Just Pixels

Well, we made it back to Singapore today, as sound as a kilogram. And it's actually nice to be back. Malaysia is a wonderful place with fascinating sights, sounds, smells and the like. BUT, it's also kind of wheels off. Kind of Wild West style. I got the distinct feeling that it's a place where people might approach you in a less-than-mannerly fashion and strongly suggest you donate your valuables to them with not so much as a tax write-off slip in return. And certainly this type of ruffianish activity is present everywhere, but I kept a short leash on my rupples and gold pieces just to be sure.

As evidence of this, the lovely older woman we stayed with one night in Klang was robbed while walking to her neighborhood market. A strung out and desperate drugie was presumably the perpetrator...

But at any rate, we met some great folks in Malaysia(see below) and I mangaged to pick up a few new Malay and Chinese phrases for the road. For instance:

A Chinese saying commending the benefits of traveling, translated: "It is better for a man to travel 1,000 miles than for a man to read 10,000 books."

Ching Ching Yo Wei = an idiom for "this meal was delicious." I think it's kind of like saying "Hot Damn! Good cookin' mama!" Either way it gets laughs from the locals when I say it after a meal. Uncle Stanley has me whip it out on cue for the collective enjoyment of the whole dinner table. I told Uncle Stanley we should go on the road with our act, but he thought our repertoire is a bit limited. But it's a good time. A good cross-cultural connection...

And some Malay action:

Terima Kasih = "Thank You"
Sangat Sedap = "Very Delicious"

And a rather interesting Chinese phrase:

Xiang Pi Bu Cou, Cou Pi Bu Xiang = roughly "A loud fart never skinks, and a quiet fart always skinks."

Educational through and through for sure...

And on a different note, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with Uncle Stanley about sunscreen before we hit the beach in Port Gibson.

Uncle Stanley (knocking on the door): Okay, let's go to the beach now, you boys up from your nap?
Me: Yeah, we're awake but I'll need some sunscreen.
Uncle Stan: Oh, you won't need any sunscreen, the sun is not intense at this time of day.
Me: Uh, yeah I think I'm going to need some. Look at me (gesturing at relative skin tone).
Uncle Stan (laughing): Oh yeah, you better get some cause you don't have any pigments...
Dan (suddenly interested and amused by the convo): OH, you got dissed!

It was the Pigments vs. the Pigmentless and I was outnumbered 2-1. Sheesh, and you always call OTHERS racist, Dan. Unbelievable...unbelievable.

Gotta love that Uncle Stan though...he's a tricky one. Always with the jokes...

Ok. Enough. The photos:


It's good to know that construction workers are lazy the world round.


Uncle Stan displaying a prized Durian fruit. We searched high and low for a fruit stand that had some. And I must say it's quite funky. It's really (oddly) creamy and almost garlicky, but to its benefit it finishes smoothly. But gosh, I don't think it's worth the gaseous revolution brought about by its presence in the belly. Quite odeous indeed.


Man and Durian.


Bahkud Teh - "pork rib and tea" in Malay. It's a traditional dish from the city of Klang, Malaysia. That's pork rib in the soup along with tasty herbs and pig stomach. It's quite agreable served over the requisite rice pilaf.


Uncle Stanley is the regional director for SIM (Serving in Missions), a global, multi-denominational mission organization. He had a meeting in Klang with some of the other Malaysian pastors with SIM (hence our trip to Malaysia). It was great to chat with these folks (their English was excellent and most of them also speak Malay and Mandarin). It's neat to see God at work in other parts of the world. I was treated like an old friend amongst these people and I couldn't help but feel a part of the team as Uncle Stanley introduced me as "John, a dear brother." Good people, this lot. And the guy on the far left went to seminary at Westminster in Philadephia.


This is Lily who we stayed with in Klang (the one who got robbed by the druggie). She's a very warm and compassionate lady. She and her late husband were missionaries in Ethiopia and Nigeria before working with SIM in Singapore. She retired and moved to Klang a few years ago.


Proper travel attire.


I rode in one of the Malaysian pastor's vehicles. I got in and immediately banged my head on the LOW roof. Ouch. There were also no seatbelts to be found. Just had to crouch down and hope for the best.


For the Brits.


Uncle Stan with my sunglasses.


Dan's "Jean-Claude" look.


The Ling family on the beach in Port Gibson.


Malacca, Malaysia.


Always a classic shot.


The church of St. Francis Xavier in Malacca.


Malaysian countryside.


Islam has a huge presence among the Malaysian populace. Mosque spires permeate the cityscapes and Hijabs and Kufi hats are the norm. And I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore when the morning call to prayer roused me from sleep at 5:30 one morning as it blared from a nearby Mosque loudspeaker. You won't get these religious elements in the cultural mainstream of Oklahoma. That's for certain.


Rain in Malacca.


Curried laksa with wintermelon juice. Powerfully delicious. OMG.