So, I have been here for a week now. Survived. No colds, no coughs, no continual hacking in front of people such that they thought I was going to do that frog thing and throw up a lung to clean it off or something. No, I basically showed up at work, did my thing, kept on doing my thing, and then headed back for the dreary apartment. I don't know how the people that are here on extended stays (1-3 years) handle it. This place is the equivalent of living in the Nisku Industrial Park, with the exception that instead of being all about drilling equipment, it's about high technology. The analogy is actually incredibly close. Like the Nisku Industrial Park, at night, this place is a wasteland. There are no businesses, no restaurants, nothing. There is no life. The nearest place to go is called Putra Jaya, which parallels Leduc amazingly in its level of sophistication and options. With one exception, it actually has a fairly decent mall. If you were to try and hop a bus from Nisku to Edmonton (our KL here), it would take an hour to get to the downtown. Like it does here. The people here are all quite fine. Nice people, great to work with, very professional. But after hours they all seem to disappear in their little cocoons and you never see them on the weekends. I am on the ground floor of these apartments that everyone lives in and so I should be able to catch more of the action because they will congregate at the bottom of the stairs by my place before anything else happens. But nothing appears to really happen. Now, realizing that I am an outsider here, maybe they just move at times I am unaware. But if we assume that they are going to need transportation, the few cars they own aren't moving either. Strange existence this, truly. But I must exercise my ability to go from hither and thither, so this last weekend I arranged to go to the amazing historic town of Malaka (Malacca). It is about a two hour ride south of here heading towards Singapore (roughly). Past Port Dixon for those of you that know your Malaysia landmarks! We made it there by early morning ... oh wait, I had an accomplice on this. Yes, a travelling partner for once. And guess what his name is? It's Warren! Yes, there are two Warren's from Edmonton in KL! Go figure. It's funny though because we are about 4 seats apart at work and whenever anyone says, "Oh Warren ..." then we both bauble our heads like Whac-A-Mole victims looking towards the sound. Un/Fortunately it is usually him that they want. Which puts me free and clear of the danger zone of having to actually say something that might have significance. Always a safer way to go. Anyway ... (my kids noticing that this is also my pet work whisker) back to historic Malacca. Back in the annals of time it seems that Malacca was rather predominant in the hot spots of spice trading. Wilbur Smith has even made many mentions of it in several of his historic African-based novels. So it was with rather piqued interest that we arrived there. One of the major activities to do there, we were told, was to go on a bicycle rickshaw ride through town. We were instructed to get the oldest geezer we could find as the driver and then both of us sit in the rickshaw, thus forcing him to pull, us, himself and the bicycle around the ups and downs of the city streets. That's about 600 pounds I figure he was hauling around. Like pedalling my motorcycle. And boy did he huff! It was worth it, watching the little vein on his forehead throb away as we went up the hills. To be honest we did get out for one hill and let him push the bike up (didn't want to get our white white hands dirty, you know). I am saying this facetiously because Malacca is pretty much flat, the distance he went was probably 1 kilometre and he was pretty darn spry for a guy his age. And we paid him very generously. So after we finished that we decided it was time to find a meal and the Ocean. Headed up towards Port Dixon, turns out ... it sucks! Not much there. A place to put your head if you have the money to afford the place. So-so sandy beaches (100m wide, gritty sand, clumpy). Oh yeah, I am such a jet-setter now that I grade sand. How cool is that! It is cool. It is cool! By the way, the Indian Ocean (technically the Strait of Malacca) is warm. Very warm. Totally non-refreshing, but you can walk right in, no shivers. I figure the temperature was about 30 degrees. Imagine walking in to a 'cool' hot tub, one that had been turned off an hour before. It would still be warmer than that. On Sunday I vegged. I am watching the TV series Scrubs right now, and I think on Sunday I went through 8 episodes, so about 3 hours of TV (22 minutes per episode, remember?). Hung out Next set of pictures will include Anastasia, new Greek family's 4 month old baby. Kim thought she had some pretty cute babies at the orphanage in Mexico. Well here I shall rival her in the 'Awwwwwww' category. You wait. Until then, have a good week!
Suzi's Corner! A fun restaurant, and a bunch of people that I went out with for supper.
A trip in to Suzi's Corner for steak! John, Kaye, Liz, Robert, Warren
Suzi's Corner - Kaye, Mark, Randi, waitress, Barton, Warren, Vicky, Suzi, John's head
Mark and Doug Mewhort and his children
Randi's head, little one, Liz, Barton, Warren, John, Kaye, Mark, Doug, old one
Doug, Randi, little one, Liz
