Malaysia

If Kaitlin disappeared in Malaysia, who would I call? This was worse than Croatia. In Croatia, I received the three text messages from Kaitlin after she was safe. In Malaysia, I received the text when she first sent it. It had a location and the statement that the situation was strange. Do I wait a certain amount of time before I call anyone? How long?

I had been tracking Kaitlin and Human’s journey through Malaysia via social media since they left Thailand and traveled down the peninsula, hiking at every opportunity. I loved the pictures that Kaitlin posted after they crossed to the island of Borneo and stayed in a hut over the water. I was excited for her when she certified in SCUBA. I was happy that she was enjoying the company of fellow travelers. But this was scary, and I had no idea what to do.

I waited a half hour from the first text until the all-clear text came through. Kaitlin and Human were heading for the airport, many hours away. They had found a taxi driver willing to take them, but he had wanted to stop at his house to get a change of clothes if he was going that far. They didn’t understand why they were parked in a neighborhood and the taxi driver had left them.

That was my only experience with Malaysia until this last August when Heidi, Linda, and I selected Season’s Kitchen in Anaheim as our representative restaurant. Linda started with a hot milk tea/coffee/ginger milk tea combination and we shared the curry roti as an appetizer. Heidi ordered roast chicken dry noodle (a tender BBQ roasted chicken with blanched egg noodles in secret sauces). Linda ordered char kwey teow (noodles with mushrooms and vegetables). I ordered what they called the Malaysian national dish, nasi kemal chicken curry and potato puffs. The owner serenaded us with a Malaysian song accompanied by ukulele. Dessert was nastar pineapple jam cookies and angku mungbean kueh (steamed rice cakes with mungbean filling). Everything was so good and we were able to do some Malaysian shopping as well because at the back of the restaurant is a grocery section. The interesting options included Malaysian flavored snacks such as beef rendang potato chips. The sweet coconut spread I bought became the filling in several interesting desserts.

Another Malaysian restaurant I want to try is Ipoh Garden in Millbrae. I would also love to try some of the recipes I found online: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/malaysian-recipes/

There are many books in the San Bernardino County Library by Malaysian authors. I checked out three last week based on their Goodreads scores and I would love to read all of them, but work has been busy and with Thanksgiving last week, my dad’s birthday this weekend, and plans for Christmas coming up, I only have time to read one. Let me tell you about them and that will help me decide.

· The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf has a score of 4.23 on Goodreads (that’s pretty high). It tells a story in the context of the race riots of 1969 in Kuala Lumpur (I like learning about history while I read). It’s a young adult book that I could get through in a few hours.

· The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka has a score of 4.14 on Goodreads (still high – when I have the option, I read books scored 4.0 or over). It moves through a lifetime of family relationships in Malaysia, from the Japanese occupation into the 21st century. Based on the length and density of the book, I estimate it would take me at least ten hours to read.

· The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng has a score of 4.25 on Goodreads. It is set in World War II and has the perspective of a young man tangled in “wartime loyalties and deceits.” It is also long and dense.

I’m leaning toward The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf. Let’s see if I can get through it in the next few days at my parents’ house if I wake up earlier than everyone else.

Words without Borders also has quite a bit of literature from Malaysia. This article with links is probably the most comprehensive: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/the-slow-burn-of-inner-chaos-six-works-in-translation-from-malaysia I also enjoyed this interview with cartoonist Lat: https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2020/11/637002/iconic-cartoonist-lat-shares-his-thoughts-about-cartooning-and

The real bonanza on Malaysian resources is on Netflix! I love it when I find a comedian from a country I am visiting and for Malaysia, Netflix has two which Allan and I watched last week. Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America and Dr. Jason Leong Hashtag Blessed are very different from each other, but both funny. Netflix also has movies and shows. Click on any item on this list for a summary: https://reelgood.com/origin/malaysia/on-netflix

I was planning on screening all of these YouTube videos this morning, but David is watching football in the same room and Mom is making Dad’s birthday lunch which is almost done. Each video here looks like it will be good and I will watch them all eventually and delete anything I don’t like:

· Malaysian traditional dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuxCAcdxaUk

· Mak Yong: Dance Drama of Malaysia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AKJpK3lLkk

· In Malaysian Shadow Puppetry with a Darth Vader twist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HGy2ncM010

· Songket, a traditional craft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMCNpeCWXY

· A pulled tea contest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij20GFJKJbU

· Music by Siti Nurhaliza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ4Q5KLeP3E

· Music by Zee Avi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkYCtvy8CQw

· Music by Yuna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPLAS-x4Pg0

The Malaysian experience I will probably never have is to buy a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. I haven’t done the calculations with the exchange rate to figure out if I can afford anything on Melinda Looi’s website, but that doesn’t look likely either: https://www.melindalooi.com/

I’m really looking forward to watching The Travel Show episode on Kuala Lumpur because the host Henry Golding is Malaysian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpfT5YP1-u4

I watched the new Anthony Bourdain documentary on the plane while I was coming up for Dad’s birthday. I’m enough of a fan that I’ve already seen both of Anthony Bourdain’s trips to Malaysia. I saw the first one in No Reservations years ago, either on Amazon or on DVD from the library. The second trip, ten years later, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf4HtkKWBL8

There are 31 galleries on The Crazy Tourist on Malaysia. I’m giving you the main one, which is one of my favorite galleries so far from all countries, but the ones on the best ecotourism and best islands also look interesting: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/top-25-things-to-do-in-malaysia/

As my perspective broadened while writing this blog, Malaysia has moved from my “probably not” list to my “that would be a great place to visit” list. I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Malaysia and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Meriç Dağlı https://unsplash.com/photos/WaL-LPfgUBg