tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post116106853005611100..comments2023-09-11T22:55:01.527+08:00Comments on As I Was Passing: Scenes of Malaysian LifeJennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161533458861606592006-10-23T00:10:00.000+08:002006-10-23T00:10:00.000+08:00I like it when the electricity goes out. We are us...I like it when the electricity goes out. We are usually miserable for a while in the beginning but then end up having fun and it ends too soon.<BR/><BR/>Sounds like you ended up having fun, too.Nessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779269921583131094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161343659494102332006-10-20T19:27:00.000+08:002006-10-20T19:27:00.000+08:00A thinker: Having gone through three very mild win...A thinker: Having gone through three very mild winters in Perth (OK, although the first one was mild, I was living in a house without heat and it was colder inside than outside and my kidneys used to shrink and it was all very painful and uncomfortable) I would have to agree with you. I am not a fan of winter. Give me autumn and spring. Warm thoughts for winter.<BR/><BR/>Ling: Wow. You were? And since you say Southeast Asia rather than Malaysia, you must have grown up in one of our fine neighbours....I would say north. I would say series of islands...I would say mahal kita yah...<BR/><BR/><BR/>Just Tom: Yeah, lah is actually spelt lah. Only my family (OK my two sisters and I) spell it lar. Because that is how <I>we</I> pronounce it. I wonder what that incident was. Anyways, Thaipusam is still going strong. What's really funny is that people arrive here from India and don't know what it is. What is your parents' book called? I am especially interested in texts written around that time...<BR/><BR/>As for Taman Negara...I have never been there nor do I intend to go. Because I know I will get lost in the jungle and consumed alive by wild animals or kidnapped by ghosts...Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161318214556904952006-10-20T12:23:00.000+08:002006-10-20T12:23:00.000+08:00I think "lar" as you put it is what I always thoug...I think "lar" as you put it is what I always thought of as "lah." Something added on to the end of a word or phrase,lah? When we got back to the States, my brother, Larry, painted a wall mural featuring, across the entire wall of his room in foot high letters, "Larry-Lah."<BR/><BR/>I had thought that Thaipusan was outlawed from something my parents had told me when they sailed the South Pacific and Southeast asia and returned to Malaysia after retiring. (They wrote a book about their journeys that's available on Amazon.com if you're interested)<BR/><BR/>We lived in Georgetown, right on the beach for a year. Great memories of Penang. I have some other traumatic memories of the other side of the peninsula. Ever been to Taman Negara? They made me sleep in a blind in a tree and look for tigers. I was 8.Just Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03780049932951525654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161295146131409812006-10-20T05:59:00.000+08:002006-10-20T05:59:00.000+08:00I grew up in Southeast Asia. :)I grew up in Southeast Asia. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161290075333253882006-10-20T04:34:00.000+08:002006-10-20T04:34:00.000+08:00Eeee. Heat and no electricity. Sounds like no fun....Eeee. Heat and no electricity. Sounds like no fun. Although I tell you I'd rather we had that than a Northeast winter which is coming up!Susannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17254213819711388842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161263414045550992006-10-19T21:10:00.000+08:002006-10-19T21:10:00.000+08:00Quilly: Thanks. You're sweet.Grey: You betcha. Lik...Quilly: Thanks. You're sweet.<BR/><BR/>Grey: You betcha. Like your potato curry. Or re-reading your favourite book.<BR/><BR/>Just Tom: Thaipusam is not banned. It's terribly sacred and people make requests, take vows that they will carry the kavadi (yes, that's the part that traumatised you as a kid, probably. They have to fast and abstain from a whole variety of things for a year in order to prepare for it. And they go into a trance while it is actually taking place, so they don't feel anything. I don't think I have ever seen it (you know how it is when you live in a country - you seldom go for these things). As for the snake temple, yeah, it's still there and I give it a wide berth, being phobic about snakes. Although I do go for tea at the Belmont Hotel on Penang Hill (there are green vipers hanging off the trellis just above your head and every time a leaf falls I jump and upset the tea things, but anyway)...<BR/><BR/>As to how I ended up in this lovely land of smoke and legend - way way back - OK not so way back, maybe in the 1920s, my two grandfathers decided to sail across the sea and seek their fortunes...they came here. Then they went back to India, found wives there, and came back again. And their children (my parents) were born here. So I am second generation. Being truly Malaysian I say lar a lot. Also aiya. And I drive like a maniac. And I get together with friends for teh tarek at the mamak stalls. And I sing "balik kampung" during the Hari Raya season. <BR/><BR/>Will check out your challenge.Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161244386487302852006-10-19T15:53:00.000+08:002006-10-19T15:53:00.000+08:00Wow. Rambutan. How I remember Rambutan and every...Wow. Rambutan. How I remember Rambutan and everybody saying "Aiya!" all the time. And all of the different festivals ad things that my parents drug me to (heck, I lived there when Thaipusan (sp?) was still legal and I went to that every year-- talk about traumatizing a kid). but they were over-educated Peace Corps people, my folks, everything was educational and cultural. Do they still have that snake temple with all of the incense doped Pit vipers? <BR/><BR/>what a lot of strange childhood memories I have and you just brought them all back!<BR/><BR/>I love your blog!<BR/><BR/>Oh, and Tom's Challenge #5 is up over at mine so drop on by and give it a whack if you have time.<BR/><BR/>I'd love to hear how you ended up in Malaysia sometime-- or maybe you were born there. Most of my family members have made it back there as a kind of pilgrimage but I haven't been back since 1972. I'm sure a lot has changed in 34 years.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, thanks for the entertainment!<BR/><BR/>Peace, TomJust Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03780049932951525654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161234401573729482006-10-19T13:06:00.000+08:002006-10-19T13:06:00.000+08:00Ling: Thanks. You know rambutans? Oh my goodness! ...Ling: Thanks. You know rambutans? Oh my goodness! Does that mean you were once in this part of the world?Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161218783682840912006-10-19T08:46:00.000+08:002006-10-19T08:46:00.000+08:00Every time I click onto your site, I get another g...Every time I click onto your site, I get another glimpse of what's familiar and so far away. Rambutans - my goodness - how long have I not heard that fruit mentioned!<BR/><BR/>And I agree with Jackie's Garden - your stories are so vivid! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161164081150005522006-10-18T17:34:00.000+08:002006-10-18T17:34:00.000+08:00Its always the little things in life! :)Its always the little things in life! :)Grey Shadeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17518029358989769804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161141662475560182006-10-18T11:21:00.000+08:002006-10-18T11:21:00.000+08:00Jenn, great story. I love the glimpses of your li...Jenn, great story. I love the glimpses of your life. You share them with such flare and humor.Charlene Amsdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15417995779960967945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161130178412706642006-10-18T08:09:00.000+08:002006-10-18T08:09:00.000+08:00Hallo Nike, welcome to my blog. Mahathir is fine, ...Hallo Nike, welcome to my blog. Mahathir is fine, thanks for asking. I'll tell him you said hi and send your best love and kisses. He will be so pleased. Anwar is out of jail. Got out a year or two ago. Last I heard he was cavorting around John Hopkins. Or he may be back campaigning. Me, I never read the papers. So I couldn't tell.<BR/><BR/>Jackie's Garden: Thank you, thank you, thank you. *bows modestly* Yeah, you probably would like my Mom. She is terribly cuddly.Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161118252058947512006-10-18T04:50:00.000+08:002006-10-18T04:50:00.000+08:00Oh my gosh, Jenn - you tell good stories! I felt l...Oh my gosh, Jenn - you tell good stories! I felt like I was right there listening to your mama. I think I'd like her! Glad you got at the computer again. LOLJackie's Gardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887018175988195927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161112777938676932006-10-18T03:19:00.000+08:002006-10-18T03:19:00.000+08:00how's mahathir ? how abt . anwar ? is he free now ...how's mahathir ? how abt . anwar ? is he free now /chehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07919845152658591341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161102293828953352006-10-18T00:24:00.000+08:002006-10-18T00:24:00.000+08:00See Jack, I told you he was heavy!See Jack, I told you he was heavy!Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359604151544863025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17639529.post-1161087867034073862006-10-17T20:24:00.000+08:002006-10-17T20:24:00.000+08:00hellohelloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com