I'm Home!!!!!

Here I am---it's 10:30pm, Schnuffy is curled up on the chair next to me, Kiwi is across the table studying for his GMAT test which he takes tomorrow, and I am so delighted to be home. If only Mr. Barker were here, everything would be perfect. Alas, though, Ian is in Argentina and will not return until Sunday.

The trip ended well. The Saturday before we left I went on the day trip out to Malacca and it really changed my opinion about Malaysia. I didn't really like Kuala Lumpur--the Petronas Towers are spectacular but in general, the city had a vaguely sinister feel to them and I never felt completely comfortable there. Malacca on the other hand was really interesting and pretty. I was thinking that it was going to be more of a town, but at 500,000+ residents, it really is much more of a city. That being said, though, it still feels small--it doesn't have skyscrapers or a financial district and it does have a lot of history.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to see everything but we got to see the church where St. Francis of Asissi was buried (before they carted his body off to Goa), graves dating back to the spice trades, and its old city center which is very colorful and vibrant. The old part of town is served by bicycle taxis which are decorated with bright and elborate flower arrangements. It is beautiful and charming to see a whole row of these lined up.

That evening we took another trip out to Kuala Selangor out near the coast and there we saw the most delightful silver leaf monkeys! They are smallish monkeys named for their black/silver fur and leaf-eating, vegetarian tendencies. We brought fresh beans to give them and clearly this is a favorite for them because they swarmed us. I'll admit that sometimes animals that get a little too eager can kind of unsettle me but these guys just seemed playful and fun. I really liked them--they would come up to you and put their hand on your arm and try to take the beans right out of your hand.


After the monkeys, we went to dinner at a really local place on the river and had a perfect view to watch the sunset. Since they are so close to the equator, the days are pretty much split into 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night--and it doesn't seem like twilight lingers and sunrises and sunsets are pretty short. The restaurant was great--very come-as-you-are and no frills in regards to the decor but the location was beautiful and the food was delicious.



After dinner, our last stop was the fireflies which swarm the river and light up the bushes and trees surrounding the water. It was so peaceful to be floating along the river in silence watching the fireflies twinkle, and it struck me as amazing that we were all so amazed by it. When you consider that the effect was not unlike a Christmas tree twinkling with lights, and we just take that for granted, then why would we be so capitvated by this. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that we all were captivated.

Oh my goodness, it's hot!

The heat and humidity here is amazing! And unlike Singapore where I was freezing cold from the cranked up AC more than I was warm from the outside temp, here they believe in keeping the AC more reasonable. That part is actually nice---I'm sitting here in my hotel room quite comfortable in a tank top despite the fact that I have the AC turn up to high. In Singapore, I turned my AC down as low as possible and still had to wrap myself up in the duvet while I was working on my computer.

It is hot outside, though. Whoa.



Yesterday, we went to the Batu Caves in between visits and climbed the ~280+ steps to the see the Hindu temple. It was actually quite interesting and my favorite part was that there were tons of macak monkeys just hanging around.


It probably wasn't the best activity to do between meetings since one tends to perspire a bit when climbing ~280+ stairs in 95 degrees and 95% humidity. Oh well, I get off the bus when I'm told and do what I'm told. When we got back down we had a nice refreshing coconut...although to be honest, I didn't find it that refreshing. Rajesh, my classmate was kind enough to let me try some of his, and while the liquid was OK, the pulp was just slimey.


Later in the afternoon we went to the Royal Selangar factory where they make really lovely pewter items. It was a slightly different visit from our others but it was really interesting to learn about how the market has changed, how they market their products, and how they recently developed a new metal.

Tomorrow, I am participating in the trip to Malacca and then to Kuala Selangar. Malacca was once the hub of the spice trade and I am really looking forward to seeing it. Kuala Selangar has more monkeys and swarms of fireflies and should be interesting as well.

I am so looking forward to going home! Everyone is counting down the days now, and none more than me since I have been gone a week longer. The only thing that makes me sad is that Mr. Barker won't be home when I return! Sure, it will be nice to be back in the fuzzy, loving arms of Schnuffy, but what's the fun in being home if Ian isn't there?

It is amazing the difference a 45 minute plane ride makes...

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I just want to start out by saying that despite the negative feelings by most in our group, I actually like KL so far. It is not as clean as Singapore, that is for sure, nor is it as law-abiding. The drivers would just as soon plow you over as swerve or brake for you. It's infrastructure isn't as amazing and, heaven knows that it's sidewalks are an absolute wreck. Add to that, the heat and humidity here makes Singapore seem positively temperate.

All that being said, it is an interesting place and it has great architecture. The Petronis Towers and the surrounding buildings in downtown KL are beautiful.

It is very Muslim. The woman at the bar didn't want to serve me a beer and asked me twice if I was sure I didn't want something else. There is an arrow on the ceiling of my Marriott hotel room pointing out the direction of mecca. The airport has a prayer room. Despite the incredibly heat and humidity, half the women are wearing at least a scarf on around their heads and many are wearing the full garb.

I am looking forward to seeing more of it--but rest assured, I will not be wandering around alone, nor will I be out before light or after dark.

I will add photos tomorrow since I lent my camera download cable to Thad and thus my photos are just sitting on my camera.