Ringgit on Malaysia

 A couple weeks ago, my non-B visa was ready. This meant that I had a day to get my "Thai appropriate" picture taken before the run.  I went to a photo shop not far from The Language and has my photo taken.  The requirements as follows, no smiles, no glasses (considered not beautiful), a suit jacket with a button down shirt, and a blue background.  Keep in mind that I am in the country and region that adores 'white skin.' Therefore, when I got my pictures back, I was certain that the photos were enhanced with an even lighter skin tone than I already have.  I needed 12 photos in 2 different sizes, the cost 280 baht.  The photos are needed for additional visa work.  In the evening I purchased my night train ticket, the last one left. I was rather grateful.

The night train to Butterworth, Malaysia, from Surat Thani, ST occurs once, nightly.  My train was to leave at 1am, with the delay I left around 3am.  It was a quiet wait, the occasional trains running in.  I boarded the train, climbed to my top bunk straightaway.  Thankfully the train has AC, fitted bed sheet and a blanket.  I pulled my curtains and slept fairly well, was actually a comfortable bed for once.  The train was about 11 hours total. Around lunch time, we reached the Malaysia/Thai border, where all passengers exited the train to go through customs.  It was a rather smooth process. My passport was stamped several times, scanned, and I was fingerprinted on the Malaysian side.  After about 30 minutes, passengers re-boarded and we set off yet again, for Butterworth.

While waiting for the engine to re-attach to the train, I met a Malay man.  He was asking me about my destination and travels. We continued the conversation as we took to our seats.  He spoke English well, was about 51 years old.  He was good company, we talked food, hiking, travel, culture, and Malay politics for the next 2-3 hours.  Occasional Malay passerbys would stop to greet us as we were in our booth-seats, just giving some friendly hellos and wanting to know where I was from.  As I continued my conversation with the man, I asked about blue flags.  Moving through countryside and towns/cities, I saw thousands of flags. These flags were like streams of confetti thrown about small neighborhoods, businesses, shops, trees, park areas, etc.  I was soon informed that the Malay election (check out this link if you are in anyway interested in foreign affairs) was but a week away, 5th of May.  It was obvious from the start that he was saddened by the blue flags, the Barisan National coalition.  The BN coalition has been in power for 56 years.  Though the conversation was biased (my first 1:1 Malay conversation), I believe this man knew what he was talking about.  His position was focused on the need for new power, the potential of a new coalition, - Opposition Party.
 I asked why I didn't see any other flags, only the BN flags. He smiled at me and just shook his head.  He informed me that many people get a minimum of 300 ringgit (3000 baht) to display flags in their yards or on their businesses.  From there he explained that the BN party spending does not add up, and that the spending isn't justified. Taxes continue to climb.  He gave me examples of how prime ministers or governing officials, with low income (forget the income numbers), continue to acquire land and have expensive cars that cannot be rationalized by their salaries.  I learned that the BN coalition works its campaign in many ways, specifically by public action - ie providing free meals, lodging, a travel expenses to foreigners or setting up free food stands for the public.

This whole conversation is perhaps sounding like propaganda, but I was the one pulling answers from him. I think he would have been satisfied talking about the weather. Sometimes corruption is intriguing, for whatever reason.  I don't think many foreigners traveling to Malaysia would know about what the election was about without talking to native Malays.  I actually talked to foreigners and they thought the flags were the Malaysian national flag, so sad.










As far as other means to campaigning, nearly all media forms are controlled by BN, this includes TV, newspapers, public buildings, etc. Therefore, little campaigning room for the Opposition Party (parties), beyond the internet (which reports show, lots of blocking was going on).

All in all, he told me that there probably wasn't much hope for the Opposition parties, but that it was worth a shot.  He said that the younger generations are educated enough to understand the need for change, but that the older generations were more unwilling, as 56 years of power is all they know.  In addition the older audiences don't have the education nor investigative outlets to get a grip on the current state of the nation.  I much enjoyed the conversation.  The man told me that he had lost his wife 2 months ago and that he was helping his kids through the university and pre-university education.  His hope was that more money would be spent on education and sustainability practices.  That alone clued me in on this man's personality.

Just before getting off the train, I met an elderly couple from previously from Surat Thani, ST.  The man told me he was a governing official for the city.  He knew the area where I lived and his wife was interested in my position ST.  The said that they has a second house in Surat and wanted to keep in contact with me.  They gave me a map of Penang and told me about some nice places to stay.  These three individuals made sure I was getting to my destination in the appropriate fashion.  The spoke to another fellow passenger who was going to Penang and suggested I follow him to the ferry.  I met the gentleman, Joe, from Montreal.  Joe was traveling alone, but had been to the island several times, as he has a boyfriend in Bangkok.

We set off the for the ferry, just a minutes walk from the train station to hit the destination, George Town.  We boarded the ferry. The cost was 1.5 ringgit (15 baht), no cost on the return.  From Butterworth to George Town, Penang Island, it was about a 12 minute ferry ride. From there we set off for a hotel/hostel.  I will just say that I didn't pay any attention to where I was going because I was distracted by the culture and architecture.  Several places were taken, but he took me to an area that had several accommodations.  He too was on a visa run, but just a tourist visa.  Soon enough I found a place, 75 Traveler's Lodge.  The place was nice.  The first night I stayed in the only room available, 24 ringgit (240 baht) a night.  The room had a queen-size bed, a fan, window, a sink, and a shared bathroom/shower at the end of the hall.  It was actually a nice room.  The building had a lot of character, with its own British influences. Just after leaving my things in my room, I went to the lobby to hand over my visa application, forms, pictures, passport, and money. Many people pay to have the hotel do the running to the Thai consulate, as it is reliable and better than waiting in lines for 1/2 day or so.  This way is quick and efficient.  I believe I paid around 260 ringgit (2600 baht) to have it done.  This was slightly over the average price.  I was told that I would have my visa by Monday (put in my request Thurs). 

From there I set out for some food.  This is where my story gets a little more exciting.  First off, Panang is one of the most food diverse eating locations in Malaysia.  I was more than excited about this.  Specifically for the Indian food.  The most prominent population on the island, Indian, Malays, and Chinese.  Interesting enough, most of the culture was segmented throughout the island, ie Little India and China Town scenes.

I went for some Indian food that first Thursday evening in.  I set out in Little India, looking for something good. Then the downpour set in, I had my umbrella thankfully.  I stood at the curb of the street watching two Indian men cooking chapatti.  Chapatti is a flat Indian bread, cooked over coals.  It resembles an over-sized tortilla, but slightly thicker.  Chapatti is typically served with a curry or a curry-like sauce.  The men kept smiling at me, I think they knew I was fascinated with their art of cooking.  So, yes I had to buy one... they had me seated under the awning of the adjacent restaurant as they cooked it.  It was so good! I better not think about it too much, makes me want to relive it.  So, I sat there as the heavy rains poured down, watching them make chapatti over their mini clay tandoori oven. I ended up getting another, it was better than I could have anticipated.

Friday, I moved from my the single room to a dorm set up, much cheaper.  I then set out to see some of the city.  This was when I came across a local park, complete with an old Brit fort.  As I carried on, I explored some local markets, side streets, and so much more.  In the evening I ran into Joe.  We went for food, we each bought a dish from one of two street venders.  My dish was interesting, it was too dark for a photo-op.  I talked with the Malay man as he stir-fried my dish.  Hi first added soybean oil, then onions, and then some sauces: chili sauce, tomato sauce, and potato* sauce -they were all red so I think I may have misunderstood him.  He then cooked what looked like Ramen noodles and added them to the sauce. He added some vegetables, handed me some chopsticks and off I went.  The meal was bland and I couldn't eat it, not a fan of most noodles and those certainly did not appease me.  Tasted a lot like watered-down ketchup with Ramen noodles and an odd spice.  Joe said it tasted like it had cinnamon in it, I couldn't put my finger on the spice that was used.  The man actually saw my bowl of noodles later and asked me what was wrong.  It caught me off guard, I didn't want to tell him I didn't like it.

Canadian Joe and walked around the town and ended up talking in a quaint little reggae bar.  I learned real fast that beer is 2-3 times more expensive in Malaysia, so too is the merchandise in the 7Elevens.We sat a table by ourselves.  Soon enough locals and expats joined our table and conversation.  This was a great way to spend my second night in.  So there's this joke, it goes something like: There's a group of people that meet at a bar., a reggae bar to be exact, there is a Dane, 2 Australians, 2 Nigerians, an American, 3 Malays, and the token Canadian. Okay, so I don't actually have a joke, but I feel like that intro was about to be the start of something outstanding. Yeah? I am a dork and well aware. Anyways, we all had some good conversation, I ended up staying out until about 2:30, thinking it was only 12am.

Most of the expats were working on their PhD's, in areas such as IT (Nigerians), Engineering, and bio-sustainability.  The time I spent there was far from dull, learned a lot.  Many of the Malays wanted to inform me on places to see on the island and such.  Several of the expats wanted to buy Joe and I beers, in fact they would get uncomfortable and confused if we refused their generosity.  The last bit I want to say about the bar experience is that the owner, a Malay man, was really interested in hearing about my traveling and place of study.  And then the conversation went to zodiacs.  He asked me my birthdate, 1986 - the year of the Tiger.  He then told me all about my clever and brilliant personality.  He said that he loves to study the Chinese calenders.  He was comical as well, I laughed more than I conversed with him.  From what I have learned of SE Asian culture, if you can find someone that understands Western humor or even a few ounces of sarcasm, take it all in. Why?, because this is not a common characteristic in these 'slap-stick' regions.

On Saturday I met with two fellow teachers that will be teaching in the Language Network with me, Julia, Phil and their 3.5 yr old daughter, Isabel.  They previously taught in Korea for 7 years, looking for a change of pace and culture.  I got to know them real well.  We toured around part of the island Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday we set out for a botanical garden. The garden was beautiful, just after a fresh down pour.  We finished our adventuring after being attacked by giant ants.  We waited on a hill to sip some water, when we heard rustling in the trees. Down came a few monkeys, followed by a few more, 10 more, 16 more monkeys.  Each of these monkeys would fling down branches/small trees as if the branches were giant levers.  The monkey would jump from one tree to smaller tree tops.  The weight of the monkey would drop the tree down to the ground and off the monkeys would go.  I am going to say we saw close to 75 monkeys within 200 feet of us.  Before leaving we sat in a local restaurant, were we had a choice fried rice, fried rice, or fried rice. On a whim, I went with the fried rice (koa padt), 30 baht.  We took a local bus back to our separate lodging areas.

Upon arrival I set out on my own to check out the local markets, the culture, and Little India.  I saw so many more cool things. The Indian music in the streets, Indian food in the windows, tandoori ovens heating away, small Indian shops, etc. I went into several of the shops looking at the beautiful Indian dresses and jewelery.  The fabric was beautiful and elaborate and the workers were friendly.  Most merchandise in these shops were all imported from India.  

In the evening I met with Phil, Julia, and Isabel for Chinese food.  The restaurant was easy to pick, as it was one of the busy eateries on the street, filled with Chinese families. That's how you know it's good, when the locals are eating there as well.  The food was good.  We ate family-style, trying several different dishes.  We had a seaweed and egg broth soup (I shall quote my mother.."don't knock it til you try in"), tiny dried river fish over soft tofu, sweet and sour pork with vegetables, and chili chicken dish with vegetables. After the meal, we split off, I headed for my hostel to get some good rest.
 

 
As I walked down the narrow streets, I heard a young Indian man talking to me, "hey lady."  I thought oh, great, one of those guys. But then I stopped, I never stop, because I tend to think its someone wanting to pursue someone else.  Then I noticed his friend sitting across from him.  I put all guard down right away, they mostly wanted to know how I was enjoying Penang.  The conversation went to, you guessed it, food.  The Indian man was telling me about some of the best Indian restaurants and venders.  Finally I found someone to answer my Indian food-related questions. A little ways in, an Irish lad joined us and we talked more about food and beer. We sat there, talked and stared at a beautiful full moon.  It was nice, quiet, and relaxing.  After about 30 minutes, I took off to get some sleep.  I sat down on the porch area just outside my hostel to check my email. Then I remembered that I needed to get a book from Joe. I started walking towards Joe's hotel, just a block from mine. I was rather tired at this point and nearly walked past it, in my own little world.

 When I looked up I saw two Indian men in button-up, pink shirts.  I was caught off guard, I forgot even why I was walking that way, at that moment.  All I remember is that the one Indian man had the biggest smile on his face, it looked painful. He then giggled a bit.  I was trying to look past them to see if Joe was sitting anywhere outside the hotel. He was no where to be seen.  The Indian men were then asking if I needed a place to stay, who I was looking for etc... I was slightly annoyed because I just wanted to get the book and go back to my hostel.  But then one of the Indian men, kept pursuing conversation with me. Finally, I gave in and focused on him and his heavy Indian accent for the final twist of my evening.

The man started to say, "I see you earlier, yes?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Yes, you stay down the road." I said, "yes at the 75." The man kept smiling at me. He went on to explain that he saw me earlier.  He told me that I stopped him in his tracks because he thought that from my profile I was an Indian woman.  I thought to myself, 'oh, yes, I do get that a lot, with my dark complexion and my dark hair.' I just smiled. He said from the side you look like and Indian woman, but the you turned your head and I realized you were a European woman. I just smiled and wondered how much longer we were going to talk about this. Forgive me, but I was exhausted and he repeated these thoughts a few times, thinking it was so miraculous. I was clearly missing something. He then said, here come in, you can look to see if your friend is inside. I didn't see Joe, but then started talk with the Indian man some more, as he began to talk about Indian culture and his life.  He started to tell me how his parents brought him to Malaysia to have a better life, with opportunity.  He said that he started out with nothing and that now he manages three hotels along the road, including the one I was staying in.  Somehow the conversation segued into palm reading.  I started to ask him questions about palm reading and the skill behind it. I could feel my energy perking up.

He went on to say that he had studied Indian palm reading for several years, most learned from his parents. I started to think, 'did he want me to come in to have me pay for a palm reading?' Then he said, if it's okay and you are comfortable with it, I can show you how the palm reading works.  I agreed and there we sat in the lobby of his hotel.  He started by explaining Indian numerology.  He asked me for my birthday, I told him the day/month/year (Asian format).  He was quiet for the first time, in the twenty minutes I had known him, with a serious face.  He appeared to be counting and adding up the numbers.  He then looked up at me and began to smile and laugh to himself. He had written two numbers on the paper, a 1 and a 2, he circled the two over and over again.  He said, you are like a monkey, 'you never say in one spot.' "You are always moving, you never stay in one spot."  The man said, "you take many shots, you shoot, and you shoot, and you shoot, and never hit."  He found this to be hilarious. He also stated that I am personable and caring.

Soon we segued into the palm reading. First off, he told me that as a part of palm reading, his parents instilled in him that readings should be positive and should only help others.  He said that he never takes money for readings, it was his way of helping others. Soon the reading started. He looked at me and said I can tell you about many things, including your health. He said you have problems with your knee, neck, and stomach. I can see that your right eye is smaller than your left, which is related to many things.  You don't sleep well. He said we would address those things later.  He pointed out that his reading would tell me about five things: health, wealth, personality, longevity, and love. I will sum the reading up as best as I can. As far as Life, I will live a long life - he referred to the line on the base of my palm.  He looked at my wrist, where I had two horizontal lines as I flexed me wrist inward.  He told me that the two lines meant that I would live a long life, but that someone would help take care of me.  As he moved around my hand he told me that I would be fine financially and that I will come into some sort of luck.  As far as my personality, he said that I am a social person and that I need to always work in a social setting. He said that with my social personality I bring happiness into many lives and that I will help many people in my lifetime. As far as my health he said that I have trouble with my stomach because of the local food, nothing serious.  As far as my knee, he indicated that I have difficulty with me knee, attributed to my feet.  And my neck, he stated that this was attributed to me 'sleeping like a gorilla,' which made him laugh rather hard.  He felt the need to impersonate me, saying that I slept like I was King Kong in my bed. He also stated that my right eye was smaller than the left because I had a block in blood flow and that my sinus was inflamed.  He said that I think too much, causing stress, leading to lack of flow throughout my face.  Interesting enough I have noticed the differences in the size of my eyes of the past month with the pictures taken of me.

And then we started on the LOOOOVE life. Everytime his said "LUUUUUUUV" life, he would get all excited and happy. He said that love life is his favorite reading, so he always saved it for last. He said love does so many things for people, it brings happiness into our lives. He looked at my lines and burst out laughing.  He just kept giggling. As this point I was sitting in the lobby of a hotel at 1am in the morning with an Indian man, perhaps in his 50's giggling at me.  Finally, after composing himself, he said, "you are a difficult lover." Laughing some more, he said, "you don't stay still for a man to catch you. You meet many men and they are interested but you don't commit, you just leave them behind.  You have many thoughts that pull you in several directions.  Many men are interested but you are not interested." At this point all I was thinking about was Nick. I was smiling inside, wondering what else he was going to put on the table. 

After the reading he said, "Now, I have told you about your life, now I want to know about your life. Why did you come to Malaysia? Where are you from?"  I started to tell him my story of how I was going to be living in Thailand, that I had a fiance, and that I was traveling and embracing people and culture.  He just smiled as if all of the readings were correct. Then he stopped and asked me about my boyfriend. He wanted to know Nick's birthday. He said, if his number doesn't go with yours, it will be not good.  He started calculating Nick's birthday and ended with a number 2. He circled it over and over and smiled and began once again, to giggle to himself. He said, "Oh, your boyfriend, he is a smart man, he is a SMART man. He understands you. You move and move like a monkey and he knows how to keep you in your place. He is a smart man. Ones and two work, they go together, threes and fours never work with a number 1. 1's and 2's are a good match. You will have many years of happiness."

The night concluded with him pushing teaching me ways to relax so that I "think less," better ways to sleep, that I should not eat Indian food, and that I should keep my boyfriend.  At the end he asked if I wanted him to help adjust my neck, feet, and sinus. I said sure, more curiosity than anything.  This involved him moving his hand over my head and pushing on my sinus. He also pushed on several pressure points on my foot, shoulder, and the center of my spine. It was not the most comfortable therapy, but I will say when I got back to my hostel my eye was the same size as the other and my neck didn't hurt.  Funny enough, I never told him that my neck hurt in the first place.  As I laid down in my dorm bed, I decided to give his sleeping techniques a start. Believer or not, this was a fun little insight into Indian culture. I am certain that I wont forget the happy Indian man I met in Malaysia.

Sunday morning set in and I went off to the market scene on my own.  This was fun.  I walked through several food vending and clothing markets. It's amazing what you can pick up by just wandering around. Honestly, I think market walking is one of my favorite things to do here in SE Asia.  Around 11am, I met with Julia, Phil, and Isabel and we set out for a beach. The beach we found beautiful and quiet, but not the one that we anticipated finding.  There were only Malays there - we were ok with getting off the bus earlier than we initially wanted.  However, after a few hours we headed further out via bus to the initially planned beach, just up the road.  Both were great and different in their own way.  Interesting though, the sand was more like tiny grains of quartz. Beautiful and unlike any sand I've ever seen. I played with Isabel most of the time at the beach, not sure who had more fun.  In the evening I voted we all have Indian food, lucky for me, they love Indian food as much as I.

Pictured above, is the tandoori oven, with Indian naan bread, kashmir naan or almond naan bread. The dough is placed in the oven after being rolled and set on a padded wet cloth, then blotted onto the clay. It is then turned using a long metal pole.To the right is the final product, with three sauces. The red sauce is a spiced sauced with a sweet-tomato base. The green sauce is a spiced mint sauce. The brown curry-looking sauce is an Indian curry. I didn't find any of the sauces spicy in the least bit. I am not sure what was more fun, eating the naan or watching it being made (kneaded, rolled, baked, prodded). Cost range for naan, 1-1.5 ringgit, depending on the style. Those with meat cost a bit more. Some varieties of naan included: tandoori chicken, chicken, pork, garlic, almond, cashew, onion, cheese, etc.

On Monday, I decided to play it a little more lax.  I Face-timed Nicholas, always a great day to start a day.  Later I set out with plans to strictly explore the local scene. I have been fascinated by the architecture and people. I even went into gut of the local markets, and visited with several of the working Malays.  I have to say, my visa run was rather fun. Lots of independence, time to myself to see the unseen. I went roaming around the city looking for mosques.  I was actually pretty excited about this. There is something about hearing the sounds over the speaker that made me really feel like I was thousands of miles from home. The overlapping sounds are know as adhan, the call to prayer.

Later that day, I decided to also look further into a Chinese temple near my hostel. I walked past it many times, not knowing if I could go in.  A gentleman on the street, Malay man, encouraged me to go in.  Nobody was there. It was then that I proclaimed the temple, my favorite Chinese Temple. The color, detail, and quiet surrounding left me feeling pretty content by the time I walked out of the beautiful setting.

Tuesday I took my last couple of rounds through the city.  The train departure was for 1:20pm.  However, I soon learned that that was in Thai time, not Malay time - which was 1 hour ahead of Thailand.  Therefore, being early for the train meant I was extra early for the train. To sum up Malaysia, I truly enjoyed every moment, even if it meant getting my short stolen while I was showering (I imagine someone so desperate and trouserless, forcing them to act on impulse). If you were to ask me about the trip, I would probably talk your ear off. Something about being able to spend little and getting so much in return. So, that was a rather long blog. It sure took some time, and I didn't touch and all of the happenings. I think I may have taken too many pictures.

It's hard to believe I have been gone for just under 4 months, education I will never find in the books. Then there's that piece of me that hopes that I can reach all of you seas away.

Farewell George Town, taking the ferry back to Butterworth.

As for my next blog..what are your thoughts on the Malay market scene?