Experimenting and exploring in Malaysia

Thursday, July 25, 2024

We finish work about noon. A long slab of wood in our room acts as a desk, catch-all surface, and shelf. I'll have to remember this one.

There's always a tangle of chargers on the desk.

I like the casual drag of white through the grey paint, making a unique mural on several walls. (This one is above the bed.)

W has vetted a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. It costs $13 for both drinks and 3 dishes.

My favorite is a soup that tastes much like rawon - the fungus (mushroom) is especially delicious.

On the way, we stop into Art Gallery, a painters' compilation of original and printed art. I get some postcards. A4 prints are $5 each while a 4-postcard set is $4. Ok - that's affordable.

Look at the use of color in this print. Again, I'm taken by the cool reds and blues of Penang.

"That is the last print of [this well-known artist]," says the lady at the till when I ask if there are other works by him. Nope. In person, the brushwork and hues are stunning.

Friday

I'm hungry for good bread. We passed Rainforest Bakery on our walk last night. 

It's near the hotel (1/3 mile/1/2 km) so we walk over for breakfast. The cakes!

The breads!

The tastes ... I get scones for later. They even have kaya honey, which I last found in Singapore.

Penang is known for street art. There are paintings on the walls.

There are metal sculptures.

The original patina of the tropics is often imitated in industrial decor but never matched. I love the antique windows.

And the doors.

I guess they're entryways.

Many shops have the original tiles in front, defining their "sidewalk" from other's.

Many old houses have been converted to shops in the Little India district.

The paintwork is fresh and individual, sometimes matching and sometimes contrasting with the old tiles.

Most shops and restaurants open late in the day. Between the beauty that is Penang, people are sleeping in nooks and crannies along the streets. Are they are homeless or napping? Many are very thin. 

We pass young girls dolled up in hijabs and sent into the tourist areas to beg. There are also disabled elders who spend the day begging. It's hard to know what to do when people are sent out to panhandle. Is it better not to contribute to such practices? Or better to give them something to take to their handlers?

We pass these trays of food drying in the sun but we have no idea what the pizza-like substance is. It's not pizza!

In the afternoon and evening, we're with friends at Dobson's house. We're celebrating coworker Anna's birthday. It's a fun evening of conversation and good food. There's a big plate of desserts to share as well. We pray for each other around the table before saying goodnight and heading back to Georgetown and our hotel.

Saturday

We go back to the Rainforest Cafe for breakfast. Then we walk to a pen-and-journal shop where I buy a Traveler's Notebook.

I like the courtyard combination of brick and gravel, too.

Our next stop is a craft, food, and art market. It's part of Georgetown's Art Festival. We find a cute market sketch for the kitchen. A young woman has sketched it in charcoal plus watercolor and pastel. She offers us a bigger size and we support her efforts with $20. Surviving as an artist is hard work.

Lunch at Hameediyah is all the ratings give it - 5 star! We share a mutton biryani and a massive shrimp and drink tea. 

We skip the rose-flavored drink named for our town.

We walk past an old rickshaw.

We exclaim over the enormous jackfruit at a fruit wholesaler.

Durian, a love it or hate it fruit because of the sewage smell and pudding-like texture, is so fragrant that this seller holds his nose shut as he cleans his cart in preparation for the day.

At the hotel, we pack up with stomachs, heads, and spirits filled to the brim. We add a few treats to the suitcase; we'll try them when we get home.

The airport lounge has good laksa (spicy curry noodles.)

The flight, +2 hours from Penang to Jakarta, is smooth. However, the shuttle ride to Bandung is hair-raising. We leave our terminal, catch a shuttle that's leaving immediately (6:00pm), and don't get to Bandung until 10:00pm. 

The driver alternately drives the normal speed or slows to a bare crawl while freeway traffic zips past us. The highway has light traffic so what is going on? Of course he stays in the "fast" lane, often getting close to the concrete barriers. With cars, trucks, and busses passing us, my adrenaline works on high alert. I dread the danger of a bad shuttle driver more than any other part of travel. W sleeps through much of it. 

"Sir, are you falling asleep?" calls the passenger beside me in the back row. The driver perks up a bit and pours on the speed. Then it's back to 30-50km/hr (20-30mph). It's a relief when he pulls into the rest stop, though he takes nearly half an hour to come back, instead of the usual 15 minutes. After that, the pace is steadier though he's still not keeping up with the flow of traffic.

PakG picks us up from the shuttle terminal. When we get home about 10:30pm, I'm so drained that I leave the suitcases where they are until the next day. I take a sleeping pill to ward off the nightmare trip and sleep solidly until morning.

Read more:

*The Lord has sent me to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:1,2

*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

*So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

Moravian Prayer: Listening God, we place before you our cries for mercy and laments, wistful longings, and wavering faith. Though at the end of our rope, we still trust in your promises, opening our entire beings to receive you anew. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Pretty Penang

Sunday, July 21, 2024

We are privileged to have Ps Yoel of New Life Bandung speaking for us this morning. He encourages and challenges us from scripture and experiences of the early Church.

We pray together over Herbert (Tanzania) and Lionel (Rwanda) who are finishing their masters defense this week and will fly home shortly after. What a blessing they have been. Herbert has been part of our team for the last years and will be missed! Lionel joined the worship team and his departure is hard as well.

Right after the Gathering, PakG drives us to the shuttle station so we can head off to Jakarta. The flight to Kuala Lumpur is uneventful - and the airline food indifferent.

We sleep overnight in a hotel close to the airport.

Monday

We're up at 3:30, on the flight on time, and get to the conference hotel in Penang, Malaysia by late morning. The road twists and turns on the Waze app as our taxi maneuvers north up the central mountainous spine of the island. Women have much more freedom in this Chinese-majority setting and our driver is female.

The outside of the hotel is uninteresting in Brutalist fashion: concrete, metal, some wood. But the foyer welcomes the weary traveler with a huge tree sculpted out of recycled metals behind the welcome desk.

The walls are covered with the most beautiful rugs, which deaden the sound of conversations and heels against the marble floors and glass walls.

We catch up with friends at a coffee reception  ... and then go for lunch.

The site is beautiful - it takes a certain kind of property to host a big group. We usually end up at spectacular places, though planners negotiate for "very special" rates. This may be one of the best venues so far: the Angsana.

The setting is ocean-side and has a few pools. I've left my swimsuit at home because I've schlepped it everywhere without using it for three years. Happily, the room has a bathtub, which I enjoy. (Why? 1. our house has no tub, and 2. Bandung city water is so dirty that you don't want to bathe in it, even with a filter on the tap. A quick shower is enough.)

I love the color combinations, very different reds and purples than are used in Indonesia.

In the evening, we watch the sun go down between our supper and the evening meeting.

The artwork throughout the hotel is made of recycled materials.

There are beautiful views inside and out.

Our regional dinner involves some shouting over music videos. "At lunch this place is quiet and family-friendly," explains the planner. Regardless of the supper atmosphere, the motto behind the bar is one we would happily adopt. (The alcohol? Not so much. haha We are assigned a page number on the menu to avoid alcoholic drinks.)

Tuesday

Between morning and evening sessions, the women's afternoon tea is hosted at the hotel. Our planner wisely cut the 1+ hour bus trip to the original tea venue: that lets us relax together where we are. None of us are very hungry since meals are included; we eat and eat - but there is always a lot left over.

The evening session is prayer-focused, a time to intercede collectively for each other and those we serve.

Wednesday

We finally stretch our legs onto the chaises by the pool restaurant after breakfast. By noon, we're check out and on our way to the city.

We shop for some basics after checking in. There are strict prohibitions posted.

In a country with a Muslim government, the pork and alcohol is in a separate room at the back of the grocer. With a large Chinese population, neither is forbidden.

Our room is basic and clean, the perfect place to work.

Thursday

We are on the streets in the early morning, following foodie reviews to the best biryani (rice). The spicy rice has good flavor, but the piece of lamb is bone and gristle. Not going back.

Thursday

We're off to hunt down the best roti parata (fry bread) and it doesn't disappoint. The server brings us curried chicken in sauce. It disappears before I think of taking a photo.

Here, chefs and servers at street stalls are usually men. The combination of Malay, Chinese, and Indian flavors is unique to Malaysia.

We wander a few miles, pausing to admire the linens and food stalls in the market.

The tropics are hard on surfaces. Look at these "peeling" posts. Down the street, the mouldings are being reworked with fresh plaster.

Not even the police station fence is immune from the sun and rain.

We find the tea we are looking for: it used to be everywhere but is hard to find. We track it down in a mall grocer. Look at the reds on this mural in the mall.

Then we go for lunch, at the "best" laksa place. We loved it last time but today it disappoints with soggy noodles, the taste of overripe shellfish, and a listless spicy broth. We'll have to try another place tomorrow.

Remnants of British occupation are everywhere - these graceful buildings could be set in London except for some south-Asian motives.

We walk through covered passageways that double as up-and-down sidewalks. Unique tile patterns mark each shop. I wish someone would make a book of the tiles here. It's fascinating pattern-making and mortar-work.

Back at the hotel, I have a few hours of work on my upcoming class (next week). The challenge is to pare down the information from a 40-hour cohort to a 10-hour conference class.

Read more:

*Your decrees are my delight; they are my counselors. Psalm 119:24

*Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17

*Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Moravian Prayer: Forever-building God, still etching your word into our souls, enable us, we ask, to bear evidence to your mercy, patience, grace, and peace among all with whom we come in contact. Help us bear a good witness for racial equality and justice. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.