We were in Melaka, a city about two hours south of KL, when we learned about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. More about Melaka later in the post. But first, about MH370.
Even being in country, I don't have anything further to add than the theories across the international news, but I do have two reflections on the past nine days. The heart of the country is wrenched with the disappearance of the flight. Early last week when American ships entered the region to join the search, there was a tangible overwhelming gratitude from Malaysians to the international community. Our favorite radio station read their twitter feed on the air and tweet after tweet were from Malaysians thanking the international countries, especially the US, for joining the search. Later that day, Zack and I were shopping in the market when our favorite spice seller, recalling that we are Americans said, "Thank you for helping us find our plane." It's heartwarming to see the international spirit during this crisis. I also have a fresh perspective--a thankfulness--to the US and international media. A pointed piece in the NY Times last week discussed that the Malaysian government has been in power for many years without facing the test of the international media. This is paired with lack of national media scrutiny from the government-influenced national news outlets. So New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post--keep up the good work and know that I hold you in very high regard. So from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we are with the rest of the world waiting for more information and with prayers for closure for the families and with a deep hope that this disappearance doesn't have further devastating repercussions.
In other news, as Baltimore faces more snow today, we here have been facing our own white out conditions. KL has been sacked in with terrible white-out style "haze" this week. In the past, haze has been blamed on slash and burn clearing methods in neighboring Indonesia. But not now. This sacked in, chest burning haze is straight up smoke from domestic forest fires. The fires are fueled on by the country's worst drought in memory. (The city is on water ration.) Plus what the Malaysian Meteorological Society calls the government's consistent blind eye to illegal open burns set by domestic palm plantation owners. The haze has reached a level where outdoor activities at our children's school, including Violet's planned track meet and the football games, have been called off. So here is hoping for rain and for better enforcement of environmental protection laws.
In other parts of life, we continue to seek out new adventures. Visiting faculty, Allan Gelber, prompted us to take a trip down to Melaka. Located about a two hour drive south of KL, Melaka was one of the first major east-west ports of trade in the area still known as the Straights of Melaka (Malacca). As a strategic trading and way point, traders from the East (China), Middle East, and West used Melaka as a safe harbor with its reliable warehousing, modern ports, and free trade back in the 1400s. Also, Violet's class, in an integrated curriculum study of "Treasure", recently studied the Flor del Mar and Alfonso de Albuquerque's siege and sacking of Melaka to which the port and later the entire region fell under colonial rule. So we loaded up the mini-van with the four of us, plus Allan, Allison Tsiao (also visiting from the US), and Zack Wiener (who is now solidly embedded as Pohl-Garibaldi family).
Melaka today is a city rich in history, with a vibrant and beautifully restored colonial area (Portuguese, Dutch, and British) and also a fun, artsy Chinatown. We had a blast shopping the art boutiques and street markets (hello $1 lego Avengers figures!), while staying at the lovely Quayside hotel (http://www.quaysidehotel.com.my/) from which we were walking distance from all the major sites. As with all our Malaysian visits, food was a highlight. Our first meal was chicken and rice balls at a local corner place. The steamed chicken was pretty much the same as Ipoh steamed chicken, but the rice balls--a doughy dumpling of rice delight--are a new favorite for me and Violet. After chicken and rice balls, we visited the Baba-Nyonya Heritage House. The tour guided us through a traditional Chinatown home. "Baba Nyonya" is the cultural name for the descendants of families with Chinese and local (often Malay) heritage. The tour guide explained that the Baba-Nyonya, or Straights-Born Chinese families, retain much of the religion of China, yet delightfully blended other areas such as the food and attire. We couldn't take photos inside the gorgeous house, so check it out here: http://babanyonyamuseum.com/.
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| The colorful nightly market of Jonkor Street |
After the tour, we were hot so we found an ais kacang place to have a dessert. Ais (ice) kacang is Malaysia's version of Baltimore's sno-ball. But instead of sky blue and marshmallow topping, the ais kacang has gula Melaka (dark brown palm sugar), sweet red beans, and some sweet thing that looks like a green gummy worm. A great way to cool off on a hot day. Following a snack of beer on the riverside, we took a boat trip up and down the scenic Melaka river (http://melakarivercruise.com/) right before sunset. Dinner that night was a total blast. Toby (well known for loving a great dinner) highly advised us to try celup satay. We ended up taking ~20 minute walk a little outside of the main tourist drag to Ban Lee Siang Sate Celup (on Jalan Ong Kim Wee). We lined up for about 15 minutes and then were seated at a round plastic table with a boiling vat of peanut sauce in the middle. At this self service place, you go pick out bamboo skewer sticks from commercial refrigerators with anything on them from raw pork, to shrimp, to chicken, to pak choi, to tofu, to tangled greens and bring the sticks back to your table. Drop the sticks in the boiling pot and a few minutes later start eating. Delicious. The restaurant prices up dinner by counting up the sticks at the end of your meal (about 20 US cents per stick). Only trick for our long-legged western friends was to try not to burn your knees under the table on the boiling pot. (Brian and I didn't have any issues with this.) After a joyful walk home snacking on street food and drinking fresh squeezed juices, we had a Tiger beer night cap and closed out Melaka day one.
Brian and Allan had an interesting experience to start Melaka day 2. We noticed during the boat ride that there was a promenade that extended all along the river bank. Since it was a beautiful morning we decided to go for a jog by the river. As we were running by a particularly beautiful stretch of the river with native dyke trees and underbrush, Allan suddenly let out a blood curdling scream. I thought for sure that he had fallen through the decking and broken his ankle. When I turned around I saw Allan standing motionless on the boardwalk with a small macaque and a much larger adult male macaque sitting on the railing next to him. My first thought was "Cool, friendly monkeys," until I saw the adult give a threat yawn and start grunting at Allan. I then remembered that we had passed the local hospital about 2 miles back and wondered if they had the rabies vaccine (I don't buy the Ministry of Health's stats that there hasn't been a case of rabies in Malaysia in 15 years - Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have tons of rabies). I told Allan to look at the ground and slowly keep walking towards me. We made it past them no problem but when we rounded the bend we ran straight into a blue construction barrier. I looked at Allan and he knew what I was about to say - "We have to go back." After briefly debating whether or not to try to climb down the 15 foot construction barrier to the marsh below, we decided to slowly walk back towards the macaques. I explained to Allan with confidence that if he just kept his head down and didn't look at the macaques they would most likely leave him alone. What I forgot to mention is that I was a biological anthropology major in college and had worked with New World Monkeys as part of my thesis for two years. That probably explains why he didn't seem too happy with my plan. I also deliberately forgot to mention that my PhD friend Cory had worked with macaques in Puerto Rico and had seen what angry dominant males can do if they feel like they are being challenged. I also definitely did not mention our friend Tracy who was bitten by a macaque in the Philippines and had to go to Singapore for her rabies shots. To his credit, Allan made it past the macaques without looking up. Unfortunately as soon as he got past them he broke into a dead run and they started to chase us. I thought I was going to have to tackle Allan before the macaques did. But once we stopped running, they allowed us to slowly back away down the boardwalk until we reached the main promenade. All in all, a pretty memorable run.
After breakfast on Sunday at the hotel, we walked one block over the visit Melaka's Maritime Museum. This is housed on a replica of the Flor del Mar, the boat that Violet's class studied. We enjoyed arriving before the crowds and climbing up and down the decks. After the museum, Allison had her heart set on Dim Sum, so we sat down for a meal between breakfast and lunch that hobbits call "elevensies". It was a small dim sum place and, while Violet missed her favorite Shanghai dumplings, I ate the best pork buns ever (actually two of them)! Allison's Chinese roots were a great help in our ordering. We wrapped up the visit with shopping and some touring, before heading back to KL. The ride back showed us clearly the impact of the drought on the landscape. :o(
This past weekend, we attended the annual St. Patrick's Day Irish Ball. Check out Nicole's facebook for pictures. It was a great time to dress up, dance, and laugh with friends. A big thank you to Nicole and Robin for shopping with me. And to Isabel for dressing me on the day of the event! (Photo credits to Nicole.)
I had not flown business class since my Aunt Marie let me use one of her travel vouchers to fly to Spain back in 1999. I won't bore you with the details, but a lot has changed since then. Probably the most notable part of the outbound trip was getting through immigration and security. Charlie is a (insert precious metal here) member of every airline and he worked his magic. KLIA has been a mess since the disappearance of MH370 and the lines were unbelievably long. The Malaysian airline rep had our passports stamped while we waited at the lounge and then she escorted us through the crew section of security. Charlie pretty much ruined my upcoming trip back to the states in May (and pretty much all my other trips ever) because I am flying coach.
We arrived in Sydney around 830pm Friday night and set out for the Rocks, one of the oldest neighborhoods right underneath the iconic Harbour Bridge. We stopped for a pint (or 2) at Lord Nelson's Brewery Hotel, the first of many establishments that claimed to be the "Oldest Pub in Sydney." It definitely looked old but more importantly it had excellent local beer. We asked several folks at the bar if they had heard about the baseball games. No one had, but the manager did give us a 10 minute lesson in Rugby Union - Go Roosters! After stopping off at a German Beer Garden to grab a pretzel, we walked around the harbour before calling it a night.
Saturday was an absolutely terrific day. It started out with a beautiful run around the harbour which took me past the botanical gardens, the opera house, the Rocks and Circular Quay. We then headed out to brunch at David and Karen Ryugo's house across the harbour in Cremorne Point. David and Karen came out as part of the neurosciences course last September and they invited us to spend time with them anytime we were in Sydney. It was so nice to be able to take them up on that generous offer. They live in a beautiful community about a 10-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. It was great to relax, enjoy good food and catch up.
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