We began the morning in Little India in Penang so that Pearl could finally introduce me to Apum Taluk or some such thing, which turned out to be coconut milk and rice flour with scrambled eggs in the center - TDF! BUT, we had to have this at Amina's stand because she makes the best, and I can tell you how hot it is behind her burners where she stands, wearing her little cap, gesticulating and smiling and chatting all the while because I went back there and almost died from the heat of the burners. The egg pancake is eaten with the hands and dipped in a rich curry sauce on the side. While I ate TWO of these things that I've been hearing about since I arrived, Pearl and Chandra talked to the couple at our table, another dark man and lighter woman. They spoke in Bahasa Malay, which I could understand only a limited amount of, but after the other couple left, Pearl told me they were a Malay couple and the four of them had been bemoaning the fact that the younger generation did not socialize together anymore - Chinese sticking with other Chinese, Malays sticking with other Malays, Indians sticking together as well. They remembered a more forgiving, more open social system.
The night before Pearl and I had decided to mend the quilt I had given her from Laos, and after much discussion, brain storming, arguing even, we came up with a plan; however, because I had given her the quilt, I insisted that I do the sewing. When I saw the simple Singer she had been working on with no light
and a foot pedal that she had to pump, I relinquished my offer and let her sew. Not surprisingly, like most things she does, Pearl sews like an angel, and she had that thing practically finished by the time we went to bed. I should have known that young Chinese girls had to learn to cook AND do all the sewing; she used to sew all her daughters clothes AND do smocking on her dresses. What can't this woman do?
Yesterday she had made a lovely pinapple "rojak," which is really a salad, but cutting the pineapple was such an art with lines cut all around the fruit before cutting it up into pieces. These are some of the ingredients for the rojak sauce, and of course it had ground peanuts sprinkled on top. I think I will have gained 15 pounds by the time I get home!
The bus to KL took almost 6 hours - only meant to take 4 - and by the time I got here, I felt confused; the station had been redone from a 3rd world grunge to sparkling chrome and windows. It totally threw me off balance in an area that I otherwise felt confident I knew. Once I got myself out of the station, I instinctively found the old route to Bukit Bintang where I found The Green Lodge and got the usual room with one bed and a chair for 65 ringet because it is a "double" bed instead of single, which would have been 55 ringet. Life is getting pretty fancy when I'm paying more than $20 for a room! In the interest of frugality, I did get dinner for under $10 and that did include one small Tiger beer, a luxury I doubt I shall enjoy for the next 10 days as I will be spending time with a muslim family in Dhaka. KL was quite a scene this evening, as kids were setting up for Saturday night; the bars were filling up, restaurants were bustling, and a band was getting ready to play. I moseyed around until it began getting dark and headed back to my generic room. I don't like moving around crowded cities alone when it's dark, especially when it's dark and Saturday night...
The bus to KL took almost 6 hours - only meant to take 4 - and by the time I got here, I felt confused; the station had been redone from a 3rd world grunge to sparkling chrome and windows. It totally threw me off balance in an area that I otherwise felt confident I knew. Once I got myself out of the station, I instinctively found the old route to Bukit Bintang where I found The Green Lodge and got the usual room with one bed and a chair for 65 ringet because it is a "double" bed instead of single, which would have been 55 ringet. Life is getting pretty fancy when I'm paying more than $20 for a room! In the interest of frugality, I did get dinner for under $10 and that did include one small Tiger beer, a luxury I doubt I shall enjoy for the next 10 days as I will be spending time with a muslim family in Dhaka. KL was quite a scene this evening, as kids were setting up for Saturday night; the bars were filling up, restaurants were bustling, and a band was getting ready to play. I moseyed around until it began getting dark and headed back to my generic room. I don't like moving around crowded cities alone when it's dark, especially when it's dark and Saturday night...
Tomorrow I leave for Bangladesh, no visa in hand, but faith in my heart, a smile on my face and cash in my wallet so that when the immigration officer talks to me, I am ready to do whatever I need to do to get a visa on arrival, which my former student assures me American tourists can obtain. Crossing fingers, sending good karma....
Finally, even if it isn't the most staggering I've seen, at least I'm happy to report that there IS graffiti in Kuala Lumpur! It's the plastic bags that kill me; supermarkets do not give them out in Penang, and I think the hawkers shouldn't be permitted to either.
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