Second week in Malaysia

Greetings from near the equator...which means that we are warm.  It also means that people don't spend much on hot water for showers -- their response is "who would want to shower in hot water?"  Some merit to that thinking.  We do shower at least twice daily, and sometimes a bit more because these old sweat glands are so overworked -- I haven't sweat like this since I was in Pakistan.  In warm weather in the US I go from an air conditioned house to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned any place --

Last week, Ben just knocked himself out to show us the country of his birth, though not his culture.  The emphasis was on the traditional life of the Chinese who have immigrated from the mainland, beginning around the turn of the century -- the 20th.  Though Ben's grandparents came just prior to Mao's regime, his wife's family have been here since the early 1900's.  They have a true pioneer spirit, too.  Many of them have been extremely successful here.

We have enjoyed their Bird Park -- from the monkeys that were climbing around in the trees at the entrance to the beautifully plumed residents inside.  It is billed as the largest "free flight"cage in the world, and I believe it.  The birds seemed not to know they were in cages.  And they were so beautifully colored...Wow!

On Friday we headed to the boys' hometown, Melaka, south toward Singapore and a port of great historical importance - in fact, it is a World Heritage City.  There we learned of the occupations of the Portuguese, Dutch, English, and the Japanese. The Malays are the native peoples, and mostly Muslim.  What we see is an extraordinary blend of cultures:  the dark skinned East Indians, the olive skinned Chinese, and the Malays. One often hears the call to prayer of the Muslims, can visit many, many beautiful Buddhist temples, and occasionally a Christian church dots the landscape -- a leftover from all the western nations who occupied this place.

We got to spend time with their Mom and sister, Keow.  She made Ben's favorite meal - a Chinese version of a burrito that is delicious.  Though there is no common language between Mom and us -- we were able to become friends through the "charade" method :-)

Their town is at least 150,000 citizens.  Ben kept reminding us that it was a small place and "easy to get around" in -- that's all relative.

In the center of the old town, we were only a part of the tourist trade -- riding in a rickshaw -- shopping on Junker Road, viewing the historical sites, and -- and this is a big AND -- watching a young entrepreneur manipulate his two pythons around various brave souls' necks so they could have a picture made.  We, on the other hand, looked at them from across the garden -- my pictures are taken with a telephoto.

Olivia took us south to Muar, her hometown, where we were able to get away a bit from the urban environment.  We ate the local foods -- they, too, were good -- in fact, we have not had one thing we didn't like -- well, the jellyfish might not have been my favorite. But there we saw the palm oil plantation her brother runs that replaced rubber plantations.  Today's economic base is built around supplying the entire world with palm oil -- even to the degree that they are exploring it as an energy (gasoine) substitute.  We did pass a rubber tree -- and I got a picture, but the palm oil trees were all along the road from Kuala Lumpur. They are dense, small, and wide.  There is no way to describe how extensive the trees are.  Endless -- endless -- endless -- all the way to the horizon.

A special treat waited for us at Muar -- a place where the monkeys live off what the humans bring (ie. bananas and peanuts), or purchase from the vendor who has her "wagon" of potato chips, etc. there.  Another entrepreneur!  The monkeys roam the area freely -- the lady in the wagon uses a slingshot if they tend to go outside the area...they come right up to you -- will take the banana or peanut or chip from your hands -- one even let Olivia pet him and hold his hand...for a short while - the he bared his teeth -- and they are pointed and SHARP!  We moved away from that bad tempered fellow...It was a rare treat, though.

We are now at Leong's home, with his son, Nick and his wife, Michelle.  They are more into the 21st century as they guide us around the place.  We spent last night at one of the most beautiful malls I have ever seen!  Malls are popular in the city.  Guess why?  They are all indoor and are air conditioned! Clean, chrome, straight lines and marble -- that describes the modern architecture/interior design we have seen.  It seems fast paced and progressive...as different from the world of Melaka as can be.

The weekend ahead is scheduled for a trip to Penang -- a wonderful beach -- and Georgetown -- another World Heritage City. We can't wait.

In the meantime -- we are off for the Palace -- Malaysia has 14 states -- and there are still nine sultans.  The titular "king" responsibilities are rotated among the sultans, but there is no real political power.  I just want o see the palace.

We are also heading for the Sky Bridge between the twin towers -- and hopefully will get to the Butterfly and Orchid Gardens. In the meantime, we are so enjoying our time with Leong and his family.  His wife is darling and his son is a precocious as can be -- and loves the technology -- so you know we talk APPS!

More later -- will try to download a few photos....