ADA. But in this case Malaysia is far ahead. United Voices is run by people who have learning disabilities, e.g., Down's syndrome, autism, and so on (all but persons with profound learning disabilities). Every day I learn more about Malaysia, Malaysian NGOs, and other things that make one a better person.

Helping the Malaysian Economy

While Christmas seems a bit distant the malls are decorated to the hilt. Christmas carols, including those that allude to the weather, provide the music. Still our mind has been more on making two essential purchases and one that may make my life easier.

Every time I come to KL it rains. The lady at the laundry told me that the Chinese associate water with wealth, and therefore I must be very rich. In celebration of my new found wealth and the ever present rain I cajoled Doug into buying an umbrella. Mine wasn’t meant for sharing – when we shared it we both were drenched. At a department store were first directed to a dry goods store, but I imagined that we would only find cheap umbrellas – guaranteed to last through no more than a month of storms. We eventually found the umbrella section in a department store. We asked a saleswoman if they had umbrellas similar to mine (there were none on display). Her answer – “It costs 99 ringgits.” We assured her that we knew the cost and that it was the umbrella we wanted. She got out a set of keys, knelt on the floor and unlocked a drawer at the bottom of a show case. I still am puzzled at a business plan that would hide away an umbrella and not even let customers know that it was available.

Our next effort to help the Malaysian economy was to buy a new mobile phone. I have been getting by with a nine year old phone. The battery was struggling to stay charged for a day, and I was hearing from people who called but never reached me. At our first stop the counter was crowded with young buyers. (Brendan asked us if Malaysian were buying. Clearly young Malaysians appetite for things electronics is still healthy.) So we gave up for the day. Our next attempt was more successful. So we now have a new phone. Doug has the old phone so we can keep in touch when we go our separate ways in KL. Of course, this assumes that his phone will operate reasonably well.

When we were in the rain forest we met two women who reported how much they liked their Asus computer. Today we went to a computer expo at KL Centre. The size of the crowd was impressive – similar to Times Square on a long weekend (although more orderly). We bought our Asus and Doug is busy getting acquainted with it, and I am looking forward to moving to a much lighter computer when I travel.

The Rain Forest During Rainy Season

On Sunday we headed out for Taman Negara, the national park. Our trip underscored the tedium and discomfort of adventures. We started with a 3 hour bus ride from KL All seats were equipped with plastic bags (much less sturdy than the airsick bags of yore), but they seemed to serve primarily as props. The next leg was a 3-plus hour boat trip up the river. The photo does not begin to capture how uncomfortable the boat was. We had limited room to shift position. After awhile no position was comfortable. Once we landed we still had to negotiate the chaos at the dock - people were competing for directions to toilets, resorts, and scheduled activities. We were sent up a hill to meet a mini-bus. The hill was slick. I held my breathe that I wouldn't fall, which at best would result in being covered end with mud from head to toe.

At the Rain Forest Resort we met our guide who confirmed that the continuous rain made most organized activities impossible. Not a problem - a night jungle walk over slippery trails was uninviting. Visiting caves seemed unnecessary since we are going to the Mulu Caves next week. We decided to meet Monday morning to "shoot the rapids."

On Monday before heading out we took advantage of a lull in the rain to walk and photograph some of the foliage. (Our goal was to avoid areas around mosques that might be used to celebrate the Feast of Sacrifice where Muslims slaughter cows, goats, and sheep.)





When we met, our guide told us that shooting the rapids was too dangerous and the canopy was closed. So we set out on a jungle walk over slippery trails. Our guide had grown up in the area and was conversant on medicinal uses of plants. He also talked about how life had changed. When he was a boy he went down to the river to bathe accompanied by his mother, who had a heavy load of laundry. Neither of these are missed. He told us that although his children's school is close to his house, they live at the school's hostel. Since his job involves travel he wanted to make sure that they actually attended classes and studies. He expressed a desire for his children to have a better life, which he seemed to define in terms of a university degree, a predictable income, and benefits.

By the we neared the canopy walk it was open. (The guides communicate events along the trail via SMS.) The canopy is over 1/2 a kilometer and has 9 stages. By the end of the first stage the heavy rain resumed. (We were among the last group to be allowed to cross.) People have to keep 5 meters apart and only 4 people at a time are allowed on any one platform. The result was a slow, wet crossing. At one point I actually resorted to using my umbrella. A humiliating decision given my hiking experience. (I had taken literally the comment that "Malaysia has no weather. You wear the same clothes all year. You carry an umbrella to shelter you from the rain or sun." I forgot that the same clothes might include some type of rain protection.)



As we worked our way down we stopped to view this asp. Later we took a boat trip - high waves and a strong current. Our clothes were thoroughly soaked. We washed them and attempted to get them somewhat dry, but ended up filling our suitcase with wet clothes and the dry ones went into my back pack.

Life on a tropical island

Doug and I took a hydrofoil to Langkawi. I haven't seen so many white faces since I left the US. We are staying that the Kampung Tok Senik Resort . The architecture is similar to the kampungs we stayed in during our travels in the 1970s and 1980s minus the live animals roaming around in the thatched roof and underneath the rooms. The rooms have AC and TV, both unheard of in our backpacking days. The resort seems to serve a predominately Malay community, the Australians and Europeans seem to head for the beaches. The beaches are lovely, but we aren't particularly "beach people" especially after age took our beach bodies.

Instead of lulling on the beach or duty-free shopping (Langkawi's most popular activities) we took a half day tour on the river and sea. It was largely a wild-life tour, with the much of the wildlife coaxed by the tour operator into playing their roles. Our first stop was an eagle feeding area. The boat's driver tossed in chicken skins and we were treated to seeing numerous eagle's (brown and white ones) close up. Over the course of 15 minutes boats similar to ours arrived. An Australian woman asked if the number of boats that could come in was limited - there aren't. One wonders about the environmental impact of the continual stream of diesel-spewing votes. The guilt thoughts of a tourist.





Next we went to a bat cave. Those hanging black dots are bats. About half the cave seems to have been abandoned - which gave rise to my thoughts about the environmental impact of tourists. We stopped at a crocodile cave, but unlike the eagles the tour company apparently hasn't found a way to get the crocodiles to come and make themselves known.

We really wondered what drove the tribe of monkeys to this barren bank. We didn't see any boats drop off food - maybe at the end of the day monkey treats arrive. The
tribe was large enough that we could spot isolated monkeys, which Doug speculated were young males ousted by the dominate male.


We also stopped at a fish farm and had a terrific fish lunch. The trip out to see was not very different from Halong Bay Vietnam, i.e., wide expanses of seas and heavily vegetated rocks/islands.

Doug Arrives (or at least part of him)

On Sunday morning I met Doug at the airport. I glimpsed passengers grabbing their luggage and assumed that Doug was one of the gray-haired, 60-plus men who had descended into a comfortable largeness. I was surprised when Doug emerged 60 pounds lighter. It was like getting a new husband.

We first stopped at the Guest House. Doug wanted a shower, which wasn’t the best idea since that shower was down to one thin stream of water. (The Guest House was fully occupied with lots of young men. Instead of feeling like I was living in a monastery it seemed more like a men’s locker room. Between showers and washing their clothes I assume that they had seriously challenged the water pressure.)

Our next stop was mansion. A great change from the Guest House. It was cool and airy and had a great bath tub. We got lunch, purchased ferry tickets for Langkawi and went to check out a cheaper hotel for our next trip in. We gave up on the hotel quest and had a light dinner at the hawker’s center across from the hotel. E b

Lina picked us up and dropped us off at my office. We started my leaving my suitcase and a bag of items to go to Borneo in Ch’ngs office. I distributed a few small gifts and delivered the books we were bringing for Soon. (Skipping international postage saves a ton of money.) Next we went out to lunch at the New World Center. It was a bright hawkers center – I don’t know how many times I passed it not even knowing it was there.




After lunch I went to the Guest House to leave a small gift for the cleaning staff. I was surprised and touched when the staff gave me a piece of batik! Next we rendezvoused with Lina who took us out for tea and cake. Later we stopped to deliver an Obama tee-shirt to Abu, the nasi kandar man. Then we headed out with Soon for another small feast. The food and conversations made it a very remarkable day!