Thursday Thirteen #2

My Thirteen Homes

1) St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia: Think it was a one bedroom flat. My parents lived here at the time I was born.

2) Lim Garden, Ipoh, Malaysia: My paternal grandparent's home when first we moved back to Ipoh. I'm not sure how long we stayed here for.

3) Canning Garden, Ipoh, Malaysia: Rented house in Canning Garden near maternal grandparents. We stayed here for about 5 years.

4) Ipoh Garden, Malaysia: My parents first house in a neighboring suburb to Canning Garden. Notice how all the suburbs are some sort of garden? I always found that so unimaginative. Check out the names of the subsequent places I've stayed.

5) Toowong (Place of doves), Brisbane, Australia: A really tiny one bedroom unit. My father was staying there before we moved over so it is where the four of us crammed for a couple of months.

6) Auchenflower, Brisbane Australia: Supposedly my mother decided to buy our quaint little wooden house the moment she saw it. I lived there for 11 years.

7) Island Glades, Penang, Malaysia: I rented a room from an old lady when I started my first job.

8) Pulau Tikus (Rat Island), Penang, Malaysia: I moved to another rented room because I couldn't stand the fungus and oil spills in the shared bathroom anymore. Unfortunately, this one was also owned by an old lady.

9) Sungai Dua (Two River), Penang, Malaysia: I finally decided to rent an entire apartment because the second old lady wouldn't allow Richard to come up to my room.

10) Bayan Lepas (Takeoff area), Penang, Malaysia: Our first property. Richard and I bought a 3 bedroom apartment when we got married.

11) Bayu Perdana (First breeze), Klang, Malaysia: We sold our apartment and rented a house when Richard took on a new job in a different city.

12) Bandar Botanic (Botanic city), Klang, Malaysia: After two and a half years at the first house, the landlord informed us that he had sold the place and we had to move. I was 8 months pregnant when we moved to this other rented house in Klang. We stayed only 3 months before moving to Indonesia.

13) Kedamayan (Peace), Palembang, Indonesia: And here we are now.

My out of control guava tree is blocking most of the house but I can't trim it until all the fruit ripen. The weedy looking thing you see creeping along my front fence is my four angled bean plant. They look messy but are delicious. And that guy, Mr. Soon-to-smell-nice.

How honest do we really need to be?

I think we all value honesty. Most of us try to be honest and give honest opinions. Of course, there are those out there who just habitually lie and we all eventually don't trust them anymore. And what about those people that just say what we want to hear? They are liars too. Yet we all do I it sometimes. I know I do. Things like confirming to my white haired grandmother that she didn't draw in her eyebrows too dark. I just don't want to burst her bubble because I know she put effort into how she looked. If it gives her some sort of confidence, then who am I to bring her down? So I'm fine with lying to my grandmother.

My problem is trying to find some way to be honest with our new driver. I'm telling you, I nearly passed out in the car yesterday. This is not a joke. I held my breath for so long that I was very nearly unconscious. In the end, I just had to take short, shallow breaths. Like the type a fish takes when its out of water.

And why did I need to do all this? Because the driver was driving with one arm resting against the side of the door. Y'know, putting his elbows up to just where the windows starts. That means the side air conditioning vents shoot right through the armholes of his shirts and straight to his armpits. That jet of air just propelled the smell straight to the backseat where I was with Aaron.

I know some people have problems with body odour and that its often because of bacteria instead of uncleanliness. Well, perhaps lack of hygiene in the very first place caused the bacteria to be there but how can I tell him? Richard says we should just buy him some deodorant or some perfume. But wouldn't that just embarrass the guy and make him self conscious around us? I know he still feels new and is trying to make a good impression so this would be terrible for him.

This is an instance where honesty would really be the best policy for everyone but how do you do this without making him feel bad?

Funny Little Man

I am having some really funny conversations with my little man. Everyday, something new and completely surprising. So many fresh ideas from a fresh little mind.

Yesterday, Aaron and I were in the garden watching the birds. After awhile, they all flew away and he became a little confused. So I said "Wait awhile, they'll come back." He leans forward, gives me the stop sign with his palm and says "Patience". He said this several times because I didn't get it at first. How could I possibly anticipate that word!

Today, he was playing around in the house with his basket of balls. He kept walking back and forth so I asked him what he was doing and we have another lovely little conversation.

"Shopping"

"Oh, what do you want to buy?"

"Spaghetti"

"I see. And where are you going to buy it?"

"Outside"

He runs off and comes back with one arm hooked around his basket and the other hand grasping both shoes. "Shoes. Mama. Outside."

Fun Monday - Whats in a name and on my plate?

This week's Fun Monday is hosted by Mariposa's Tales:

(1) Please share to us how the NAME of your BLOG was made? I can't wait to hear interesting funny stories!

(2) Please share to us (in words or photo, though a combination of both will be a bonus!) your favorite/ most common dish!

1) I started blogging at the start of 2007 when I was breastfeeding Aaron every 1.5-2hrs (even through the night). I had a few people call me a cow but I didn't think that was a very attractive blog name so. 'The Milk Bar' sounded much more refreshing.

2) I don't think I have just one favorite dish. I like all sorts of food and must have tens of favorites. The one that I'll pick to blog about today is 'Laksa Lemak' because I happen to have an archived photo of it. Not the best photo but trust me, this was DELICIOUS!

Laksa refers to a type of soupy noodle that comes in many variations. They are often sourish and spicy - incredibly appetizing. But those aren't my favorite. The one that I like best is the Nyonya version of it cooked in a coconut milk broth infused with pounded lemon grass, kefir lime leaves, coriander, chillis, onions, garlic, tumeric root and galangal. The main food in it is the fish but I usually just use canned tuna for convenience. I'm not that into fish and its really the taste of all those spices that I love. Finally, it is garnished with ginger flower, cucumber, lettuce, bit of lime and prawn paste. Like the other laksas, it is fragrant and spicy, but not sour. Instead, the coconut milk makes it rich and creamy.

Kemarau Island

Yesterday, we decided to go to Kemarau Island. This is a small island where people flock to during the last two days of Chinese New Year to pray. That was last Wednesday and Thursday but I didn't want to join the crowds. Supposedly, people from as far as Singapore would make the pilgrimage to this place. There is a temple there dedicated to Toa Pek Kong. He is a minor Taoist deity in charge of looking after households, villages and rural lands.

We hopped on a little 'speedboat' to get to the island. The trip lasted about 2 mins and it cost us IDR50,000 (USD 5.45).

I sat in the middle of the boat. Here's the view looking in front:


And here's the boatman behind me:


The alters were all locked up so we couldn't get a closer look and other than the temple, there was only the new pagoda that is still under construction. The island itself was full of shady trees so it would have been pleasant to walk around if it wasn't for the rain that started when we were there.


My favorite part of the excursion was this sign at the base of the pagoda that was under construction.

Translation:
1. It is prohibited to go up. (Probably just while still under construction.)
2. It is prohibited to take photos on top of the dragon. (Two large dragons lined the stairs leading up to the pagoda)
3. It is prohibited to 'go on a date' in the pagoda.
4. It is prohibited to deface the pagoda.
5. Beware of 'Garong' cats. I can't find 'Garong' in the dictionary but it definitely doesn't refer to any type of feline. From what I have gathered, it refers to either perverts or people who supposedly try to seduce strangers. I'm not sure if they are flashers or not. I wish my Indonesian was better so I could have a better understanding of this type of words that no dictionary is going to define.

Trishaws in Palembang

When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I remember going for some really fun rides with my grandmother on the 'Beca' (pronounced be-cha). These are trishaws. We used to have them in Malaysia but they are a rare sight these days. I never thought I'd be on one again.

In Palembang, they are still a popular form of transport for short distances. Here they all are, lined up outside the Perumnas market.


I don't really want to use them on the roads to go anywhere but I thought it would be fun for Aaron to try it out. We called this guy to the house and paid IDR 10,000 (USD 1.10) for a trip around the neighborhood.

Aaron absolutely LOVE IT! He squealed and giggled the whole time we were on it. I took the maid along with us just in case I didn't understand the 'driver' and that brought our total weight to about 110kgs. The poor guy had to get off the bicycle and push when we came to a slight incline. Although, I think they are used to much MORE weight than that. These men are scrawny but incredibly strong. Anyway, the added weight made the downhill runs extra fast.....we were rattled and bumped the whole way but it all worth it.



Here we are all squashed under the low roof:

Thursday Thirteen

I'll give this a go. I often spend time complaining about Palembang but in actual fact, I do enjoy living here. So my thirteen is on:

Why we moved to Palembang

1. The adventure of living in a developing country.

2. To give Richard's career a bit of a fast forward.

3. To live rent and debt free.

4. To enjoy a slower paced way of life.

5. To break out of our comfort zones. Change is hard but its always for the better. I don't want to get too comfortable in one place yet.

6. To see how people in different parts of the world live.

7. To be able to be in awe of progress and modern cities again. HA! HA! We only found this out after living here awhile and then leaving the place.

8. To allow me not to need to go out to work and spend time at home with Aaron instead. Although there I days that I do wish I had to go OUT to work.

9. To experience life in 1950s Malaysia. This is supposedly what much of Palembang is like.

10. For the very affordable manicures, pedicures, massages, hair spas etc.

11. For the perks that we enjoy as part of the package: A maid to help in the house and a driver to take us everywhere.

12. For the surprises that life throws at us here. From stink bugs, to muddy water, to power problems....

13. And finally, I have to admit it. For the money.