Paul was on an expat assignment to Penang June 10, 2006 through Dec 15, 2006. This is a fun collection of things he encountered, saw, or did while living on the other side of the world.
Hard to believe it's my final day in Malaysia. Even with the shortened stay, I'm very happy to be heading back to my home-soil. I've collected an interesting set of statistics based on my experiences, so I figured I'd share them with you as my last blog entry. I don't have any new adventures to write about this week, so hopefully you will find this entertaining.
Travel stats: Date expat was intended to start - Feb 1, 2006 Actual expat start date - June 12, 2006 Days spent in Malaysia since expat started - 156 Days spent in Malaysia prior to expat - 5 Days spent out of Malaysia since expat assignment started - 32 Days spent in planes and airports in 2006 - 21 Days spent in same country as Susan Jane since June 12, 2006 - 27
Apartment things: # of non-bill pieces of mail received - 6 (4 were junk mail) Favorite piece of junk mail - bidet advertisement (click on pictures to enlarge)
# of wall decorations hung - 2 (one fell down the day after I hung it and never went back up after that) # of times I went to the gym - 30 # of times I went to the gym since August 1st - 6 # total minutes spent on vonage phone - 3639 minutes (60 1/2 hours) Average monthly vonage minutes - 600 (10 hours) # of rooms in apartment I've opened the door less than 3 times - 6 (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 closets) # of chairs in my apartment - 13 # of chairs in my apartment I've never sat in - 9 # of people who have been in my apartment - 4 (2 if you don't count landlord or housekeeper)
Blog things: # of blog posts - 15 # of blog views - 600+ # of blog pictures - 92 (572 if you include shutterfly and picasaweb) # of blog comments - 19 # of unfinished blogs (topic) - 1 ("Movies, Music, and SW in Malaysia") # lines removed from blogs after posting - 3 (removed risque section of "Let's go clubbing") Most read blog entry - my birthday post Least read blog entry - August observations post
Living expenses: Money paid to housekeeper over 6 months - $1000 USD (two visits per week, including washing, cooking, cleaning, and ironing) Total utility bills over past 6 months - $1316 USD (including electric, water, sewer, local phone, vonage phone and satellite) Money spent on computer parts trying to get system stable - $400 USD Most expensive non-computer purchase - Deep Fryer ($125 USD)
Food things: Best food - chicken curry made by my house keeper (close second: Nando's chicken and Bella Italia's lasagna) Worst food - pre-packaged hamburger I tried to cook in my apartment (close second: anything made with fish)
# times eaten fish - 3 # times eaten fish intentionally - 0 # of food products in my apartment that can't be bought in US - 6 (2 not counting drinks)
General Malaysia stuff: Coolest thing seen in malaysia - Batu Caves
# of "call to prayer" chants heard during expat - 780 (5 times per day)
Temperature range over 6 months - 75-85 deg F Countries visited over past 6 months - Malaysia, China, Thailand, Mexico Countries I wish I visited over past 6 months - Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand # local tv shows watched - 1 (for about 15 minutes) # US tv shows watched - hundreds (thanks to the great invention slingbox) # of hours of Chinese lessons taken - 14 # of Chinese words I know - 2 ("thank you") # of hours of Bahasa Melayu lessons take - 0 # of Bahasa Melayu words I know - 2 ("welcome")
Thanks to all of you for your feedback on the blog entries - it's been good to hear from my friends and family while I'm so far away. I don't know what the future holds for my verbose style of blogging (most blogs are less than 50 lines per entry) - maybe I'll do a writeup when Susan Jane and I travel, but I don't know that our adventures in Portland will be very interesting. Either way, keep in touch - I look forward to being on the same side of the world with you again soon. Wish me Bon Voyage one last time.
I'm down to my final 10 days in Malaysia. Considering how sedentary I've been over the past 6 months and how eventful my birthday weekend in Langkawi was, Nico and I decided to head up to Thailand for one of our last weekends before we head home to the US. When else will I find a flight and 2 nights in a hotel in Thailand for $365USD?
This was my first trip to Thailand, even though Penang is only about 2.5 hours from the Thai border. The biggest reason I haven't been up there is that I had no idea where to go. Fortunately, this has never stopped Nico - he's already been to several parts of Thailand over the past 8 months and recommended Phuket (pronounced pooh-ket) as his favorite. From his experience, it's cleaner than Bangkok, but still has plenty of activities to keep you busy.
Phuket is actually an island (543 sq km / 210 sq miles) off the southwest of Thailand, about twice the size of Penang (293 sq km / 113 sq miles). There are only two seasons in a year -- the rainy season from May to October and the hot season from November to April. The average temperatures range between 23°C and 33°C. It was warm the whole time we were there, but cooler than Penang and it didn't rain once. We stayed mostly in the Patong Beach area.
We were actually there for the Kings Cup Regatta (which coincides with the King's birthday), although it is not a very interesting spectator sport.
We arrived late the first day due to airplane troubles, but on the second day we signed up for a canoe cave trip. There are 43 islands around Phuket and several of them have caves. The trip we took was a full day - from the pier, it was an hour boatride just to the first cave, but the scenery was great. Once we got to the cave, we got into canoes and paddled through an amazing sea cave. It was completely dark in the cave except for flashlights (and camera flashbulbs). My only complaint was about halfway through, we were told to watch for bats - wouldn't that have been a good thing to mention before we got in the cave? Here's a picture of the bats to give you an idea of the quantity. Here's a picture of me pretending to be happy about the fact that there were hundreds of bats over head - thank goodness it was dark in the cave so people couldn't see me making this face for 35minutes.
Because I think video is neat to embed in a blog, here's one of us coming out of the cave - the effect of the light coming in from the opening looks pretty cool. (you may have to click twice on the play button at the bottom of the picture)
After this, we went to a place the locals call "James Bond Island" (also known as Khao Tapu). I'm not a big Bond fan, but apparently this island played prominently in "The Man with the Golden Gun." The movie significance was lost on me (and this sure seems like a very loose definition of the word "island"), but once again there was great scenery all around.
One thing that was particularly interesting was the motors used by the boat taxis to get us from our boat to the island. They clearly look like full sized car engines attached to a very long drive train and a propeller. They are attached to the boat on a swivel hinge which allows the driver to lift the propeller out of the water and move the engine side to side in order to steer. The engines are geared to drive forwards or backwards. It works, but surely there's an easier way to do this! Here's a quick video, there are more pictures in my web album below.
The next day we had a city tour. We went to Wat Chalong temple, which our guide told us actually had a bone from Buddha. We couldn't read the signs, so we'll just have to take his word for it. Then we went to an activity area (basically, games for tourists) where they had elephant rides, ATV rentals, a shooting range and a monkey show. I chose the monkey show, but didn't get many good photos. Then we went to a cashew nut farm, where I was introduced to cashewy juice (cashew oil concentrate, which when combined with soda water tastes a lot like cola). Oddly, I'm much more adventurous with new drinks than I am with new food.
Around town I noticed two other unique things I haven't seen elsewhere. First, they definitely have problems around Patong Beach with their sewers. When I first saw this, I thought maybe trash just collected near their drains. The more I saw it, I realized that this is actually to prevent the smell from the sewer from coming up to street level where all the shops are. We walked by a few areas where the drains were not covered and you definitely would not want to shop there for more than a few seconds. What's unfortunate about this, is that it appears that so many of the drains are covered, it makes it much worse for the few that are uncovered.
Second, most of the electrical wires are above ground around Patong Beach (I don't know if this is true for all of Thailand). However, because of either fast growth or poor planning, the wires are a total mess. It looks worse than the back of my computer closet! We walked by a few of these poles that were actually buzzing audibly - surely that can't be good.
I would be remiss if I didn't at least comment on the nightlife in Thailand. Anything you've heard about Thailand is most likely true.
Near Patong Beach, the hot spot is known as "Bangla Road." Thailand is very tolerant of just about everything. Bangla Road has all sorts of people who are willing to keep you company, including plenty of "Kathoey's" (a bit difficult to explain here, if you're curious, click the link). There are easily more than 100 bars along Bangla Road and you can walk the full distance (when it isn't jam packed with tourists) in less than 5 minutes if you don't stop along the way. So in order to get you to stop, all the bars employ women to entice you to stop and talk. Some are advertising regular bars, some are openly advertising things you would never imagine people doing in a million years. Competition is so aggressive that the women don't waste any time on pleasantries. The first dozen times a strange woman squeezes your biceps and acts impressed (despite the fact that you haven't worked out in a few months), it is quite flattering. After about 50 times you don't want to be touched anymore. While I'm sure they were joking, there were several occasions where Nico and I were physically surrounded by 6 or 8 women who were determined to get us to stop in their bar and engaged us in the most aggressive version of Red Rover I've ever played. Eventually, these "barkers" escalated to pinching the backs of our arms and various other contact I won't repeat here. I felt quite violated by the time we got out of there.
There's a story of a father who catches his son smoking and locks the boy in the closet with a pack of cigarettes and refuses to let him out of the closet until he smokes the whole pack. I have no idea if this has ever happened (probably it has), but the idea is that the kid will be so sick of smoking by the time he gets out of the closet that he'll never smoke again. (Disclaimer - do not try this at home, this blog is not advocating lung cancer for children). I would equate what I experienced on Bangla Road to being locked in a closet with a pack of cigarettes. Sex and sex related imagery is so prevalent and seemingly accepted, you can't help but overdose on it (or I guess some people move there). I saw enough that night to feel comfortable never returning to Thailand. Then again, I saw a lot of white men with young Thai women who appeared to be more than just a short term partner, so I guess not everyone has the same reaction. It was an eye-opening experience, but very overwhelming.
There's a song from the 80's called "One Night in Bangkok." In preparing to write this blog, I had planned to do something creative with the lyrics. I never knew what the actual words were, but the part I remember (which you're probably singing in your head right now) includes a line about making a "hard man humble." Before today, I always thought this was a profound political song about the poverty in Thailand - turns out it's pointless song about a chess tournament. Who knew?
So what was my favorite part of Phuket? Well, it's a bit "soft", but I got this video on my first day there. Maybe I'm just missing my puppies at home. (there is no sound on the video, so you don't need to adjust your speakers)
Many people asked questions last week about how you would make a black chicken. I'm sure there is more information out there, but wikipedia does have some information about it. Sounds like you can even find it in the US if you know where to look for it.
For more pictures from my trip to Phuket, click the picture below.
(you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger)
It would would be accurate to say that when it comes to food, I'm not very adventurous. My idea of "brave eating" is finishing all the green beans on my plate when we're at someone else's house. Malaysia, and particularly Penang, is a smorgasbord of new and exciting culinary choices - if you actually like that sort of thing. Anyone looking to try fish eyeball soup, cow lung, and green fish served whole in a black sauce - this is the place for you.
Don't get me wrong, I like to eat, but not eyeballs! If I was the type to make sacrifices for the love of my "blog art", I'd probably try that soup so that I could report on how it tastes, but I'm not quite that committed. Combine the odd sights and smells with the possibility of getting sick every time you eat in a public restaurant and you might start to understand why I typically eat at home.
There are some interesting drink options here, once you get past the standard Coke and Pepsi offerings. My personal favorite is actually pineapple juice, which is available in the US, but I never purchased it before coming here, so it feels like a local delicacy. That should give you an idea as to how adventurous I am. There are 2 unique juice drinks here that I like quite a bit. One is a white grape juice and the other is blackcurrant & cranberry. By themselves, they sound uninteresting, but what makes both of them special is the inclusion of "aloe vera pulps."
If you click on the picture, you'll see that is a prominent selling feature on their packaging.
Think Orange Juice pulp, only larger and more jelly-like. Here are some pictures of the pulp floating in a glass and then a closeup of the pulp itself - you can click on them to make them bigger.
The first time I had this, I really didn't expect the pulp and it caught me by surprise, but now I like it. That's about how exciting my eating habits have become.
There is a special process used outside the US for preserving drinks (they use it in Europe also), most often used for juices and milk known as UHT (ultra-high-temperature) processing. You can read more about it at that link, but the short version is that they cook the milk at a very high temperature then package it quickly and it lasts for a long time without going bad (as long as you don't expose it to air). How long does it last? Well take a look at these pictures.
Now you may be thinking, "Wow, it's only Dec 1st so that means that milk is good for 3 months!" However, if you were to look at the properties on that picture file, you'd see i actually took the picture at the end of June. That means it's intended to last in that package for more than 9 months without refrigeration! That's not a typo - it is sold on regular supermarket shelves, not in the cold aisles. Needless to say, it tastes a bit funny, but it is real milk - not powder.
Chocolate milk (cold and hot) is quite popular here (perhaps to hide the bad taste), but it's almost exclusively Nestle's "Milo" brand (based out of Australia) - I can't find Hershey's syrup anywhere. You can buy Milo candy, cereal, drink mix, ice cream... you get the idea. No matter how much you cover it up, it still tastes odd (Nico's family was here this summer and his sons refused to drink the milk during the 3 months they were here). I tell you that milk (and other dairy products) is the thing that tastes the "most better" when I'm back in the US. That bovine growth hormone sure is tasty.
My final drink related observation relates to how drinks are served. If you go to a standard restaurant, you're served drinks in glasses as you'd expect. But if you buy them from a street vendor, they serve drinks in plastic bags with a straw (the Intel cafeteria even sells some drinks like this). On a construction site, you might see a dozen of these bags tied to a fence where people will just walk over, drink from the straw, then go back to work.
The only thing that makes sense about this is that it's probably easier to hold this bag while driving around on your scooter than a regular drink cup, but it still seems like a bizarre way to serve drinks.
Now about those odd food choices. I'm including a few of my recent favorites here. First, here's a newspaper ad selling fish. Whole fish with fins, scales, eyeballs and a nice garnish - yuck! Anyone interested in eating an over sized goldfish? They sell for about $1USD each.
Maybe you're not in the mood for fish and want to try some poultry. How about duck? You can buy a whole one for only $2USD. Here, whole means it comes with the head and beak still attached. Now you may wonder why it appears to have at least 3 eyes on one side of it's head - my response to that would be "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Apparently, it's important for mutant ducks to be sold with the heads still attached.
But all of this is a big pile of yummy goodness compared to my final item this week - black chicken! That's right, I said black. I don't mean "dark meat" - this is actually a black chicken, sold like this intentionally. In fact, I took a picture of it still in the package at the top of this page so you could see this wasn't just me having a good time with some markers.
I actually bought this thinking I'd be brave and try to cook it, taste it, and tell you all about it - it's chicken, how bad can it be? But once I took it out of the package, it smelled funny and if you look closely, you'll see that the neck and head is still attached, which was too much for me. If you click on those pictures to take a closer look, it also appears that something funky is coming out of the head region - it was difficult for me to keep my lunch down. I hate to waste food, but this was $1.75USD that I just couldn't bring myself to eat.
Ok last note this week - I've always wanted to post something on youtube.com to see how it works, so I uploaded this video of a recent rainstorm and included it below. You should be able to watch it just by clicking the "play" button below (you may have to click twice). There was no noise in my apartment, all that noise was just the rain and thunder outside my window. It's "monsoon season" here right now, so we're having these sorts of storms at least once each day. I'm used to the rain in Portland, and this is pretty crazy even for me.
No other pictures this week. You can click any of the pictures above to see them full size.
