OznAsia

We were walking up Campbell Street in Georgetown's Chinatown district. This street contains several jewellery shops that deal in gold. In our group there was a three-year-old boy. We passed a security guard who put a hand out to give the child a 'five'. The boy didn't quite get it right so I stopped to show him how to do it. I wasn't even thinking about the stranger project but his Mum said to me, 'This guy—for your strangers.'

Hey, yeah. Why not?

I asked if I could take his photograph and put it on the internet. He was happy about that. Like my previous two strangers, he didn't have internet so was not able to check out his photo or the project for himself. In the photo he is trying to look serious to fit his role but actually he was a friendly guy who smiled a lot except when the camera was pointed at him. I asked his name and he pointed to his name tag which simply stated 'Wahar'. Don't know if that is his personal or family name. While he liked to chat his English was only basic.

He was carrying a gun which he assured me was loaded. I took a couple of shots trying to get the gun in the picture. There's another on my flickr page that shows him up close without a gun.

During our chat I learned the following about Wahar: He is 65 and unmarried. He was previously in the Malaysian army and proudly showed me a photo of himself in uniform and with a guard dog. He and two colleagues guard a row of jewellery shops in Campbell Street.

This picture is #3 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page. My 100 Strangers set.

Labels: Asia, flickr, Georgeown, Malaysia, Penang, stranger

Perhaps a month ago I discovered the 100 Strangers project on flickr, joined and until now have submitted nothing. Why? I tell myself if I was in Thailand or Cambodia people often make eye contact. Assuming they speak English or I speak a little of their language, it is easy to get a conversation going. I've spent most of this year in Malaysia and I find that, while there are exceptions, it is less common for people to make eye contact or chat with a stranger. There is someone I've known here for the whole of this year and when we have a conversation she still has difficulty with eye contact. I'm told she's a little afraid that she may get out of her depth with English.

All this has taught me something about myself. I have difficulty speaking with someone who is not making eye contact with me.

I asked a friend, 'What do I do? I look at someone but they avoid my gaze.' My friend suggested I simply say 'Hello, may I take your picture' and hope they understand English.

In Penang there are some old jetties on the waterfront close to the centre of Georgetown. Each one belongs to a particular Chinese clan. There are wooden houses built on stumps over the water. This is on the Western side of Penang Island which is close to the Malaysian mainland so the sea is usually fairly calm. The houses are connected to each other and the island by the jetties. Each one is like a self-contained village.

They have shops, temples and on some, tourists can even find accommodation.

I've never visited these jetties before and have intended to do so with my camera. So one Sunday recently we headed off. First we found the Lim family jetty. It was fairly quiet and we walked right to the end where there was a fisherman repairing a fish trap. We watched for a while and a few pleasant words were exchanged and I decided this man could be my first stranger in the project.

Lim Kah Soo is a resident of the Lim family jetty. He uses the traps he was repairing to catch grouper. We occasionally buy grouper from the local market. Perhaps he caught it. He was a friendly guy and even said that if we returned some time perhaps he could take us out in his boat.

Shortly another man turned up, greeted his friend the fisherman and said 'hello' to us also.

'Are you a fisherman too?' I asked.

'No. I'm retired. He's my friend. I've just come to visit.'

'Do you live on this jetty?'

'No, I live a long way out.'

I asked if I could take his photo and put it on the internet. He was happy about that. I figured this guy to be just a little older then me. I'm 63. But it is more challenging here for someone of that age to retire. 'How old are you?' I enquired.

His name is Yeoh Hock Hoe and he told me that he is 82.

'I hope I can look as healthy as you do when I reach 82,' I said.

Now I have my second stranger and I'm feeling more confident about this project.

As I add more pictures to the 100 Strangers project, you'll find them here. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers here.

Labels: 100 Strangers, Asia, flickr, Georgeown, jetty, Malaysia, Penang, stranger

I know that email must have almost done the post office out of business but it seems that if you need the services of the post office you still need to queue.

In my ageing family I am fortunate to have two sisters. The older of the two is quite computer literate and easy to contact by email (except when her computer was down recently). The younger chooses to not use the internet. If we want to stay in touch while I'm off in Asia we have to use snail mail. This has not been proving too easy since I've been staying in Malaysia.

I managed to get one letter off to her advising of my new address and soon after there was a reply in my mailbox. I was pleased. It is good to know that my mailbox actually works for things other than junkmail and electricity bills.

Posting the reply is not an easy matter. My local shopping centre is about 1 kilometre from my unit—a hilly kilometre. I don't mind the walk occasionally. Coming back up the hill gets my heart pumping. I'm sure that's good for me. Last time I went to the supermarket I asked where the nearest post office is. It's another couple of kilometres towards town. I prefer to not walk that. I could take the bus. Actually, I think that might be simpler. My friend rang me the other day. She had to go to that same post office. I needed to post the warranty forms for my two new cameras. She said she'd pick me up. When we got there we drove around all the nearby blocks and there was no parking. Outside the post office there is a clamp zone but there are cars parked there. So she parked and I stayed in the car while she went into the PO. Not sure what I could do as I have neither an international nor Malaysian license at the moment. I think she was gone for 20 minutes or more. There were cops on the other side of the road but they didn't come over our side. Eventually she returned and we hadn't been clamped or booked. : ) It cost 60 cents Malaysian (Australian 20 cents) to post the letter. But soooooo much trouble. Puts me off writing letters.

Fortunately my computer literate sister has come to the rescue. Now I email my letter to her, she prints it and mails it to our sister. Fortunately it's easier to use an Australian post office than a Malaysian one. Problem solved.

Labels: Asia, communication, family, Malaysia, travel

There is a food court near my present home in Penang where there is a stall selling Thai dishes. The first time I went there I tried speaking in Thai but the woman did not understand me. Later I heard some of the others on the stall speaking Thai. Since then I always order my food in Thai. I enjoy practising Thai. I don't want to lose it.

Recently I was disappointed to find the Thai stall was having a day off. I looked around to see what else was on offer. One stall offered a dish called 'Thai noodles'. The photo looked like Pad Thai and had a couple of prawns on top.

'Is this Pad Thai?' I asked. It was, so I started to explain that I didn't want prawns or peanuts. The woman seemed a little confused and when she spoke I think she dropped in a Thai word. Not sure but somehow I got the impression she might be Thai, so I asked, 'Khun pen khon Thai mai khrap?' Are you Thai?

She was, so I was able to order it properly and she understood. At least she seemed to. But after the meal was delivered I started eating it and had eaten a bit when I realised that the little red things were small prawns, what they call 'goong lek'. Fortunately my allergy is not too sensitive these days. I was able to pick out all the little prawns and eat most of the rest of the dish.

I'd finished my meal and was drinking some juice when the woman came walking past. She smiled. 'Me goong lek,' I said to her. 'Phom pare goong.' It had small prawns. I'm allergic to prawns. She looked very embarrassed and started rambling on in Thai much to fast for me to understand her but she ended by saying in English, 'Sorry'. I guess she understands now so perhaps I'll give her another try in the future.

Labels: Asia, Malaysia, travel

At the moment I am in Cambodia, a country considered to be one of the least developed in Asia.

Prior to coming here I was in Malaysia. While I was in Melaka there was a celebration because the state of Melaka had achieved developed status. One English-language newspaper had a supplement celebrating this occasion. A whole page was devoted to listing the criteria by which Melaka could be compared with developed countries and found to also be developed.

There was one criteria that I believe was missing. That is the serviette index.

In Asia, dining out is the norm. More often than not it is cheaper to dine out than to eat at home. So why go to all the trouble of preparing a meal? I'm not suggesting that everyone always dines in classy restaurants. Most people don't. They buy street food or something that is just one step above that. The food is still good. But you're not paying for classy surroundings. In Malaysia there are food courts, independent of malls, that sell a wide variety of foods at reasonable prices. This is where many Malaysian people eat on a daily basis.

Until my recent visit, I've had three years of spending very little time in Malaysia. Prior to that I'd stayed in Malaysia for months at a stretch. What I noticed on my return was that most of these cheaper eating places, including many restaurants, no longer provide serviettes.

OK, let's get this straight. You don't get a real serviette in any but the more expensive restaurants and there you still do. In the others, the cheaper restaurants, the food courts and the street establishments, you used to get tissues. They do the job. You finish the meal and you need something to wipe your mouth and fingers. A tissue is all you need. There used always to be a plastic box of tissues on the table and you helped yourself.

They're no longer there.

I asked my friends, 'Has this changed or is my memory deceiving me?'

My friends told me that in recent years tissues have gradually disappeared from the tables of all these cheaper eating places. You need to bring your own.

There is one place in Melaka where I used to eat regularly when I stayed there before. The first night I went there on my return the woman who ran the place didn't seem to recognise me. But the second night she seemed to be staring at me a lot. When I went to pay my bill she said, 'How come you not come long time?'

This place is the exception. They still have proper paper serviettes. Not tissues but real serviette-sized thick folded paper for wiping your face and hands. But they don't leave it on the tables. They have it on the counter.

At this restaurant I recognised a guy, about my age, who seemed to eat there every night. He stares straight at me every night but can't so much as nod. And this guy, I noticed on several nights, goes to the counter and casually takes a bundle of serviettes, folds them and puts them in his pocket. Perhaps it's because of people like him that the other places have stopped providing tissues.


But now back in Cambodia everywhere I eat, even the cheapest street stalls, they always provide a box of tissues. If there was a serviette index for measuring development, Cambodia would be considered a more developed country than Malaysia.

Labels: Asia, Cambodia, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, travel

A couple of weeks ago I was in Kuala Lumpur and wanted to go to Melaka. I was staying in the Chinatown-Petaling Street area and the bus station was just around the corner. Or so I thought. When I got there with my far too many bags I could see that the entrance I usually used was closed. I asked a passerby how to get inside. 'Oh, it's closed. They're rebuilding it.'

I asked where I needed to go to get a bus to Melaka. Fortunately I was more or less outside a railway station on the line that would take me to the temporary bus station. I didn't have a deadline and it was still early in the day so not a big deal. When I got off the train I had to walk perhaps 200 metres to the bus station. The bus fare to Melaka was about RM12 (about A$4).

The Melaka bus station is no longer in the centre of Melaka. Unfortunately these days, it seems, bus stations are not being built in the centre of cities, or downtown as the Americans say, they are built out in the suburbs. When I first went to Melaka the bus station was in the Hung Tuah area which was not all that far from Chinatown. If that was where you were heading you could walk assuming you knew the way. It's still walkable from the new bus station but only to a long-distance trekker with a boy to carry his luggage. Now there are taxis to take the rest of us there. There are also buses if you know which one to get and I do but this time I was carrying way too many bags and felt I really needed a taxi.

But I needed something else even more when the bus pulled into the bus station. I needed to eat. So when the taxi tout approached this skinny guy with far too may bags I was able to say 'No, I'm going to eat first.' That was only postponing the inevitable. So I returned a while later and tried to negotiate a fare. It didn't matter who I asked. The fare was RM30. I pointed out that I'd travelled all the way from KL for only RM12 and that paying RM30 to go the last two or three kilometres was absolutely crazy. But they wouldn't budge. I didn't like either of the other options, ie bussing or walking so I shut up and paid up. BTW, taxis in Melaka don't have meters.

I had a delightful two weeks in Melaka. I had forgotten how much I love this place. Eventually it was time to return to KL and the guesthouse rang a taxi to get me to the bus station. When he turned up, I asked how much.

'Fifteen ringgit'.

I'd already put my far-too-many bags in his boot. He could have asked for 30 or maybe more. But this time it seemed I'd got one of the honest taxi drivers. I trust there are a few more of them.

When the bus reached the bus station in suburban KL there were half a dozen taxi touts waiting at the door. I was the last to get off. There was only one tout left. 'Where you go? You want taxi?'

'No, thank you. I'm getting the train.'

'Train? No train here. You have to walk six kilometres.'

'Bullshit,' I said, grabbed my far too many bags from the hold of the bus and walked past him. Ten minutes later I was on a train on the way to Chinatown.

Labels: "Kuala Lumpur" KL, Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, ripoff, travel, trust

When I first started spending time in Asia I was drawn to the many beautiful temples in Thailand. At the same time I couldn't help noticing how many people in that country live in poverty. Eventually I came to realise that the reason the temples were so elaborate was that people would give money to the temple building fund in order to make merit. Money was often given for the building of new temples but nothing would be given to maintain old ones so they were often left in disrepair.

Everyday Buddhist practice in Asia depends on the interpretation placed on the teachings. The concept that we in the West usually refer to as karma may have a slightly different interpretation in Asian countries.

Most Asians who consider themselves at least nominally to be Buddhists place a lot of emphasis on the practice of making merit. The belief is based on the principle of what goes around comes around; what you give out, you get back. Most Buddhists are not seeking enlightenment in this life. They generally believe there are a few more lives on their way after this one and they see it as a gradual process. By making enough merit in this life they hope to be born into a better life next time around.

Practices that are adopted for the making of merit include donating to temple building funds and feeding the monks. But do these donations actually bring much benefit to anyone? I know monks in some temples barely have enough to eat but in others food is thrown away. I recently visited a temple in Malaysia which was a huge complex and the building was just going on and on and on—another pagoda, more Buddha images, a huge statue of Kwan Yin. And everywhere there were notices encouraging visitors to donate to the building fund. The same temple had many shops around the complex selling items of worship or perhaps more accurately, souvenirs. It seemed obvious to me that this was a huge money-making concern. Some of these buildings were being used at times for teaching dhamma but I suspect most served very little practical purpose.

When I was in China I found that many old temples had been beautifully restored and they charged admission to tourists. Chinese people were queueing to get into such temples. And yet when I wandered into another temple there was no entry fee. There were no tourists there but many people were busy actually doing things that might be considered as practicing dhamma. I felt a much warmer atmosphere in this temple than those being used as a tourist attraction.

In another temple in another Chinese city I noticed there were many monks and nuns entering a pagoda meeting hall. I struck up a conversation with a monk who could speak English. He told me there was a conference to discuss the problem of commercialisation of Buddhism. Apparently what was happening was that businessmen would invest money for the restoration of an old temple and later they would get a cut from the entry fees paid by tourists.

Another supposedly merit making process involves the release of captive wildlife. There will be a market outside a temple. A vendor will sell you a cage full of birds which you then liberate. You feel good because you've freed the birds. But unless there was a market created by this practice the birds would not be captive in the first place.

Many markets also sell tortoises for 'liberation'. The tortoises already had their freedom in the wild but someone caught them so they could then sell them in the market for releasing, hopefully back into the wild. This process gets even more crazy.
The large temple complex I mentioned above has a 'tortoise liberation pond'. People bring the tortoises to the temple and they think they will make merit by 'liberating' the tortoises into this extremely overcrowded pond from which they have no escape. If only someone would liberate the thousands of tortoises from the liberation pond.

It's not all like that though. In one temple I bought some home-made cookies. As the woman took my money she said that the money raised from the sale of cookies supported the orphanage. I'd much rather contribute to an orphanage than a building fund.

If you've been reading this blog for some time you'll know that in the past I've done volunteer work for Tzu Chi. This organisation encourages supporters to make merit by donating to their charity work that really does help people in need in what I'd like to believe is the true spirit of Buddhism.

I'd like to end today by paraphrasing Buddhadassa who said that the Buddha said that a glimmer of mindfulness makes more merit than to feed the entire sangha and the Buddha himself.

Labels: Asia, Buddhadasa, Buddhism, Malaysia, religion, thailand

I wrote a review of Tune Hotel in Kuala Lumpur some time back. Have returned there recently as I stopped over in KL on my way to and from India. I think an update is appropriate.

They now have a safe in the rooms, big enough to hold a laptop and more. I had some difficulty reading the instructions which are printed on the door. The positioning of the safe on the floor means that one needs to get down on the floor to read it and if your eyesight is not great for reading, the small type size is not going to help. On the first of my recent visits I only stayed one night and gave up trying to figure it out. On the second visit I stayed two nights and ended up asking the front office staff for instructions. It's easy when you know how: just enter a pin number of your choice followed by the hash key and the door locks. Repeat the same pin and hash and the door opens again. Just don't forget your pin.

If you want air-con at Tune it's an optional extra. I'm not big on air-con. I prefer to live without it. As regular readers of this blog know, a little heat doesn't bother me. In my room in Bangkok I would turn on the air-con when I came in on a hot day and leave it on for about ten minutes. That was enough to bring the room to a temperature that suited me. On a really hot day I would turn it on again no more than once an hour for about five minutes.

At Tune you pay in advance for five or twelve hours of air-con. This is registered electronically on your keycard. On the first of my recent visits I probably used about half of my five hours. When I checked out I asked if the balance could be credited for my next visit. They said 'no'.

On the second visit I once again took five hours. I used my usual method of conserving electricity. In fact the weather wasn't hot. I arrived during the evening. I went out for breakfast and a walk the next morning. When I returned the air-con was not working. I figured I'd used less than an hour of my five. I went to the counter and a staff member, ever-polite, came to check it for me. He had an electronic card that he said could check to see if there should be any balance in my account. The card showed I had none.

Now there are two possibilities, either I made a mistake or the card did. If I made a mistake I am a long way out. I reckon I'd used less than one hour. You figure it—five minutes maybe five times, even if you double it, that's less than an hour. But five??? I suggested the technology was faulty but he politely told me it is never faulty and if I want more air-con I'd have to pay for it. Well, I'm afraid I don't believe in paying for something twice. I declined.

Watch this space. Next time I go to KL I'll be reviewing another budget hotel.

Labels: Asia, hotel, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, travel

I sometimes wonder where fear comes from.

If you've ever looked at my flickr pages you may have noticed that I enjoy having my photo taken handling snakes. Yes, I'm showing off but the only reason it gets attention is that others find snakes—maybe reptiles in general, maybe spiders too—scary. Why? I have a feeling that this fear is learned. My siblings are not quite so comfortable as I am with reptiles so I wonder why I didn't pick up this fear.

One of the good things about my childhood was the environment we grew up in. Our home was on a half-acre block. Most of the houses around us were on similar blocks and on one side were several acres of bush. And it was crawling with reptiles—many species of lizards and quite a few snakes. We were warned to keep clear of the snakes as they could be poisonous—and some were. If Dad ever caught a snake it was killed.

Bearded dragons were extremely common and still are in Brisbane backyards. I realise that in some countries now they keep them as pets. If they are handled regularly from birth they become tame but ours were wild. They grow to about 60 cm long. When they are babies it is OK to pick them up by the body but the big guys will bite. There is a trick. You have to get their feet off the ground quickly. When they see you they puff their 'beard' out to try to scare you but it is mostly bluff. If you grab them by the end of the tail and quickly get their feet off the ground they are almost helpless. They try to reach you but they can't if you hold them at arm's length.

That was the technique I used as a kid. Bear in mind that this lizard might be 2/3 as long as I was tall at that time. My macho brothers were not brave enough to do this. But once I got one off the ground they were happy to take it from me. One day one of my brothers had one that I'd picked up. I'd asked for it back but he wasn't returning it. I reached out to take it from him. The lizard reared up and bit my thumb. I lost some of my enthusiasm for picking them up after that.

Snakes were another matter. I accepted what my parents said but I was probably also reading and learning for myself. Carpet snakes—Australian pythons—were relatively common. I knew they were almost harmless, at least not poisonous, and they were easy to identify by their strong pattern and their size. The bush next to our yard ran down to the Brisbane River and there was a boat shed on the river bank. One day there was a lot of excitement because one of my younger brothers had found a carpet snake hibernating in the rafters of the shed. My two younger brothers were with some friends. They managed to force the snake down with a stick, held it with a forked stick and one of them was returning home victoriously with it across his shoulders. One hand was holding its neck tight the other hand its tail. As I said, the snake was hibernating, but now it started to wake up. As I came on the scene it was starting to wrap itself around his neck and he was calling, 'Get it off! Get it off!' So I helped him to carry it up to our house where they made a pen for it from some pieces of old iron roofing. Many of my brothers' friends would come around to see this snake which was about two metres long. Even though the snake was hibernating and was not going to attack anyone they had a ritual to go through whenever they handled it. First its neck was pinned by the forked stick and only then would one of them grab it behind the head tightly and boldly lift it out of the pen. One day there was quite a crowd there and I was watching this procedure. I could see that the snake was too sleepy to attack anyone. I calmly reached over the side of the pen, picked the snake up and dropped it into the middle of the crowd of kids. They sure ran fast until one of my brothers came back with the forked stick. I just stood there and laughed.

Through my life I've treated snakes based on the following knowledge. A snake will usually only attack you for one of two reasons: 1). It is planning to eat you; or 2). It thinks you might attack it. When you consider this, you realise that at most times we have very little to fear from snakes. Most Australian snakes are too small to consider eating a grown human. However you have to be careful not to put a snake into situation number 2. They will attack to protect themselves. But generally, they will be trying to get away from you faster than you from them. There are exceptions, some species like the Australian taipan are both aggressive and poisonous but they do not live in the area where we lived so they were not an issue for me.

A little north of Sydney at Gosford there is a reptile park that was started by a man named Eric Worrell. When I visited they had a pit which was about 3 x 5 metres. It was literally crawling with tiger snakes. Tigers are one of the world's deadliest snakes. There were so many of them in the pit that if you were brave enough to get in with them you would have had difficulty finding somewhere to put your feet. While we were looking over the wall, Eric Worrell jumped over, into the pit and walked among the tiger snakes. One by one he picked them up and in front of the small crowd that had gathered milked them for venom.

On one of my early visits to Thailand a storytelling camp was held in Mahasarakham. After the camp was over, I was staying one more night at the campsite and some of the students had stayed back to keep me company. We were chatting in a circle when someone came from outside and said, 'There's a snake over there.' I immediately got up and started heading towards my room. 'Where are you going?' I was asked.

'To get my camera.' I came back with the camera and started walking towards the snake.

'Where are you going?' they asked again.

'To take a photo of the snake.'

'No! No! No! It might bight you.'

'That's OK. I won't get close enough.'

'Don't go any closer. You don't know anything about Thai snakes. It could be a cobra.' I was perhaps about 5 metres from it. I stopped. They were right. I didn't know anything about Thai snakes. It might be a cobra.

I followed the advice and took the photos from that distance. This was my old Kodak camera. It doesn't have the zoom I have on my fz20. With the fz20 I wouldn't have needed to get any closer but it wasn't invented at that time. Still I got this photo. I've cropped a lot of background here.





A few days later I was in Bangkok and I paid a visit to the Snake Farm. They had a show which included cobras. The handlers were working very close to the cobras. After the show I asked a few questions. I showed them my picture, told the story and asked if they could identify the snake. He did and said it was harmless. I asked how close it was safe to get to an unidentified Thai snake. He said one or two metres. 'What if it was a cobra?' I asked.

'One or two metres,' he replied.






After that they allowed me to hold one of their Burmese pythons and my friend took a few photos.

When I was in Kuala Lumpur not so long ago my friend, Shuenhuey, took me to Batu Caves. At the entrance to the caves there was a guy with a large python that for a small fee you could handle and take photos. I gave Shuenhuey my camera while I held the python. I wanted to get some photos that I could use to show off to my grandchildren. We got a few good photos and went into the cave.

On the way out Shuenhuey said she was thinking about getting her photo taken with the snake. I was impressed. For me this is no big deal but she had grown up with the same fear of reptiles that most people have. Seeing how casually I had handled it she had decided that perhaps she could face her fears. I encouraged her and as you can see, she did it. (But check out the kid in the background.)

People have all sorts of mistaken beliefs about reptiles. How many people, for example, think that snakes are 'slimy'? They're not. Sadly we also often take on beliefs about other people who we've never met. Just as we do with snakes and lizards we think that people of this race or religion are all .... You fill in the gap. Me, I do my best to travel to exotic countries, meet people and find out first-hand what they are like. Just as I do with reptiles.

Labels: Asia, Australia, DC265, fear, fz20, KL, Kodak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, reptile, snake, trust

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday and will be here for a little over a week. I've been catching up with friends, trying out a different hotel, doing a lot of walking and learning to find my way around different parts of the city. But the main purpose of my visit has been to apply for my new visa to Thailand. Before I came here I looked up the embassy's web site, google maps and a few other sites to see if I could pinpoint exactly where it is. I got a rough idea but not a lot of detail. I've since found the embassy and successfully applied for my visa. There were many people at the embassy. I wonder how many had difficulty finding it. For the sake of other travellers I'm giving my directions here. Hopefully google will bring you here if that's what you're looking for.

The embassy is in Jalan Ampang. If you are new to Malaysia, 'jalan' is the Malay word for street or road. The best way to get there is to take a train on the Putra line. Get off at Ampang Park station which is right below Jalan Ampang. When you surface in Jalan Ampang look around for the Petronas Twin Towers. Walk down Jalan Ampang away from the Twin Towers. You will soon come to a major intersection with Jalan Tun Razak. Cross over and keep walking along Jalan Ampang. You will find the Thai Embassy on the left-hand side, perhaps a five minute walk from the station.

When you get inside the gate you will be given a form to fill out. You can do that at the tables they have in the open area before proceeding inside. When you get inside you are required to take a number and wait until it is called. When you submit your application you have to pay the fee and you must have the correct amount. They don't give change! Mine cost RM220. Yours may be different but I suggest you have a few RM10 notes so that you are not delayed while you try to find change.

Good luck.

Labels: Asia, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, thailand, travel

When I was in Malaysia one of my Chinese Malaysian friends warned me about two things in China, disgusting toilets and spitting. I had to say at the time that Malaysia had the worst record on both counts in my experience. To be fair, on my last visit to Malaysia perhaps the situation had improved.

So how does China rate? I can only speak of my own experience. In Nanning, Wuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen I found the overall standard of toilets to be good. They were generally both free and clean. I occasionally found something objectionable but this seemed to be an exception. It may be different in the countryside. Travelling between cities the bus would occasionally pull in for a toilet stop. While I didn’t encounter anything as bad as the worst in Malaysia I did consider these toilets to be below an acceptable standard and perhaps a little uncivilized.

As for spitting, in Nanning, Wuzhou, Guanzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai I did not encounter this practice more commonly than in Malaysia. I understand the Chinese government has had a campaign to eradicate spitting since the scares of SARS and bird flu. It seems to be reasonably successful in these cities. Xiamen was the exception. Generally it was more common there. The worst example was the driver of a bus I caught one night. I had the misfortune to sit close to the front of the bus. The driver sounded like he had the flu. I would hate to think that I had the responsibility for the lives of all those passengers if I felt as bad as he sounded. He was constantly clearing his throat in a very noisy manner. Every half-minute or so he would stick his head out the window and noisily dispose of whatever he had collected. I’m glad I wasn’t driving a car, or worse still a motorcycle, alongside.

So Yilan, if you get the opportunity to visit China again, hopefully you will find it more pleasant than before. Just be careful if you go to Xiamen.

Labels: Asia, China, Hangzhou, Malaysia, Nanning, Shanghai, travel, Xiamen

The picture shows Sungai Klang (Klang River) at its normal level. At times I would look at it and wonder about the depth of the banks. I estimate there's about four or five metres between the water level here and the bridge. With the added width above the current water line the banks should be able to contain quite a large amount of water.

This is the rainy season. The rain usually falls in the evening. The river is quite close to where I'm staying in KL but until last Sunday I hadn't been near the river at night. Sunday I spent the day with a friend exploring some interesting areas out of town. It started raining before I returned. It was still pouring down at the time I reached Pasar Seni station. You can see it in the top left of the picture. From the platform I looked down to the river and the water was lapping the bridge. I was told that one hour of heavy rain is all it needs for the rain to come up like this. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the flooded river, it was too dark.

Labels: Asia, flood, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I've always admired people who can photograph butterflies and wonder what the secret is. Butterflies don't often stay still and no matter what I try I rarely get a good shot of one.

Not far from the bird park in Kuala Lumpur is the Butterfly Park. The setup is similar. The whole area is covered in mesh and the butterflies fly free. It costs RM15 for a person to get in and RM1 for a still camera. Video cameras are a little extra. I decided to spend a few hours there and see what I could do.

Spending time in the park is quite pleasant because the environment they have created for the butterflies is a very attractive one for humans too. It's also environmentally friendly. They have to control pests by biological methods so they don't kill the butterflies.





And how did I go with the photos? At first there were quite a few blurred ones. I reminded myself that I had all day if I wanted and there were thousands of butterflies. So I took my time, tried a few different settings and soon I was taking photos like this one.






While I'm a long way from being an expert, I think I have discovered the secret: patience and a plentiful supply of butterflies. A good camera also helps. If you'd like to see more of my butterfly photos, I'll be uploading them to my flickr page in due course. Hang in there; I've been taking a lot of photos lately.

If you are in KL and decide to go to the Butterfly Park you'll get better shots, of the stationary butterflies at least, with a tripod but don't bother, they won't let you bring it in. I don't know why. I forgot to pack mine so it wasn't a problem.

PS: to see a larger version of these pics, click on them.

Labels: Asia, butterfly, camera, flickr, fz20, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Lumix, Malaysia, Panasonic, photography

Recently I visited the KL Bird Park which is promoted as the 'world's largest walk-in free-flight aviary'. I guess I bought what that says and expected all the birds to be flying free so I put down my RM30. I figured it was well worth that even though Malaysians pay around half the foreigners' rate. With the long zoom on my camera I should be able to get some pretty decent shots. I figured I'd be happy.



When I got inside I discovered that probably half, or perhaps more, of the birds are in cages. I realize there are huge logistical problems with having all the birds flying free but that's what the promotion material suggests and it didn't live up to the expectations.



After I'd spent a couple of hours there—it really is big—and worked hard to get a few good shots despite the wires, I discovered that for RM5 more I could take pictures of myself with a tame bird or two. I declined. Considering the promotion I figure it is a bit rich to expect you to pay more for what you expected to get included in the entry price.

Having got that off my chest, I must say that the park is quite well run and has a good range of birds. It is a pity that more Malaysians don't take advantage of what is a very good price (to them) for such a facility. I visited during school holidays but it wasn't crowded and I think the vast majority of visitors were foreigners.

I managed to take quite a few shots. The pick of them will soon be showing on my main photo page (see sidebar).

Labels: "Bird Park", "Kuala Lumpur" KL, Asia, fz20, Malaysia, photography

On Saturday Tzu Chi held its annual Charity Fair. I was asked if I'd like to lend a hand. I agreed and was given the job of collecting garbage. They didn't call it that, they said 'recycling'. And that is what they actually do. The garbage collectors—sorry recyclers—wander around with trolleys. In each trolley are several large heavy-duty garbage bags and any garbage they collect is sorted; paper in one, cans in another, glass in yet another and so on. It seemed my life at Tzu Chi had gone full cycle. When I first offered to volunteer three years ago they asked me to come one evening a week to sort paper for recycling.

Friday afternoon one of the photographers asked if I was coming to the fair. 'Yes', I told her. 'I'm going to be a gar...sorry, recycler.'

'What! Are you sure? Why? Can't you help us? We need an extra photographer.'

'I don't mind. But you'll have to square it up with the recycling people.'

It was arranged. I became a photographer for a day. A bonus was that I didn't have to arrive until 8.30 am. The recyclers were starting at 7.30.

At 8.30 I turned up with my fz20, loaded with a 1 GB memory card, a spare battery and the battery charger. I even wore the Tzu Chi volunteers' uniform (for the second time). When I got there I put the spare battery in the charger while I went off to shoot. My main focus was to get as many shots as possible of busy volunteers. They were good subjects, most of them simply stayed busy which is what was wanted. The odd one would turn and give me a nice smile. Nice for me but not what Tzu Chi wanted.



After a couple of hours the battery was flat. The card wasn't full but I took the lot in and while the photos were downloaded from the card I swapped batteries and then back out to capture more volunteers.












Tzu Chi sure gets a lot of support. I was thinking of how a press photographer would cover such an event. S/he would spend probably half an hour there, take the necessary photos and be off to the next assignment. They have to make each shot a good one. They won't have time to return for another go. On the other hand we had six or more of us, each staying the whole day. I estimate I took between 600 and 1,000 shots. Multiply that by six. I trust Tzu Chi should have one or two good shots out of that lot for their website and monthly journal.

There was a big crowd there. I think it could be said that the fair was a great success. I did have a secondary job to do but that is perhaps interesting enough that I'll save it for another blog.

It was a hot day and by time I'd downloaded the third lot of photos I was worn out. I only kept the ones from the third battery charge. I haven't had time to process many yet. The photos you see here are just the start. Like to see more? Take a look at my flickr page (see sidebar) in a few days.

Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, Panasonic, photography, Tzu Chi

I had been living in my present home in suburban Melaka for about three weeks or more before someone told me there was a night market every Thursday just a few blocks away. I enjoy markets, not that I have a great urge to spend money. I just like the environment of traditional markets. My friends took me to the market that week but I didn't take my camera. I enjoy candid photography and markets create good opportunities to indulge this hobby. It was about two weeks later before I had a chance to return to the market with my Panasonic fz20.

The fz20 is not a small camera. It's a bit hard to hold it up to my face to frame a shot and not be noticed. People either smile, stick their hand up in one gesture or another or run away. The picture on the left will help you see my set up for candid photography. The tripod is fixed to the camera but compacted. It is only there to give me something to hold to keep the camera steady. The camera sits hanging from my neck. The remote shutter button is inserted and the cord for this goes around my back. In this picture I am releasing the shutter with my left hand while I sit looking in the mirror. After a while I get used to taking shots like this and can get a pretty good idea what I'm taking. BTW, I don't usually look directly at my subject. I look to the side of them and frame the picture in my peripheral vision. If I am concerned about shutter noise I either turn that down or off. I want nothing to suggest to people that I am taking photos of them. And of course using a digital camera means I can take as many photos as I want and discard the duds. Surprisingly most of them are quite good. I don't worry too much about settings. I leave the camera in auto mode and let it take care of that.





This was one of the early shots. It was late in the afternoon but there was still plenty of light so the photo is quite sharp. Do you think the girl and the guy in the helmet are on to me? Or are they just staring vaguely while they wait to be served?






The market does attract its share of beggars. This young woman is not one of them. She is blind and is selling small packets of tissues.






I'm not sure if she was onto me but this girl seemed to be trying to figure out what I was doing. Then again, I was probably the only foreigner at the market. She probably didn't realise that while I appeared to be staring at a stall on the other side of the road I was actually taking a photo of her.






The woman on the right is making vegetarian popiah (spring rolls) and there's a queue. I came back later and got a couple for my dinner.









By now it's quite dark so the image is a little blurred but I love the blue colouring in the sky.





This girl is making some kind of coconut confectionary, she inserts the mixture in bamboo tubes and her mother cooks it. It must be good because there's quite a crowd waiting, so much so that I can't get a shot with my usual process. This is the only shot that night for which I held the camera in my hands. I had to, to get it over the shoulders of the people in front of me. But I still didn't use the flash. The EXIF data tells me the exposure was 1/4 second. Between the anti-shake in the fz20 and my steady hands, I was still able to get a reasonable shot.




For this one the camera is back in the dangling position but this stall is so well lit that the camera can get a sharp shot with a 1/10 sec exposure.

You can see these photos a little larger by clicking on them. If you'd like to see one or two more from this night, take a look at my photo page (see sidebar).

Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, market, Melaka, Panasonic, photography

At my guest house I got talking to Sarnta who is from Lithuania. She has a friend, another traveller, who is Norwegian. As far as I can remember, this is the story that the Norwegian woman told to Sarnta.

She met some people in KL and was given the story of a daughter visiting Norway and could she come and reassure the mother that the daughter would be safe there. She went.

After she had reassured the mother, she was given a nice dinner and was introduced to the father. He works in a casino dealing cards. He asked the Norwegian if she would like him to teach her how to cheat at cards. She said she wasn't interested as she never played cards. 'No, it's OK. Just for fun.' he said. So she goes along with it. Next he says that there was a man coming who is from Brunei. He had had a big win at the casino and now they wanted to win the money back. 'Would you like to join in, just for fun. You don't have to put up any money.' Once again, she goes along with it. She's not putting up any money. She has nothing to lose.

The man from Brunei is apparently very rich, is very well dressed and wearing expensive jewellery. They start to play. He starts to loose and she starts to win. At one stage there is about $US50,000 sitting on the table. Most of it would be hers except she didn't put any money up in the first place. The man from Brunei needs to leave but he is returning in an hour. After he goes they put it to her -- if she can go to the ATM and draw out $7,000 and put it into the game, she can keep half the winnings from the next round. She stands to win quite a lot of money. She tells them that there is no way she has $7,000 in her bank account and asks to be excused. They take her back to where they picked her up and she is safe.

This scam is not particularly Malaysian. I know a man who had a similar experience in Bangkok. His drink was drugged. He lost a considerable sum of money.

After a friend read my earlier post he pointed to a story that his brother wrote after a visit to Bali. It's a good read -- maybe required reading for all travellers. You will find it at http://www.geocities.com/joekarnt/ . From that page click on the 'Joe in Bali' link and from the drop-down menu 'Death story'.

Labels: Asia, Malaysia, ripoff, scam, travel

The unofficial name of the street I'm currently living in is Harmony Street. In this street there are quite a range of temples: Taoist, Hindu, Moslem and Buddhist and also a Methodist church. The mosque broadcasts prayers over the PA several times every day. Apparently these times are negotiated with the other temples so there isn't a clash. Hence the name.

The official names in the street change for every block and relate to the shops that traditionally filled the street. One block is Jalan Tukang Emas -- Goldsmith Street. Our part of the street is known as Jalan Tukang Besi -- Blacksmith Street. I'm told there was a time when the shop-houses in the block housed mostly blacksmiths. When I first visited Melaka in 2004 there were only two left. They were still active and could be seen working every day.

Two days ago the second-last blacksmith died. Apparently he was only in his late fifties. Blacksmiths' lungs are perhaps not in good condition with all the coal vapours they breathe. The only surviving blacksmith in Jalan Tuking Besi, I'm told, is over sixty. Each of these guys was the last in his line. Their sons have followed other careers.

I wonder how long until Blacksmith Street is only a name.

Labels: blacksmith, Chinatown, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka

I have been to the movies a few times since I’ve been here in KL. I find that if I go in the morning I get the theatre almost to myself. I’ve seen ‘Water’ a very powerful Indian movie that I highly recommend and I saw ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. When I was involved with children’s literature, Katherine Paterson was one of my favourite writers. It is good to see that one of her most popular books has been made into a film and one that I find completely satisfying. Don’t worry that it’s a kid’s story; see it anyway.

One of my friends here in KL asked if I’d seen any Malaysian movies. I hadn’t because they all appear to be rather weird horror stories. Not my cup of tea. My friend recommended ‘Mukhsin’. I was assured it would have English subtitles so the day after I wrote my previous blog I went off to the cinema to see it.

This time there were about 30 people in the theatre. I’d say about 90% of them were women and all but one of them were wearing headscarves. I found myself sitting next to a middle-aged woman who was sitting next to a younger woman, perhaps her daughter. After I’d made myself comfortable the woman turned to me and commented that she was surprised to see a westerner watching a Malaysian movie. I told her that it had been recommended by a friend. We chatted for a while pleasantly. She didn’t have a daughter visiting Australia and I didn’t get an invitation to meet anyone or play cards. I am pleased to acknowledge that not all women in Malaysia are like the ones I wrote about in that previous blog.

The movie was not particularly sophisticated. It told a simple story of a friendship between a boy and girl, just old enough to show some tentative interest in the opposite sex; not all that different a story to the one in ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. Perhaps the acting and the storytelling was not up to what we in the west expect, however it was quite charming and at the end I felt satisfied.

I’m told this is the third film written and directed by Yasmin Ahmad and apparently the others are in some way linked. I look forward to seeing them if I get the opportunity.

Labels: Malaysia, movie, Mukhsin, scam

This is my third visit to Malaysia. Altogether I've spent about seven months or so here. I've had ample time to observe the way Malaysians behave differently from people in other South-east Asian countries. One example is that Malaysian women do not initiate conversation with strange men.

In Thailand or Cambodia if I happen to find myself sitting on a bus next to a woman I've never met before, it is quite common for a conversation to ensue. In Malaysia, even men don't usually chat under these circumstances.

It is therefore memorable when one, two or three women initiate a conversation. This has now happened to me three times, always in KL. And three times, after some friendly chit-chat, a story was told of a sister visiting my country and of a mother worried about her safety and would I mind meeting the mother and reassuring her that the sister is safe.

I'm aware that this is a scam. It's documented in the Lonely Planet guidebook. I'm aware that, should I try to help, I'll probably be invited to join in a friendly card game, be given a spiked drink and end up losing a considerable sum of money. Obviously, I don't take up the offer.

The fact that this has now happened to me three times in a total of no more than two weeks in KL suggests a number of things: this practice must be happening fairly regularly and it must often be successful; otherwise why would it continue?

This can't be giving Malaysian tourism a very positive image.

The question I have to ask is: why haven't the police stamped out this scam? I assume it's illegal or believe it should be. And if I can find these women so easily (or they me) why can't the Malaysian police?

Labels: Malaysia, ripoff, scam, travel