Gaining momentum

I had a call from a dear friend the other day. I think she was concerned because my updates to blogspot of late have been sporadic, and on the occasions I have managed them, quite unnecessarily negative. I apologise for this. I have started my next blog entry numerous times with pen and paper, but in the busyness that is my life at the moment, I never seem to get any further. I also apologise for the numerous typos. My poor little netbook is getting old, and when I type quickly, the keyboard doesn't cope very well.

A far-too familiar sight (site?)

My goal for this blog is an overall update which is positive and optimistic. This task should not be difficult to achieve, as there have been many great things happening in our lives, despite the frustrations. Before I start on the sickly nectar of our near-perfect existence in rural Malaysia, however, I must tell you about the internet and phone, which continue to be our main bugbears. The phone answers then loses the call, so if you do ring- we have a Voip number that is a local call from Cairns- do try again. The internet modem just needs to be reset regularly, as often as ten-minutely, or as infrequently as two hourly. We are hoping that some new batteries for the phones (which we brought over from Australia) and a new modem will improve our quality of life.

This might be KLCC, one of the most expensive shopping malls in KL. At last we both found suitable shoes that fit! At Sketchers, no less.

Both of us have continued to enjoy good health since the "Asian Belly" finally settled. The last week or two my back has been particularly painful, though the purchase of a new pillow has helped the neck. The pain and sleeplessness has spurred me into getting intimate with my WiiFit board again. I'm just trying to improve my general fitness, be more active, and every day do some of the yoga exercises on the Wii. I rather enjoyed the massage I had at the hotel in KL, but my man thinks the bruises left behind indicate the force used may have been a little excessive. Interesting that such a tiny lady could apply that much pressure! Ajinomoto (MSG) is sold by the kilogram in supermarkets here, so while I continue to eat out most evenings, I will probably need to continue on my asthma preventer, which seems to be keeping my lungs healthy for now. The Inventor's big heart, also, is causing no problems, and his handphone plays a little tune at various times throughout the day to remind him it's time for the next round of tablets. I think the times are 7, 11, 3,7 and 11, though it is rarely of concern to me unless he for some reason does not tell the phone the tablet has been taken. Despite the sometimes excessive eating, we are both at least managing to maintain our weight, though we would like to work out a way to lose weight within our new lifestyle.

One of the things we didn't buy. That is over $500 a bottle!

The Inventor has made significant progress in his experimentation. A week ago, we travelled to Kuala Lumpur for two days, the first of which was for shopping, and the second to present his research to all the main technical and management staff of D's larger company. For a number of the attendees, this was the first time they had been given more than minor details of the project, and some of them with chemistry backgrounds were "quite in awe". He enjoyed the thoughtful questions posed by Harry, and appreciates having a few more people off whom he can bounce ideas. He continues to find it most helpful to discuss the finer points of chemical analysis with our talented Cairns lawyer, not only because the legal-eagle is the intermediary with our patent attorney, but also because his ability to understand the science, provide helpful feedback and suggestions, and research solutions, is unequalled. The inventor is currently using the extensive resources at the lab to complete more testing, so he can define the processes more completely on the next patent application, and so he can start designing the process and equipment for the small-scale test plant.

Most supermarkets have a decent rice section. I can't remember where this one was.

Tomorrow we are expecting a visit from D and "a visitor". We are unsure who the other person is, but true to form, I should imagine that D will have had them sign a confidentiality agreement. All the key staff had to do so- Lorena was either offended or puzzled by the request, it is difficult to tell with her, but she did mention it. The poor lady didn't have an easy transition to Malaysia, arriving on her own and having the high expectations of D to fulfill, lab processes to assess and manage, and then a major hiccup to manage that was the result of testing that occurred before she had arrived here. She seems to have settled in now and is looking forward to getting her own car. She doesn't stand out as a foreigner like we do, and has the equally frustrating problem of explaining to people that she speaks neither Malay nor Chinese. Mimi recently had to intercede on Lorena's behalf, explaining to the restaurant staff that Lorena is "other Chinese". She seems good with languages, and I think she and I will have a grasp of Bahasa Melayu long before the Inventor, whose brain is so full of equations and reaction rules that I suspect accessing the right side will be nigh impossible at the moment. I actually have considered that his participation in the combined English/ Bahasa Melayu classes that I am "teaching" at the lab, might be inadvisable, taking his attention away from the most important matter at hand. I did notice that at our first lesson yesterday, he wasn't quite as "into it" as the rest of us- four lab staff, two office staff, Lorena and myself- probably being distracted by the large amount of things he must get done by our next patent deadline.

We are still attending New Life Lutheran church most Sundays in Ipoh, 40km away. We have a different guest speaker each week at our service, as our Lutheran pastor doesn't speak English very well, apparently. I have never met him- the church, especially the English service, seems to hum along run by the members. Our guest speakers tend to be ordained ministers from other denominations, and the "sermon" is around 45 minutes. We often have notes to go with them- it's a bit more like "teaching" than "preaching". The whole service usually takes around 1 hour 45 minutes! Last Sunday we hung around Ipoh (shopping) until the evening so we could attend a wonderful ecumenical service at the Tamil Methodist church. It was an amazing experience, as hundreds of people (probably close to 2000), congregational members and pastors, from many denominations, colours and creeds gathered together and worshipped in four languages. The occasion was the beginning of the 50th year of Malaysia, and we called on our one God to bless the country and be present for the jubilee year. The service bounced effortlessly from English to Tamil, Chinese and Malay. The country is a long way from being the "One Malaysia" that is promoted, but events like this are a good start!




After the ecumenical Malaysia Day jubilee service, we raced back to Kuala Dipang for an "open house", basically a party. It was the last day of the Hari Raya period and Liza (one of the lab assistants) had invited us to her father's house. She had prepared wonderful food- stir-fried vegetables, Ayam Kari (curry chicken), rice, Lemang, rendang, satays, etc. According to Ishmael, Hari Raya isn't Hari Raya without Lemang- sticky rice cooked in a bamboo stick. I explained that this is like Australians and turkey, pudding and custard at Christmas, though with his limited command of English, I am not sure that I quite managed to convey the discomfort we experience on a hot Christmas day in stubbornly keeping this tradition alive.


We are still discovering restaurants around Kampar, last night enjoying a perfectly respectable Chinese meal which cost 20 Ringgats ($6) for all three of us. The Inventor and I tend to be happy with most meals if we didn't have to cook them ourselves, and of course, it all seems like such a bargain to us. Lorena is more difficult to please, and has very specific tastes. Because she doesn't eat chiken, she hasn't tasted one of the nicest meals in the area, a Kampar special called Claypot Chicken Rice.

With more driving we are getting a lot more familiar with the area, though even last week whole suburbs materialised when we ventured down a tiny side-street. We have decided that we probably will not repeat the brave and foolhardy action of driving into, and around, Kuala Lumpur. It will be only a little more expensive, and considerably more comfortable, to catch the train, and we will likely have more time to do things if we aren't continually getting lost, and it is bound to be less stressful. However, a result of our adventure is that we now have a navigation software installed on the Inventor's phone, which proved significantly easier than google maps when navigating the loops, lanes and levels of criss-crossing expressways that snake across the surface and airspace of KL.


The navigation software was installed for him for the cost of 40 ringgats, and we returned in an hour to pick up the phone. It will hopefully assist us in some of our future planned explorations. The first we hope to achieve is a two-day trip to the Cameron Highlands, which is only an hour by car from here. We would also like to get up to Penang for a few days, and over to the East Coast. It seems inevitable that at some stage we will travel to KL to catch a few flights to other countries that are our near neighbours- Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia. The flights are cheap, it's just a matter of finding some time to get away. At the moment, the work seems endless and the timelines unachievable. The Inventor does sometimes take both Saturday and Sunday for himself for relaxation, but we also often both work on Saturday, and have chosen not to take the numerous public holidays that Malaysians are inundated with.

Socially, we have been invited to various events by members of our church- lunch after church many times, a dinner for Raymond's mind-science club, Daniel's 4th birthday party, and last Saturday, a lantern festival at the church- and also had the opportunity to invite Desmond, Swee Yee and Daniel out to a pizza restaurant we had heard of. We have been to a number of "open houses" and parties locally, often being the object of celebrity and attention. At all these events we have met many new and interesting people, and received further invitations. Also, because Lorena doesn't have a car and lives nearby, we often take her to dinner, and have dined out with various other people from the plant and KL office. There is plenty of friendly social interaction at the lab, too, and despite the language difficulties, we get by. In fact, learning Malay is often the focus of social interactions, and I appreciate the efforts of the lab staff.

Potting some plants has kept me busy. Isn't this an exquisite orchid?

And I finally got around to doing some of the craft I have been threatening to devote my life to! Well, I did devote a day to making these 2 items (the dressing table was too low for us, and I made a laundry hamper to match).

Sightseeing in Ipoh. The tree is the famous remaining Ipoh Tree. Behind is some government building with a BIG Malaysian flag.

Our shopping trips have always been a social occasion, too, as anyone who knows us would readily deduce. The number of impromptu conversations has decreased here in Malaysia, but we have still met some interesting people, including a couple from Italy who are living on the Cameron Highlands while he works on the hydroelectric project. A chance passing in a coffee shop, then a longer chat in the aisles of the Aeon store, led to the exhange of phone numbers and a promise of a future meeting.

Kids playing with candles at the Lantern (Mid-autumn) Festival

There was a competition and prizes for the best lanterns

For now, social life is secondary, as we have quite a lot to do in the coming months. I will be working some long hours to complete a grant application to access funds that the Malaysian government is handing out for green technologies, and the Inventor will be working on getting the pilot plant built by Christmas. That should keep us busy, and if it doesn't we promise to keep out of trouble. We should be able to manage that, for today, at least.