Netball

On Wednesday afternoons, I play netball. I am trying to make it more often, as this is something that I really enjoy in my week, but it does unfortunately often clash with our English/ Bahasa Melayu lessons. I was invited to netball by Liza, and am grateful that the colonial English left the legacy of this great sport in Malaysia as well as Australia.

Our shared enjoyment transcends language and cultural barriers. We meet at a communal area in the kampong of Kuala Dipang and as we gather the children play around the court, mothers sit and share a durian while discussing the happenings of the day, and teenage girls cluster together by the motorcycles, chatting animatedly and eating fried banana. Few of the other players speak much English, and my command of Bahasa Melayu, seriously limited at the best of times, on more “senior” days becomes a basic command of grammar accompanied by a non-existent recall of vocabulary. 

Last week we had the most fun I can recall. I arrived first, having cycled the 15 minutes along the main road from home. The “court” is a once-marked-out area of grass in the middle of the kampong, next to a sealed and fenced court that appears to be reserved for the men to play soccer. The lines are all visible, at least in part, if one looks carefully, though the centre circle must be approximated by the player taking the centre pass. Patchy grass covers all but the most heavily-worn areas, which on other days would have been dusty and a bit slippery. When I arrived yesterday, however, the lower side of the court and one goal area were submerged as a result of the afternoon's downpour. The ladies started arriving and decided that a few hundred litres of water on the court should not stop us having fun, so proceeded to gather spades and buckets and move sand from the parking area to the puddle under the northern goal. We all pitched in, and soon the court was deemed suitable for play.

Liza and Mas speak some English, though not as confidently as Asma, who usually takes a lead in organising everybody and referees while she is playing. Asma usually talks to me in English a bit, though I love to sit back and listen to the conversation in Bahasa Melayu, grabbing what snippets I can understand, listening to the pronunciation, the different accents and the feel of the language. I enjoy just trying to fit in, not being a celebrity, enjoying the privilege of being allowed to just be there. Asma has tried hard to make me feel welcome, using her command of English to explain bits of the culture, the game, the social goings-on and the language, and has been a real blessing. Asma wasn't there on that day, and for some time, none of the English-speakers were there, so I just had to get by with BM. It is good to be thrown into talking in Bahasa Melayu, without the option of deferring to English and translators. I am particularly fond of Linda. Her gentle, caring face tells me that she want me to understand, and she speaks slowly, with little groups of words that I can decipher in bits. She speaks little English, but I understand her best, because she takes the time to patiently explain things and to wait for a response.

All the other players are Moslem, and wear clothes that cover themselves to varying degrees. The first few times I played, most had long sleeves and long trousers, though now most are wearing short-sleeved T-shirts with long sports trousers. Asma and I wear scarves over our hair, but all the other ladies, young and old, wear a tudung while playing. Wearing a tudung can introduce all sorts of challenges in an active game like netball, but generally they manage well. I don't even notice the headwear now, except when someone turns up to play in something particularly bejewelled or ornate. The modern Malaysian tudungs are mostly lycra or nylon in one piece, easy to wear, and, I assume, easy to launder, and the loose ends can be twisted and tucked into one's T-shirt if need be.

The teams are usually the younger girls and the older women. Most often, we oldies win by a good margin, but on the semi=submerged field the game was very close, possibly because the older ladies picked their way gingerly through the mud, protecting bodies and the families that rely on those bodies being whole and functional, while the young girls ran around with the abandon that can be enjoyed by the young and naïve. In our bare feet we slipped in the mud, sloshed in the sodden sand and splashed through the submerged part of the field. Every pair of feet and legs became an itchy, mosquito-bitten muddy mess, and soggy trousers were rolled up over ankles and calves. We fell in the mud, in the water, and onto each other. We screamed and cursed without swearing. We dropped the ball and scrambled in a mad, muddy mangle of bodies to regain it. But most of all we laughed. We laughed at ourselves and we laughed at each other. We laughed at the craziness of playing netball with the court like this, and we laughed at the difficulties. We made silly noises and pretend-whistle-sounds, as Asma-with-the-whistle was not there to referee. As always, the play was mostly fair and good-natured, and we refereed ourselves. Miraculously, no-one was hurt, and just before seven, all the Moslem ladies hurried to be home in time for prayers, leaving me to wait for my husband to arrive with the D-Max to carry me and my bike home to a warm shower and clean clothes. I waited, bitten, muddy and smelly, but satisfied, having truly had fun. On the netball court, culture, religion and language disappear, and what truly matters is integrity and a pure spirit.

If that was an unusual netball session, Saturday's was even more interesting. Unusually, not enough people turned up to play, and after some phone calls, Za and Linda discovered that a number of the ladies were at a party. This was conveyed to me in Linda's simple, telegraphic communication, punctuated with many, “Faham? Understand?” We apparently thenceforth invited ourselves to the party, or should I say, the ladies invited themselves and I was commanded to join them. Their motorcycles were parked undercover in case of rain while five children and two ladies piled into the D-Max with me. A few minutes later, we turned up to the party in the back-blocks of Kuala Dipang dressed in T-shirts and sports pants. Satay, rice, tom yam, chicken and lots of Bahasa Melayu later, we sloshed through the now-monsoonal rain back into the D-Max and I delivered the poor souls back to their motorcycles, from whence they would ride home. It was a somewhat surreal experience, a white English-speaker gate-crashing a party of Malays who spoke virtually no English and whom I had never met before, sitting barefoot on the floor of a humble home connected to the world by a tiny thread of bitumen that wove between houses and trees back to the main road. Netball is transpiring to be educational and an amazing cultural experience as well as great exercise.

Penang

One of my son's friends recently said on his Facebook status update, “must take some time out and see more of the places around where I live”. Isn't it true? We live somewhere, complain about having nothing interesting to do, and end up seeing little of what is around us. Because the Inventor and I have moved around quite a lot, we have always been aware of it, and despite the awareness, the good intentions and plans, still mumble and grumble of missed opportunities, and unseen beauties.

Crossing the bridge to Penang Island

Last weekend, we travelled to Penang to cross off a “must-see” from our list. Fortunately or unfortunately, this one has not been crossed off, as it must be relegated to the other list, the list reserved for places and experiences that offer too much to be digested in one sitting. Penang, or Pulau Pinang as I should more correctly refer to the island, is a modern, interesting, attractive place, and we hope to go back again. It is steeped in history, and many of the buildings from its colonial past remain. It is also pitched towards tourists, and one does not feel out of place there, sightseeing, shopping or just looking. Some English is spoken by most people, and strangest of all for us was the masses of white-skinned people, both residents and tourists. We are accustomed to being the only white-skinned “orang putih” around, and experience something of a celebrity status because of our ethnicity and skin colour. At Tesco people have become more accustomed to our presence, aided by the fact than another family of “orang putih” also moved here just before us. This family also were nice enough to have seven children, every one of whom has striking blue eyes and a shock of white-blonde hair. Hence, I feel that the novelty of white people around Kampar has worn off to a large extent, though I still pass people who seem surprised or interested to see a white person, and many seem a little awed to meet us. Our friends Desmond and Swee Yee tell us that foreigners are respected in Malaysia above locals, unlike Australia where foreigners can be treated with suspicion or disregard.

In Penang there were many, many white-skinned people. We heard English being spoken regularly, and I enjoyed hearing the familiar Aussie accent as I wandered past groups of people. Up until our trip to Singapore, we had been counting the white-skinned people we had seen in a day, and the highest daily total so far achieved had been eleven, on one of our trips to KL. The record was blitzed at KL international airport, and in Singapore it was pointless to count. So too, Penang.

Two views from our balcony, to sea, and inland.

We had planned to go to Penang the previous weekend, and so had Desmond and Swee Yee. Strangely, both lots of plans had fallen through, and at church on the Sunday, we decided to go together the next weekend. They had acquired vouchers for three nights' accommodation at a time share hotel in Penang, and invited us to join them, using one of the vouchers to pay for our first night there. We had discovered that our passport renewal applications could be submitted with the honorary consul in Penang, so decided to stay for a second night so we would have time to see some things as well as renew our passports, which we want to get done now despite their not being due to expire until July, so that the two-year visa we have applied for can be stamped into our new passports. The Inventor has also read that the Australian government plan to dramatically increase the cost of passports to raise revenue.

We enjoyed a delightful two days in Penang with Desmond, Swee Yee and their four-year-old son Daniel. Desmond and Swee Yee appointed themselves travel guides, and in the process of showing us around the island, discovered some places they had never seen themselves. The drive along the coastal road to the village of Teluk Bahang was a scenic delight, and so much like the Cairns- Port Douglas road, it made me both nostalgic and a little melancholic. Even the vegetation is similar, and I find it strange that parts of Malaysia are so similar, yet so very different, to our previous home. A highlight of our trip for me was a visit to a batik factory, where we were shown the batik being stamped by hand. I knew, of course, how it was done, but it was great to finally see the real thing! We also stopped and had a walk through a lovely private botanical gardens. The herb garden was interesting but it was the trail up and down the hill through the rainforest that I loved, again reminding me of the tracks and trails around Cairns and the fun walks I had there with friends and on my own. We even managed to see the night markets despite the rain- unlike in Kampar, the stall-holders are well equipped and had no intention of missing a night's trade because of a little bit of rain, however thunderous. Strangely, the one tourist venue that I had wanted to see seemed to have closed down, which would explain my failure to contact them on each of the numerous phone numbers I had found on google. The cultural centre had seemed very popular and won awards for its displays of dance, music, games and other cultural displays, so I wonder why it is now closed.

What little boys do!

Having Desmond order the food for us at nearly every meal made it easy for us, as communicating can be a stressful and difficult task, and when a Chinese speaker does all the interpreting for you, there are also less surprises when the food arrives! Another highlight was the steamboat dinner. Our steamboat was lit and the soup poured in, then it was up to us to choose from the hundreds of meats, seafoods and vegies and take them back to the table to cook in the soup or barbeque on the hotplate that surrounded the steamboat. Dozens of other pre-cooked foods were available, too, and we all ate far more than we probably should have.

The hotel Desmond and Swee Yee had taken us to is right on the beach, and from the hotel lobby one walks out to the pool area then onto the beach. While Desmond fished from the beach, we played with Daniel in the sand and in the little waves that splash onto the beach, and wandered along the surprisingly uncrowded beach. More adventurous tourists zoomed around on hired jetskis, rode on inflatable bananas and soared over our heads under parachute canopies, but we enjoyed taking it easy and having a bit of down-time. The inventor was a little disappointed to discover that the two hobie cats that lay stacked at the top of the beach were indeed as non-functional as they appeared, so we remained on solid ground.

So cute- sometimes! He speaks two languages already.

As we navigated our way back across the Penang bridge back to the mainland after lunch on Tuesday, I was sad to be having to leave. Penang really appealed to me, with its azure ocean views and verdant mountainous interior, modern shopping centres, Chinese food places, clean and tidy presentation and Western feel. This is one place to which I am sure we will return.

I had wanted to see the historic O and E Hotel, and we miraculously drove straight past it on our way out of town.

On Missing

Today I'm feeling a bit homesick. I miss Australia and I miss my friends back in Cairns. While this is now home, there are some things that we loved in Australia that will never be here. We miss being able to converse in fluent English, sharing a common cultural understanding that dictates social norms, and being able to understand the machinations of the society. I especially miss the comfort and ease that comes with understanding how things in the society run. Do I line up? Where? Is there a machine where I take a number? Will it offend if I do that? How do I pay? Who do I pay? What type of shop do I go to buy one of those? Is it worth the effort shopping around, or will I never find one? How do I make a complaint? What should I expect of a person in this situation? It takes me hours to translate letters and bills received. The questions are endless, the confusion is endless, and it can be quite tiring dealing with the barrage of experiences that bombard you when living in a new culture. It simultaneously makes it more difficult and less so, that Malaysian culture is not just one but three, however I feel this will be the topic for another blog post.

Showing people photos of the beautiful, clean mountains, beaches and suburbs of Cairns reminds me of what we left behind, and looking at them floods me with sweet remembering. I have always been able to appreciate the incredible good fortune of being born Australian and being blessed to live in Cairns, and I need to be careful to limit the comparisons. As a newcomer, it is also not my place to try and change things here, though I find it hard to resist doing so. It would be wrong for me to try to make Malaysia like Australia- this would be to deny the unique things that this country has to offer. I need to enjoy and appreciate Malaysia for what it is, its own beauty and experiences- good and bad, as all are valuable. Is it possible to love two homes?

It's actually easier to not think too much about the people we have left behind. Strangely, it's not the family I'm missing most. I speak to them often, family are always in my thoughts, and besides, their presence wasn't something we could appreciate everyday, even when we lived in Australia. It's the many people who brushed through my life on a daily basis, shaping the course of my life in tiny, seemingly insignificant moments, or, in some cases, obvious and very significant ones. I miss all our friends from church, but especially, of course, the little group of very special friends that grew from there. I miss my work colleagues at my numerous workplaces, and the friends all around town that we always lamented we never had enough time for. If once my days were filled to overflowing with people and happenings, now, though no less busy, my days are strangely bereft of that joyous thing called companionship. Some people are regulars on Facebook, and both of us have become somewhat avid followers of the goings-on of those that we are able to follow. The regular, small tidbits of irrelevant rubbish from someone's life can be more connecting that the otherwise far more enlightening and informative newsy letters received. I suppose that it is more like real life, in a way. The removal of our social network has, of course, drawn the inventor and I closer together. We have come to really rely on each other very heavily for companionship and I am sure, as our new life unfolds here in Malaysia, that our relationship will continue to benefit from this.

In the blog of an Aussie expat living in Vietnam, I read of her reasoning of why expats cluster together. I have always shared her viewpoint- that comfort is found with familiarity, and we enjoy best the time spent with those whose language and culture is most familiar. I think this is why we enjoy the company of Desmond and Swee Yee, who we met at church in Ipoh. Unfortunately, in Kampar there is no great expat community, in fact, the Canadian family remain the only westerners we have met in Kampar, despite the large university here. We have been received with welcome arms in our new church, and our only regret is that Ipoh is far enough away that many people do not consider it for a regular drive. With our spiritual needs met adequately by Sunday services and Friday night cell group in Ipoh, we plan to sample some more of the offerings of English-speaking churches here in Kampar, with the primary intention being, I unashamedly admit, of meeting people who live close by.

It's not that I ever am in need of something to do. In fact, after the first few quiet weeks here, the list of things to do has restored itself to its former unmanageable glory, and for that I am grateful. When we first arrived, my primary goal was getting us settled in and our home sorted out. Once that was accomplished, new projects began to emerge and the busyness slowly returned. We spent a lot of time before leaving Australia dealing with jobs that must be done, and I had the unexpected extra two weeks to get everything sorted out, so when we arrived, the “to do” list was uncharacteristically short. I can happily report that, once again, the days are not long enough to even scratch the surface of the list, and prioritising has become the first task of each day.

I have spent some days working on an application for funding for our project, and we still have a lot of work to be done on that, and on business planning in general. The Inventor's head has been so “in the clouds” of late, that my input is needed for the everyday practicalities. He even struggles with intellectual pursuits he would normally tackle with ease, and at my suggestion has given up trying to learn the local language. He is, by choice, allowing his head and the majority of his vast and extraordinary thought processes to remain floating in the clouds and on the task to which he has been assigned. His bedtime reading is often thick bundles of tiny pages which I am told are patent applications- numerous similar patents found in searches, which must be scanned and analysed to ensure the uniqueness of his own pending patent, but just as importantly, to glean ideas from others who have expertise in the area.

In addition to helping The Inventor, I spend my days looking after our financial and physical resources both here and in Australia. In this last week, amongst other smaller tasks, I have advertised a car for sale, contacted the   sorted out one long-outstanding and complicated problem with the tax office, finally chosen and ordered bicycles for the two of us, paid bills and shuffled money between bank accounts, spoken to Cairns Council about a refund I have been chasing, sent rent statements to tenants, recharged our toll card, recharged prepaid mobiles, and researched verbs and affixes in Bahasa Melayu. I am trying to teach myself Bahasa Melayu, and I teach English lessons three times a week to some of the lab and office staff, in exchange for help with Malay. Planning these lessons takes up quite a lot of my time, as I have not taught English as a Second Language for a long time, have never taught adults before, have never tried to learn a language while simultaneously teaching another, and have a wide range of abilities to cater to. The other thing I have had to do this week, is to research what trips the two of us might be able to take out the country next weekend. We must leave and return, as our 30-day visitor visas will expire soon, and the company has not yet been registered (once the company registration is complete, we will be free to stay as long as we like, with The Inventor as a director of the Malaysian joint-venture company). Malaysia is very accommodating, and we will readily obtain a new 90-day visitor visa on our return, but to do this we must leave the country. It is foreign to us to have so many affordable options for a long weekend away, “overseas”. After searching flights from Ipoh, KL and Penang to places such as Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, and Indonesia, we are currently investigating an Island in the south of Thailand which can be accessed by boat from the north of Malaysia, via a Malaysian Island called Langkawi.

Life continues to be challenging, rewarding, exciting and dull, and Malaysia interesting, friendly, breathtakingly beautiful and appallingly dirty. We work hard at the Inventor's difficult and massive project, we take the challenges for the learning experiences they are meant to be, we lap up the variety and opportunities. This is life, and, for the most part, I think we are dealing with it well. Bring it on!

It's the little things ...

It's the little things that make a difference. There are the big changes you expect, you are warned about, and you can plan for, but then there are the myriad little things you can't plan for. In the scheme of things they don't mean much, but they can make a big difference, major changes, to your life. It's these that make life interesting.

Like not being able to buy insect spray, other than surface-spray varieties. I'm certain the big, fat cockroach that we keep spying in our bedroom has been the same resident in our private sanctuary for the past seven weeks, even though I recall now disposing of at least one little black carcass from this part of the house. In any case, the squatter has now been summarily evicted, for as it rested near the ceiling behind the TV last night, I climbed onto the TV cabinet armed with the faulty can of surface spray and delivered an impotent-looking burst of the poison skywards. It must have reached its target, for the tiny invertebrate scurried off in indignation to a dark corner from whence it has not yet emerged.

Our friends Desmond and Swee Yee related to us their horror when seeing the dishes being washed up in their host families' homes in Australia for the first time. Washing up Malaysian style would be equally difficult for me to manage. Although I did employ a similar method when we first moved in, hand-washing individual dishes and rinsing en-mass, it is unimaginable that I might continue in this camping-style fashion for the duration of our stay here. There is a certain comfort and assumed cleanliness with doing things as you are accustomed to. While I'm sure the Asian way is perfectly hygienic, I see no point in abandoning a technique that has served me well for nearly half a century, even if it does mean I have to boil the kettle of water every time I fill the sink.

Our bedsheets are twill weave. They are also only 350 thread count, but quite thick and soft (and expensive) actually. It's quite odd, but a lot of the sheets appear to be twill, and most are printed. The strangest thing, though, is that a standard sheet set comes with only a fitted bottom sheet, two pillow cases and a bolster case. I do wonder what people use for a top sheet? And why are bolsters so popular? Our set became ours by virtue of the fact that it has a quilt cover with it, which has proved a great weight for a top sheet in the airconditioning. The inventor will never quite get used to the fact that all beds here are only 6 foot long, a bit of an inconvenience for the size-gifted amongst us who are more than 6 foot long themselves. At least our bed is also 6 foot wide!

We're happy despite, and sometimes because of, the little things!

We had been pre-warned that there would likely be no fixtures in the kitchen, so when we entered it and saw the fridge standing grandly in solitude on the tiled floor, we were neither surprised nor disappointed. We were, however, surprised that stove and oven are purchased as portable stand-alone units, especially as each room has only a single powerpoint. Fortunately, the two-burner cooktop is gas. Unfortunately, the lead on the oven is very short and the only way it can reach the single powerpoint is if it is balanced on top of the burners with the door opening facing the wall. Happily, both cook quite well. I am trying not to use the cheap 10-amp extension lead to run the oven, though, as the outer insulation of the lead becomes alarmingly soft and painfully hot. 

Another surprise is the absence of an ordinary extension lead. What one can buy is a longish lead with a multi-board on the end, or a wind-up roll of extension lead with the plug, or more often, plugs, in the centre of the reel. All the lamps for sale have a European plug end, but adaptors are so commonplace, they are cheap (between three and six ringgats, $1- $2). Unfortunately, some of the cheaper ones I bought have the nasty habit of coming apart when one tries to unplug the appliance, leaving the live contact points inside the plug exposed.

Along wi

th stars and blue skies, I need some green.

Doorbells do not seem a popular thing in Malaysia. Even now we have finally found a battery-operated, wireless doorbell, people prefer to call out. This is despite the fact that I put the button in the most obvious, visible place, actually on the screen door, as I often do not hear people calling out if I am ensconced in the bedroom with airconditioner and music rumbling and doors tightly shut. Our neighbourhood is especially untidy and poorly maintained, I guess because there are so few owner-occupiers and so many

student tenants. It can get a bit glum and depressing, especially

when the sky is grey for weeks on end. A nice, blue, sunny day like today does wonders for the soul- I think humans need the sunny outlook. We also need to see stars, which I am sure are there to remind us of the vastness and majesty of the universe and all that was created in it. Hopefully, one day, we will get to see the stars again, too.

We have spent many long hours trudging the aisles of supermarkets and shops- Tesco, Aeon, Carrefour, Minat, Cold Storage, etc, etc, etc- just looking for a few of the ingredients that I need to make favourite recipes from home. Now we have been here nearly two months, knowing that one can make “home-foods” here in our new home, means a lot to us. Small ingredients can make a big difference to the recipe, and nearly every recipe I pick up has something that is expensive or difficult to find- cream, glucose syrup, copha, cloves- things we take for granted in Australia. Then there is the long-winded and fruitless search for Vegemite. The Vegemite quest is no longer driven by wanting, or even needing, and has now become an obsession that surpasses any desire to actually consume the stuff. The necessity is now to locate the product, and whether the outcome is a purchase or not, the quest with its many challenging, time-consuming and often expensive journeys, will have been completed courageously.

There are the unexpected little positives, too. The availability of old rubber trees makes timber furniture very affordable, as is all furniture. I finally bought two pieces I have been wanting for our lounge room, a display shelf and a small sideboard/ cupboard for near the door. Together the cost was RM540, about $170. The very reasonable cost and the fact that all furniture stores are negotiable on price, has made furnishing and decorating the house so much more affordable and enjoyable.

The inventor takes great pleasure in filling the car with fuel, which we do every week or two. At RM1.80 per litre, it always takes less than 100 ringgats to fill the diesel tank, and the bargain-thrill has not yet waned. We had anticipated lower prices and cost of living, but what I had not anticipated was the thrill, that excited buzz, of paying for something that seems very reasonably priced. I had expected life in Kampar to be more stressful, being removed from our friends, family and support mechanisms, but I had not bargained for the freedom and release from stress that we would experience when our day-to-day living bills were cut by two-thirds. Once our legal-eagle has completed the eviction process for the tenant from hell and we have found an agent and a new tenant, financial worries might well be a thing of the past.

Today's Dim Sum (Yum Cha) bill.

The Inventor took our electricity bill to the plant to ask for help in translating it. If it is possible to see the blood draining from a Malay face, I'm sure he has witnessed it. She wasn't quite sure how he'd take the news that the bill was enormous, 180 ringgats (nearly $60) for the month, but he reassured her that the airconditioner has hardly been turned off since we moved in, and that we more than happy with this amount. Even without the aircon, our bill in Cairns was generally three times this amount.

A smile from a stranger is indeed a very small thing, but we know the power of a smile can never be underestimated. I am the lucky recipient of genuine, open smiles on a daily basis, and I continue to be grateful for the many lovely people who smile or greet me wherever I go, the helpful bystanders who jump in to translate, the shop assistants who willingly help us to learn a few words of Malay, and the interested folk who quiz us about Australia. It really is the small things that make a difference.

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.

The School of Hard Knocks

THE SCHOOL

The School of Hard Knocks, inconveniently located in Kampar, Malaysia, is only two and a half hours by train from the national capital, Kuala Lumpur, or 40 minutes by private transport from the state capital, Ipoh. Additionally, Brisbane, Australia can be reached in just a 13-hour relaxing journey, consisting of a 2 hour drive, 2 hour airport wait, 8 hour aeroplane trip, and one-hour train ride. In only three more hours, Townsville or Cairns can be reached.

The state of Perak is known for its sites of natural beauty- waterfalls, limestone caves, hot springs, nature parks, and the famous Cameron Highlands- and for the thousands of lakes which have formed in the remains of tin mines in the Kampar/ Ipoh district. There are many shopping, sporting and eating facilities in the area for students who have the tenacity to discover them. Many of these are hidden jewels waiting to be discovered behind dirty shop-fronts and in cluttered back streets.

The curriculum at the School of Hard Knocks is comprehensive, covering all the KLAs. Despite its name, many lessons are easy and enjoyable, but some of the lessons undertaken at our school can only be learned the hard way. Experience has shown us that students who take on the difficult lessons learn well, and rarely need to repeat them. The education offered is guaranteed to be of lasting value to all students, but especially those wishing to extract the most from their life experiences.

MATHEMATICS

Students are expected to grasp the basics of the mathematics curriculum quickly. Those who do not will bear additional financial costs in their education. The curriculum covers areas such as lightning-fast currency conversions, bargaining, learning to make cost judgements in a different economy, and recognising and speaking monetary values in Bahhasa Melayu. For those students wishing to drive a vehicle in Perak, additional mathematical skills will be required, such as application of speed limits, calculation of the cost of rare traffic fines, and for the unfortunate from countries such as the Philippines, learning to mirror-image so as to drive on the correct (ie., left-hand) side of the road. Spatial awareness and vigilance will be applied in practical multi-tasking driving lessons, where numerous cars, trucks, pedestrians, motorbikes, bicycles, and motor scooters will weave erratically across the road at various speeds and in various and unpredictable directions. Students from other Asian countries do not need to enrol in this subject, as they will be accustomed to the rare wearing of helmets, the loose application of the road rules, and the unlikely enforcement of road rules.

ENGLISH

The minimum English requirement for entry to the School of Hard Knocks is a basic level, though a higher-level vocabulary may help students to decipher many Malay words. Ability to read English may also be of benefit, however ability to read Chinese script would also be advantageous. It will not, however, be taught as part of the curriculum, as there is already enough learning in our syllabus to cause a mind blowout in all but the toughest students.

LOTE (Languages Other Than English)

While some of our slower students may have enrolled in the course expecting to learn a single new language, most students would be aware that a minimum of three Languages Other Than English are required for the curriculum. The official national language of Bahasa Melayu will be learned by necessity, being the most widely spoken, but some Cantonese will also be taught, as students will find it useful for communicating with Christian friends and many shopkeepers. Language lessons may be undertaken on a self-study basis, in small, impromptu classes, or “on the run”. We recommend a mix of all three study modes. Although a small amount of English is spoken by most of the population in the area, for ease of communication and assimilation, we expect that all students should achieve at least a passing grade in at least one LOTE.

While not officially a LOTE, ability to understand the non-standard form of English spoken locally- sometimes called Manglish- is also required. Students who can master the inflections, distinct vocabulary and social register of Manglish will be granted additional credit. They will also find personal rewards, such as being able to join in with the unusually-paced spoken liturgies of the Lutheran Church. While some Tamil may be learned, this subject is a non-credit elective, as Tamil residents are a minority and most speak English.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Students at the School of Hard Knocks may study Christianity (a wide range of denominations, including Lutheran, and sects, are available), Islam (there is a mosque within walking distance of most accommodation in the area), Hinduism and Buddhism. Attendance at special classes is not necessary, as daily lessons in religious tolerance and understanding are obligatory and will be provided at random times throughout the day.

CULTURAL STUDIES

This subject comprises three modules- cultural awareness, cultural understanding, and assimilation. The first is compulsory and a passing grade is necessary to pass through the School of Hard Knocks successfully. The second and third modules are for students who wish to put in more effort for a deeper learning experience. Curriculum components include talking to people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, removing shoes when entering a building, accepting invitations to gatherings knowing you will stand out, obeying local customs, using chopsticks and hands to eat, tasting a wide variety of unfamiliar foods, shopping in Chinese, Malay and Indian stores, being cheerful while people stare, putting LOTE lessons into use and embarrassment aside, learning to give and accept graciously. Students who participate in daily practice sessions in tolerance and understanding and apply Christian love will find they easily achieve a high level of achievement in this subject.

GEOGRAPHY

The geography syllabus covers map-reading without the aid of GPS (reliable Malaysian maps are not available for any major brand), navigation by instinct, distinguishing between private and public roads when the size and condition are often different to expectations, appreciation of the limestone landscape, and discovery of new places.

SCIENCE

Areas of science taught include, but are not limited to, the following:

Botany- plant and animal species of the area, recognising dangerous creatures (eg. pig-tailed macaques), the effect of long-term mining on ecosystems, discovering which pot plants will survive.

Geology- limestone caves, mineral and rock resources of Perak.

Chemistry- composition of cheap paints and how to wipe walls without completely removing the paint, the action of bleach on moulds, Halal food substitutes for popular Australian ingredients such as cream and gelatine

Physics and mechanics- the falling patterns of water from leaking airconditioners, the poor cornering and highway performance of a vehicle when it has been accidentally knocked into four-wheel-drive.

Anatomy and physiology- the fascinating phenomenon of the tiny Asian who can eat twice as much as an Australian, do half the exercise and weigh a third as much.

CREATIVE ARTS

Students will become familiar with popular local songs on regular shopping trips, learning words or tunes through regular exposure. Artistic needs will be met through the seemingly endless task of cleaning, decorating and organising the large house and laboratory office. Students who wish to undertake elective studies may undertake to write a blog, enrol in university studies, do photography or take part in craft days with family members via Skype.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL RECREATION

Health lessons will involve considerable research with internet resources, and will cover topics such as bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, causes, treatment and prevention, and allergy to common Asian foods (such as MSG and chilli) and its treatment. Physical recreation is an elective subject and at Perak campus students tend to fit it in where possible around the compulsory subjects. There is a range of options for students, but the more popular ones are proving to be walking in the outdoors, and trekking in shopping centres. Other options include skating with a newly-acquired skating buddy in Ipoh, Wii Fit, and cycling.

STUDY SKILLS

Our curriculum is skills-based, and many skills will be learned by the students as they complete their daily tasks. The may include skills such as- maintaining concentration despite the sound of 3 tonnes of limestone dropping into a furnace every 12 minutes, flexible time management when internet is unreliable, persistence and questioning skills when looking for products in stores, and flexibility when faced with a new lifestyle.

FACILITIES

A fully-equipped laboratory is available for some students' use. Equipment includes a bomb calorimeter, atomic absorption spectrometer, a crushing and sampling room, scales calibrated to a thousandth of a gram, A3 printer, glassware, a variety of kilns, and soon the school may obtain an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Chemicals for analysis and experimentation are supplied, but if necessary chemicals are not available, the highest quality chemicals will be acquired on request. Students are required to give at least 2 months notice for orders.

Classes will be conducted in our many, varied educational settings, including the modern Tesco Centre and the ultra-modern and clean Station 18 in Ipoh. Prospective students please note that amenities even in the modern teaching blocks may be the Malay-style squat variety. Other lessons will be conducted in more traditional settings, and special, once-off visits to the state museum, Muzeum Darul Ridzuan, and limestone cave complex Gua Tempurung, will be informative and educational.

A large house, vehicle and any other comforts considered necessary will be provided.

ENROLMENT

For those wishing to apply to the School of Hard Knocks, Perak campus, applications can be made in person. Pre-requisites are a brilliant inventor for a husband, a willingness to give the inventor's idea a chance, a taste for adventure, and a fool-hardy disregard for the security of one's future. All applications will be accepted. Failure in any component of the course will result in expulsion, or regular visits to a counsellor, therefore diligent, regular application to studies is recommended.

Adjustments

Moving always involves adjustments. Our life journey has taken a change of destination, an entirely new route and a vehicle with few familiar components. Part of the challenge is that the vehicle was moving when we landed on it, and we have to work out how it operates to keep it moving. We are grateful for the help Harry gives us each week when he comes up here for his work, and also thankful for the British influence that means many things are done in a similar way to in Australia. The other thing that has made our lives easier is the willingness and capacity of the general population to try to communicate in English.

The move has, however, necessitated many adjustments on our part, some major and some relatively minor. Some of the relatively minor changes can make quite an impact on one's life, too, like not finding a suitable alternative to the fresh skim milk that was a large part of our diets in Australia. Our once-indulgent devouring of over a litre a day has dwindled to around a litre a week, and we have for now made a change from the strange-tasting fresh skim milk that Tesco stock, to experimenting with powdered skim. The inventor attempted to use a powdered “creamer” at the lab, but after this failed experiment will now try evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Obviously, this is just one of the many, many ways our diet has changed. If one was to look in the lovely new kitchen unit that Harry helped us to buy on Thursday, one may jump to the conclusion that a lot of western foods are available at Tesco. It is merely that I have a good selection of them in my home. The grocery haul pictured here from last week, is a clear illustration that while we think we are eating local food , we still have a penchant for what we know and are familiar with.

Despite the seeming abundance of Western snack foods, many of the foods which once were a weekly occupant of my shopping trolley are just not available. I suspect that many recipes will need some tweaking to replace ingredients that we cannot find, either because they are not available, we don't know where to get them, or we don't know what they are called. Travelling experience helps. When we were in France in 2004 I became mildly panicky when I couldn't buy self-raising flour. Last week in Tesco, I effortlessly found the plain flour and baking powder. It helped that it was conveniently labelled in English. A few foods that were part of our everyday existence are still sorely missed- low-sugar soft drinks and cordials, nice bread, and bacon, come immediately to mind. The range, however, is not too bad, and I have readily found suitable non-food grocery items, the available range of cleaning products and toiletries being mostly Western-style. Shopping will become easier when we are familiar with what is available and the range of stores from which we can acquire it.

Although we now have a gas bottle, gas hotplates and a microwave, we have not yet cooked an evening meal at home. I doubt it surprises my readers, certainly not those who know me well, to discover that this adjustment was the easiest for us. It makes the cleaning and washing up much simpler, shopping quicker, and life less stressful. Friday night it was our turn to shout Harry to dinner, and he took us to Ipoh to a particular restaurant renowned for its bean sprouts and steamed chicken. Apart from being incredibly delicious, it was healthy and the food component was less than 40 Ringgats ($13) for the three of us. Of course, it's not necessary to drive to Ipoh to get this sort of value for a meal. Evening meals are most often Chinese food, but there is also good options for Indian and Malay, and sometimes also Thai, Japanese and Western-style. Kampar has a KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominoes and McDonalds, but the Inventor and haven't been to any of these yet. In fact, local Christians have called for a time of fasting until Malaysian National Day, and He claims to have given up Western food for the fast! Not much of a sacrifice.

It wasn't really the style I was looking for, but after some searching I actually found these in Tesco and decided I really like them. The photo doesn't show just how green they are, but they are quite interesting and fit the modern Asian theme that our home has adopted by default and necessity. Because they are sold loose, we could buy whatever pieces we wanted, hence the mixture of Asian and Western. Despite our claims of never eating at home, they get used quite a lot.

Town-house living is very different to the Australian surburban lifestyle we are used to. We have an empty townhouse on one side, and three of four scooter-riding Chinese youth who are studying at the university on the other. There are many vacant townhouses in our development, yet a new suburb appears to be sprouting from the empty block just near us. While our neighbours are in most part quiet, their front security door clattering sounds like our own, and often sounds they make outside give the illusion of being inside our house. The solid rendered wall means few sounds from inside their house disturb us, and I am hopeful that the same remains true in reverse, especially now we have a TV. I don't miss the gardening, but I do miss my verdant friends that peeped in every window at Smithfield and the buffer our own little space created. The high ceilings in our place mean a lot of stairs, and like so many things here, the treads are designed for little Asian feet, not the size 12 boats of an Australian inventor brought up on milk and thick steaks and ample servings of anything he required. Still, we ply the staircase numerous times each day. We have found a comfortable way to work the two kitchens now we have a kitchen unit inside. Snacks are prepared inside, cooking and washing up are done outside. The inconveniences of having a split kitchen don't bother me while I am doing so little food preparation.

The indoor kitchen with the lovely new unit that we (Harry, the Inventor and I) bought last Thursday. It is wonderful having a surface to put things on and cupboards to put things in.

The wet kitchen, with the breakfast burners (they mainly get used at breakfast) and less clutter on the benches now. There is chicken wire in the security screen you can see to keep out birds and cats, but unfortunately not in the side screens- yet.

We are adjusted in habit, but not yet attitude, when it comes to locking to doors. Every window has a security screen, and every door has a security screen door with both a key lock and padlock. At home or not, we keep the doors padlocked, a habit a long way removed from our tendency in Smithfield to leave everything open unless we went out. Our Australian home possessed little that would be of value to others, we had less than many of those around us, and we lived in a low-crime area. None of these is the case here, and we are painfully aware of our relative affluence and the need to be sensible in hiding and protecting it. The Isuzu four-wheel-drive utility that gets us around, while old, is also apparently the most stolen type of car in Malaysia, being a popular choice across the border in Thailand, only a few hours away. Hence, our vehicle has two safety measures, both of which we are still inclined to forget, despite having driven it for nearly three weeks. It won't start if it has been left unlocked, and has an immobilizer which must be deactivated before turning the key, which caused a few anxious moments in our first few days, as the engine chugged lifelessly. With time and experience, this happens less often. As Malaysian drivers take less heed of the road rules (which seem remarkable similar to Australia, including the side of the road driven on), we are learning to be alert. Nothing can be assumed, and while often common sense might seem absent, sometimes driving is easier and less regimented. For instance, in town where there are few traffic lights and traffic speed is lower, the flow is more like a choreographed free-form dance than a parade-ground marching display dictated by signs, lights and strict adherence to rules. The unfathomable chaos of Vietnamese roads doesn't exist, though I have heard that driving in KL is another story altogether.

I don't find it easy, but for now we will have to become accustomed to the hazy, depressing palate of grey that hangs over our heads and on the hills like a wraith. I am assured that as the seasons change, the smoke from Indonesia, or whatever other environmental abomination causes this smoggy blight, will clear. I am certainly looking forward to some bright, clear days.

We are still excited by this environment, new and different, with so many lessons to be learned. My appreciation of the interesting limestone mountains and rural environment, suitably replaces the admiration I never lost for the green mountains of the Atherton Tablelands that lean into Cairns and force her towards the sea. At times I miss the neat, orderly streets of Cairns and the organisation of a disciplined society. Discarded plastic and packaging decorate the grubby streets of Kampar, which themselves reflect the general attitude of disregard for appearances. New houses, and the occasional elderly one that receives care, stand up like conceited fashionistas amongst their emo neighbours who drape themselves in a black mould that eats at the cheap paint and rust that spoils the gates. Malaysia is a growing, interesting mix of East and West, new ways and old ways, and can be a perplexing enigma. Sometimes the lawlessness and chaos are frustrating, at other times we feel liberated from the constraints of a constipated and self-obsessed legislative, litigious school master, free at last to use common sense and a little nous. Sometimes I forget I am in Asia. Other times, as I drive past the huts of a village, or catch the air wafting from a sewer, the sights and smells spin me into another world. It's also easy to forget that friends who engage so readily in English conversation are not Australian. They do not live in Australia and their culture is more Chinese than Australian, and no matter how easily they discuss matters of modern life, they are Malaysian and their experiences, ways and thoughts are often very different to mine. Day by day though, this place is becoming home, and the things that we once considered exotic and unusual, are becoming part of our everyday life.

Discovering new places!

We miss our friends and family in Australia- the many familiar faces that passed through our lives each day, and the dear friends and family members with whom we could feel comfortable and cared for. Facebook, email and telephones have been fantastic and I am grateful that we can enjoy the closeness that they bring, at such a small cost. We know that the dear, amazing people in our life cannot be replaced, but worry that we will be left with a void that cannot be filled here. It has been nice to be greeted and welcomed so openly by so many people, and we hope that a few become those gems that we all treasure in our lives. The church we first attended three weeks ago, New Life Lutheran, has many friendly, lovely people and we enjoy the services, the preaching and the new friends that we meet. We have been back twice, and will probably make it our home church. It's just unfortunate that it is in Ipoh and takes us 30-45 minutes to get there, though the trip is fastest on a Sunday morning. The conversation with Harry is comfortable, and we enjoy having the odd meal with him when he is visiting up here from KL. Hopefully we will meet people in Kampar that we enjoy spending time with and life will settle into the usual busy productivity that I am used to. Until then, I will continue to appreciate the time I have to take life a bit slower and look after things while the Inventor gets on with what he does best.

My daughter has been asking what our bedroom looks like, and my sister has been asking how we can possibly manage a 40 inch TV in our bedroom, so here it is. The TV would be out of the left-hand side of the photo, had we owned it when the photo was taken. The ensuite is behind the bed.

Now you can see the senseless void at the foot of the bed that was crying out for a 40 inch LED TV, and I'm certain my sister will understand the necessity of the purchase.

Unfortunately we purchased the in-trays before the other things, and they don't match the lime green theme of the downstairs office, but bit by bit the house shapes into a home with things that we like and that serve our purposes.