Week 11.5: When Fish Attack

Thinking that I'll share pictures in chronological order for this week. Which means we've got a couple of other things to get to before we address the fish issue.

Like Thanksgiving. Which of course, is not a thing here. It looks like this

Unless the Americans here make it a thing. Which fortunately the did. Mad kudos to Matthew Girard-Carrier who spearheaded a gathering at his place of about ~30 people and even provided the chickens for participants to roast in their tiny Malaysian ovens. Which approximated a turkey since there probably aren't any within a thousand miles. I joked with some local co-workers about hunting down a hornbill like we saw in Langkawi(turkey sized) and roasting that - I thought it was clever and funny, they just stared and told me I'd go to jail.

I did experiment with some purple sweet potatoes to share at the gathering. A lot less moisture in these than the orange or white ones I'm used to cooking in the US. This is before they went in the oven.

 As a result I had to go from roasting to blending to then adding a huge wad of butter to make them sufficiently viscous. The end result looked identical to the clay in the game Cranium. And slightly less tasty. Not to be repeated without a better recipe. Fortunately the rest of the food at the friendsgiving was top notch. 

Reflecting upon my favorite holiday - I had anticipated being much more sad than I was about the absence of traditional food, football, and of course the family time. One thing that definitely helped was the fact that it's perpetual summer here - never felt the cozy fall leadup and anticipation. Which I think was a real blessing honestly. 

Speaking of blessings - this girl. And her blue buddy.

We had a good time exploring more of Georgetown this last week. Found another excellent place to eat and some great little art galleries. Here's a little snip of what it looks like on a typical streetcorner. Always popping.

For sure the highlight of the last week was a quick trip we made to Kuala Lumpur. It was a ~4.5 hr bus ride from Penang through mile after mile of palm oil plantations - like corn along the interstate in Nebraska.

We arrived to attend a bi-annual regional church meeting and had enough time for a little sightseeing while we were there - took a taxi to the city center for a little Christmas shopping at the historic central market

While there getting a scoop of coconut ice cream we were reminded that the Eagles music is ubiquitous

Finally, that brings us to the fish. I've never had a pedicure. Never really considered it, mostly because no one wants to see the feet of a 50-something man, so why invest?

But it seemed like a little harmless fun to have a fish treatment, which was pitched as a path to smoother, more supple feet, as the tiny manicurists strip away unsightly dead skin to reveal a radiant new you.

What actually happened was I plunked my feet into the fish pool and experienced the tickliest sensation I've ever known. As in, it was all I could do to keep them in the water. There might have been some not-very-manly uncontrolled giggling. But after about a minute it was manageable. Also embarrassing was the realization that within 30 seconds nearly all the fish in the pool had left other people's feet and come to mine. To feast on whatever I had going on. I found myself apologizing to the others who had paid the same $2 bucks I had paid but were now just getting a soak in some iffy water while I hogged all the fish. 

After our 10 minutes were up I was definitely done. Were my feet more handsome? Debatable. The fish started with a very low bar to clear. The were, however, a little bloody where they grew tired of the dead skin and went after something a little fresher. 

I give the fish pedicure two stars...

Week 10: Speedboats and Sea Snakes

In March of 2022, Jo and I started talking seriously about the opportunity to come to Malaysia - things at work had changed a bit for me, Z&A were approaching full self sufficiency, and we were both looking for the next big thing. Part of what helped us make leap of faith to take the job was the chance to explore an unfamiliar part of the world. This last week (20 months later) we got our first chance outside of Malaysia.

Koh Lipe is a little Thai island about 1.5 miles long by .5 miles wide. Our plan was to use the Deepavali holiday to grab an extended weekend there. We hopped a 30 minute flight to Langkawi (still Malaysia) Thursday afternoon and spent our 1st 24 hours there. The resort was nice, although portions of it looked like they might have had their heyday about 10 years ago. Upon arrival, they offered us each glasses of (I'm not making this up) butterfly pea. My inner 14 year cooked up a solid stream of hilarity that continued until Jo informed me the jokes weren't as funny as I thought they were. Flavor was mild but refreshing.

The wildlife there was next level though. Seriously, the great hornbill I saw on my morning walk was the size of a turkey

This creeper was palm-sized

And this - maybe the greatest 15 seconds of our time on Langkawai where Jo made a friend

A couple more pics here - view of where we stayed

Shrimp boats all lined up for their night fishing

Next day we packed things up for 90 minute ferry ride to Koh Lipe aboard this thing

The ride over was pretty benign, which is good because I'm a complete wreck when it comes to my fear of seasickness. My hate of nausea is more of a disorder. I would rather chop off my pinky than throw up - ever. 

The waters near the island are so shallow / full of coral that the ferry had to park out in the ocean offshore, and longtail boats had to retrieve us and our stuff about 15 people at a time.

At this point its worth talking about the longtails. If you're unfamiliar (I was) its a traditional looking wooden boat, with a really shallow draft. And an aging unmuffled engine powering a prop on a ~20' driveshaft that the captain swings all over the place to go the desired direction

Once we'd all been shuttled to the beach, this very official-looking customs official began reading names to return to us our passports that we previously surrendered on the ferry so we could go thru immigration. Got our passport stamped right there on the sand.

Our three nights on the island we a blast. We stayed in a beachside bungalow with the jungle at our back door. Also at our back door - the outdoor bathroom. Which I totally dug - like camping, but with a flush toilet and a palm tree in the middle of the shower. Joanna - less of a fan, primarily due the the occasional creature and mosquito that shared the moment with her.

Food there was excellent, and left us wondering how Thai food cooked beachside on an isolated island could be better than almost anywhere else we've had it. Most of our meals were acquired on the walking street, the only pavement on the island. Here's a moment where we paused our dinner search under the eaves until things cleared up

Hands down the highlight of the trip was a day-long snorkel tour through the Tarotau national marine park. Our longtail captain took us to 7 islands - I've never seen coral like this in either Mexico or Hawaiian trips - some of the formation were probably 20 feet tall in vibrant colors. Lots of fish, creatures, including this specimen at the bottom center that I shot by plunking my phone into the water. 

I had a suspicion that this particular sea snake was one that I had read about before...googled it when we got back to Penang...waited until just yesterday to share this part with Jo since we saw a couple that day.

Not every beachy picture needs an explanation - I'll wrap this post up with a couple more from paradise. Can't take credit for underwater ones of us - our boat captain used his go-pro to get some action shots while we enjoyed the sea life extravaganza

This is notable only because one of the 9 commandments of this particular island includes "no shooting the fish"

I actually had a rock in my pocket from this island - they were all remarkably smooth and pretty. After reading the curse I decided it wasn't worth bringing some brady-bunch type mishap upon the rest of our idyllic trip

Week 8: Local Interpretation

First thing - a celebration of sorts this week - poor Jo has been under the weather for the majority of our time here fighting, beating, and then re-fighting a respiratory ailment. This week after a fresh round with the local dr she got the meds to finally kick it to the curb. I think there's some element of contribution from the constant air conditioning -> 90 degrees and full humidity -> back to air conditioning repeat cycle. I've noticed my lungs rebelling at times to the confusing environmental swings. 

To celebrate we went out for Japanese. 

There was another cute robot that delivered out edamame. I think she got some video that should end up on her blog that captured the robot's sweet childlike voice singing a song that also functions as a gentle "out of my way or I'll mow you down with your sushi".

It was Halloween here this week, and I got quite a few questions from my local co-workers about how it works back in the US. Did we miss celebrating it, did we get time off, what was our usual costume, etc. I decided not to dress up, although some actually did. The management team was encouraged to have a bucket of candy at our cubicle for individuals to come by and trick or treat at our office. Not a terrible idea for a group with a lot of new hires where relationships are still developing. On the other hand, a little funny for grown ups to do in a professional environment. 

Also, the work cafeteria decided to offer a free American-style lunch entree on the 31st. Again, with a little twist on the interpretation.

Although per the officially signage it's Devil's Eyeball spaghetti, it actuality its a mayonnaise-eye spaghetti, with a melted American cheese mouth. Which to be honest, sounds like a recipe that the Devil might cook up for those unfortunate enough to be sent his way in the afterlife. I did not partake. Hopefully I don't have to after I die either.

Another fun local twist was an all-day off-site training and teambuilding we had with our full factory team. Focus was on building trust. Also required us to sing. And dance. And massage each other with pool noodles. I'm not making this up.

Local team members seemed completely at home with this. The expats, less so. But it was all good fun and the uptight Americans got a little loosened up. Physically and emotionally. 

During out lunch break we went for a walk along the beach. Came across this fine fellow - picture isn't great since I couldn't get to close without him scurrying away. It's a monitor lizard, his body is about the size of a large cat. Not counting the tail that you can't see in this pic.

For final thoughts on local interpretation for this week - I offer ais kacang. Seems like a distant cousin of Hawaiian shave ice - although the exact translation is actually "bean ice"

As shown here, a bed of shave ice and ice cream is augmented with a healthy dollop of beans and green mochi-like jelly squiggles. Before you judge, I'll say its honestly quite good. The beans actually work to add a savory component to the whole thing. When you come to visit I'll be encouraging you to give it a try.