Country road

I went on a recent holiday to the small towns of northern Kedah and Perak in Malaysia. We went through Baling, Pengkalan Hulu, Ulu Legong, Klian Intan, Gerik and Sik. And who would’ve thought there were:

Cottons trees and autumn leaves on the way to Gerik
Sunset over Baling
A vineyard by the lake
Midnight hot springs in Ulu Legong
One star chalets
Cows crossing the highway
A brown Malaysian horse
Wild elephants at night
Mountains over rice plantations
Bridges over dams

rakit at orang asli settlement

the road to sik

cotton trees

cotton seed in my hand

boat ride over tasik temenggor

 

The Arab and his Chinese girlfriend

Once upon a time, there was an Arab who had a Chinese girlfriend. The Arab was dark, short and stubby, while the Chinese girl was tall, fair and skinny.

The Arab had flown all the way to England to visit the Chinese girl, who was living and working in London.
Everyday, the Arab would wait patiently for her. He walked her to work, and waited until she finished before they had dinner together. Then, he takes her shopping.

They go to Marks & Spencer, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and all the wonderful places to go shopping in London.

One day, the Arab says, “Let’s go to Louis Vuitton.”

“Alright,” says the Chinese girl.

As they enter the store, the suited salesman greets them with enthusiasm. “Oh good evening, my Sheikh. How may I help you and your lovely wife?”

The Arab and his Chinese girlfriend look at each other. “We are looking for a special gift,” the Arab pretends.

“Ah yes, my Sheikh. This here is our latest wallet. It costs £5,000,” the salesman says. “But if it does not suit you, my Sheikh, we have one here that is £50,000,” he adds.

The Arab purses his lips. The Chinese girl holds onto his arm, pretending to be interested. “We’ll consider,” he replies.

Ten minutes later they exit Louis Vuitton in silence. They looked into each others’ eyes, and then at the colour of their skin, intertwined in their arms locked together.

The Arab is in fact a Hispanic boy who grew up on a cocoa farm in El Salvador; the Chinese girl, a daughter of the Straits of Malacca.

The Arab is now married to the Chinese girl, and they will live happily ever after in America – the land of freedom and opportunity.

 

I like doing Kids’ Work

I like doing Kids’ Work in church on Sunday because:
1. Children are so funny
2. Children are so smart
3. Children are so cute
4. I get to eat Koko Krunch
5. I get to eat Rainbow Pocky
6. I get Gummi Bears without having to recite the books of the Bible

 

Manchester living

You don’t know how much you love a place until you’ve left. Living vicariously in Manchester through a friend’s mobile photos: brown and green, definitely the colours that go. Photos by Shona Greenhill.

Manchester town hall

Grafitti on Dawson’s store

Reflection along the canal

Arndale wall

Bridge along Castlefield

 

Fragments of events from the past

Alone in Rome. Staying at Ciak Hostel on viale Manzoni. Eating dinner with a group of strangers. That quiet night walking alone to the Colosseum and back. Watching the 2,000-year-old edifice in the strange yellow light of the night. Popping in for a gelato, coffee and nut flavour. Giving my map away to random strangers. Packing my bags silently in the corner of the 6-bed room. Thinking about how quiet Benevento was in comparison to Rome. Meeting an Israeli man during breakfast in the morning and showing him my Malaysian passport. Bidding him farewell and heading to Leonardo da Vinci Airport.

Watching Amelia on Star World. Alone in the dead heat at 4pm at home in Sungai Ara. Drinking black sugar tau chui from Genting in Island Glades. Sprawled on the couch, all alone in the hot quiet afternoon, while everyone napped away upstaits.

Lying on the beach in Parkroyal. Staring at the stars in the sky. Listening to the soft lapping waves. Thinking about my future and my Dad. Wearing the dark blue denim skirt. Listening to my grandparents. Taking advice from my step-grandmother. Trying hard not to think about the mosquitoes. I was 14.

Discussing movies in the car. Never on the way out from the theatre, along the corridor to the lift nor during the journey in the lift. But always in the car, the questions would begin. Why did the bad guy kill the other guy? What did the bad guy say to the guy in blue? I didn’t like the woman at all! Dad had all the answers. He was one of those people who “got” movies, while my sister and I struggled between listening to the English dialogue and reading the Malay subtitles.

 

Soundtrack to my youth

I have stopped listening to a lot of music since 2006. But a recent trip back to Penang saw me going through my 200-odd CD collection. Here’s a few that I’m revisiting:

Air ‘Walkie Talkie’. Mostly because I wanted to hear Alone in Kyoto after watching Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation again this year. In fact, I started to love Air after watching her film The Virgin Suicides. They have been one of my favourite bands ever since.

Smashing Pumpkins ‘Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness’. Mellon Collie was the album that defined my youth around the ages of 12-14. It reminds me of the school holidays in December 1999, where for two weeks I sat on the living room marble floor finishing a 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Luna Sea ‘Mother’. The only Japanese band to feature in my collection, Luna Sea was introduced to me on MTV Asia’s J-Rock hour, where I instantly fell in love with the image of Asian emo glam rockers. However, it is their album SHINE which I now much prefer.

Kula Shaker ‘K’. Kula Shaker are the hippies of all hippies, what with their hit single Govinda and Buddha-inspired album covers. Sadly to say, I never took to liking their other albums, although I did get a chance to see them live in Manchester’s Academy 3 back in 2007 and it was a dream come true.

Massive Attack ‘Mezzanine’. No one can deny Massive Attack, and Mezzanine is the album that shaped much of Bristol trip-hop and my time in Britain. Dark, sinister and brooding, I tread carefully listening to this again, because you can just hear all the drugs in their music.

Sunk Loto ‘Between Birth and Death’. It took me many years to realise that Sunk Loto is a heavy metal band. And heavy they are, despite my inability to see through that, as I mostly fell in love with the good-looking Jason Brown and their painful romantic lyrics.

 

Kids say the darndest things

Kids really do say the darndest things. I’m hanging out with a lot of children these days, and actually, I was one of those kids who said the darndest things.

• Literal. Sis: What is a chicken’s offspring called? Me: Chicken baby!
• Leadership. Chak la! Mang kia ti hi peng gong gong [Block the ball! Don’t stand there like an idiot].
• Logic. Dad, why is he still alive? I thought he died in the movie we saw last week.
• Racism. Julia Roberts is a prostitute [in Pretty Woman]? I thought all prostitutes were Indians!

 

Tiger, tiger

Tigers are widely used in branding and popular culture. I have spotted a few myself and would like to ask, who’s your favourite tiger?

a) Tiger Airways
b) Tiger Balm
c) Tiger Beer
d) Tony the Tiger
e) Tigger
f) Shere Khan
g) ESSO Tiger
h) Tiger Woods