What's Important to Malaysians -- At the shops

        Here you see a cash register receipt.  A simple thing, really, but one that seems awfully important here in Malaysia.  You can never leave any shop, store or eatery without one tucked into your hand under your change. The Malaysians are even more rabid about receipts than the Japanese, if that's possible.   If you don't get one, you're entitled to ask for the sun, the moon and the stars, or at least a free one of whatever they're selling.  In case you fail to ask for it, there are signs all around  urging you to "Request for Your Receipt."  (Not that I've ever had to.) 

    Once you've got that receipt, you really want to hang onto it.  Why?  well, first of all, if something goes wrong and the item is defective or the service isn't rendered, you need your receipt to get things settled properly.  For the past two months--actually longer--I've been trying to get the local newspaper delivered to my door.  If I hadn't had the receipt, complete with two mobile phone numbers of real human beings, I wouldn't have been able to call every month or so, begging to have my newspaper delivered as per our written agreement.  See how useful a receipt can be?  (The subscription was arranged on June 24th. and they say the paper might start coming tomorrow, Sept.1st., but I'll believe it when I see it! ) 

    Anyway, the other reason you want to accept and keep track of your receipt is because it contains a ton of information that you wouldn't want lying around on the floor of a public place.  I don't know quite how they manage to get it, but  the receipt I'm holding in my hand now has my full name, a complete list of the items I bought, the name of the sales clerk, the time, date, branch of the store and lots more.  Any self-respecting, literate thief would just love to have all that useful information, I reckon.  

         Another thing they're very interested in here in Malaysia is that sticky tape they put on at the register to indicate an item has been bought and paid for.  I can understand putting the tape on a big item that can't fit into a bag.  (Though I've often wondered why it's considered necessary to do that when the register is ten paces away from the door of the store.)  But at some shops here in Penang, especially local food stores, the clerks are required to put a bit of that tape on each and every item that you buy.  Can you imagine how long that takes when you've bought a week's worth of groceries? (But then, this isn't a culture where you'd actually buy a week's worth of anything at one time.)  


 I guess this tape-on-every-item is a way to combat shoplifting, but I wonder which causes more financial loss--the occasional shoplifter or all those rolls and rolls of "Sold" tape they use up.  And we won't even go into the time and inconvenience this requirement causes both clerks and customers.

    Another thing that made me crazy when setting up our new household here was the sticky price labels on each and every item I bought.   I spent hours rubbing off the labels wrapped around every piece of cutlery, not to mention every glass, plate, cup and bowl.  But then, what did I do?  I turned around and put my own labels on the drawer so I'd know where each silverware item goes.
       So, really --  who's crazy about labeling things?  Both the Malaysians and ME ! 

A Floating Bookstore

     It's been raining cats and dogs for days. I'm told that this is supposed to happen in December, not now, at the end of August.  Must be climate change at work.  
    Anyway, I was getting cabin fever big-time, so between raindrops, I hopped a bus and headed down to the waterfront to check out the " World's Largest Floating Library."  It's a really big ship that used to be a passenger ferry.  Now it's owned by a German firm called "GBA," which stands for "Good Books for All."  And that's just what it does--it brings books to people all over the world.  This particular ship is called "Logos Hope" and it'll be here in Penang for about a month.  
   I'm glad I went when I did--on a Friday afternoon when most folks were at work.  I'm sure on weekends and during this upcoming holiday period, it'll be just teeming with folks.  As it was, it was a pleasantly calm and interesting experience.

        First, visitors go up the gangway.  I've never been on a cruise (yet!), so this was pretty exciting in and of itself.  Once inside, you pay your paltry RM 1 admission fee--that's like 30 cents US--a token amount.  Then you round the corner into a bookstore, a real bookstore that looks exactly like one.
     So, what kinds of books are for sale in this "floating bookstore"?  Well, it IS a Christian operation, though there was no mention of that in the local media publicity about it.  So there's a sizable selection of Bibles and Christian study materials.  There is also an excellent selection of children's books and some nice "how-to" and special-interest books on subjects ranging from sports to handcrafts to art, and much more.  There are also books and materials for teaching English to kids.  What they don't have is any paperback fiction, which is understandable but disappointing.  Prices were denoted in "units," and 100 units is equal to RM8.  The reason, of course, is so they don't have to re-price every book when they get to a new country.  They just post a new price conversion poster explaining how much of the local currency is equal to one "unit."  
     On the way out is a room with new college textbooks.  You can get three of them "free" if you buy a Logos Hope tote bag for RM 40.  There are also a number of new-old CDs, which means that they're from ten years ago or so, but still in their band-new pristine packaging.  Some are Christian music, some are 80s pop music and some are "mood music," like new age stuff, Celtic instrumentals and other assorted "muzak." If you buy two at RM5 each, you get a third one free.  I fell for that one and came away with six CDs all told.

   On the way out, I was quite impressed to find a spacious coffee shop  with reasonable prices and delicious muffins and sweets made right there onboard.  It would be a great place to just sit and chat with a friend, which several people were doing.  There's even a kids' entertainment table or two, where people can sit and entertain their children while the adults shop for books.
     The whole ship is awash in cheerful Christian volunteers who sign on for a two-year stint on board the ship, supported by donations from their friends, family, home churches, etc.  They try to sit and chat with each and every guest, though that must be a challenge when people throng the ship.  Evidently they get around a million visitors a year and have some 5,000 books onboard. But  in addition to providing books at reduced prices, the crew also goes ashore to do community action and Christian relief activities as needed in the local area.  There's a lot more to it than simply selling books, but they certainly do that well.  It's definitely worth a visit!

Amusing the Hungry Ghosts

Empty red chairs for the H.G.

These "hungry ghosts" are a demanding lot!  Not only do they require and receive a lot of food and incense, not to mention Guinness beer and other delectables, they also need to be entertained.  Some get girl singers in sparkly costumes and other modern acts.  But the ones around here are more high-class; they demand nightly presentations of Chinese operas based on old literature.  

Chinese opera musicians

Opera performers resting under the stage

       Those who do the performances might or might not be actual Chinese actors and musicians.  Some, I understand, are from Thailand or other countries in this area. The troupes are booked well in advance, and they move from stage to stage every few nights so as to provide variety for the local folks who attend.   As you can see from the photo here, they aren't very old, these entertainers, and they work pretty hard during the month-long season when they're employed every night.  They're certainly not prima donnas, either.  No fancy hotels or dressing rooms for them!  During the hot part of the day they while away the hours until practice and performance resting in hammocks slung under the very stage where they do their thing.  It's not very private, but at least it's in the shade.   However, they were very kind and came out to show us curious foreigners what they do and what their costumes are like.  "Gaudy" is the most appropriate word, I daresay!

Headgear for the opera performances

And when all is said and done, EVERYONE is exhausted, including the puppets!

VERY Hungry Ghosts!

   Yum!  Yum!  What's this?  It's the ingredients for chicken soup, already in the pot.  Is it our dinner for tonight?  Nope!  It's for the Chinese gods, who are very, very hungry during this seventh month of the lunar calendar.  They come down to earth and have to be placated with tons of food, nightly entertainment, and fervent prayers.  Oh, and lots of incense burning, as well.  On our "Hungry Ghosts Tour" last week, we were taken to a small family workshop where effigies of the king of the hungry gods are made--really, really BIG ones!  These are special-ordered by the various Chinese community associations and can cost thousands of dollars.  They're delivered in pieces and then erected in huge garage-like structures made of blue sheets (tarpaulins) arrayed along the already-narrow streets.  

    Then the local folks come to burn incense, pray and make food offerings, all designed to make the "hungry gods" happy so they won't bother us human beings.  I was quite amazed at the amount of food that's donated by members of the local Chinese community.


      I don't know how many hungry gods there are, but it seems that they all have to be fed.   Is there a blue bowlful of food for each?  What happens if one is forgotten?  I shudder to think! 

   Some of the gods must have a taste for alcohol, with Guinness being the beverage of choice.  They don't even have to pour their own!  'Course all this food and drink is covered with a dusting of ash from the incense that's burned so close to it, but perhaps the gods don't mind. . . . .

     What I'd really like to know is this:  Does all this donated food actually get eaten by anybody?  I think not.  I was told that the food on home altars actually does, once the gods have partaken. If there's anything left after the hungry gods eat, the family members can and do eat it up.  But, after a whole day out in the baking hot sun, I can't imagine that anyone except dogs would be interested in eating a basketful of chickens.  And there aren't very many dogs roaming around Malaysia because in Islam, dogs (and pigs) are considered filthy critters.


   Between the expensive paper effigies and the plethora of food and drink, the gods appear to have a pretty enjoyable life when they're down here on earth for their summer vacation.  But human beings surely seem to have to work hard to make that happen.


    The next blog post will tell about how those Chinese gods are entertained at night.

Hungry Ghost Skeletons

A "hungry ghost's" big red hands

The god's legs & feet before decoration

Now he's on display at a local street temple

    What a charmed life I lead!  I had a marvelous trip back home with friends and family and returned to this -- a behind-the-scenes view of the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival, which is going on now.  


        It was another of those great outings organized by  Spiral Synergy, with Michelle Grimsley at the helm.   She certainly has identified a niche and is busy filling it:  showing us parts of Penang cultural life that we'd have difficulty discovering on our own.  And today's visit was no exception.  It was a visit to a workshop where a Chinese family fills orders for effigies made of bamboo sticks covered with paper.  These are displayed during the Hungry Ghosts Festival, then burned at the end.  They can cost a fortune--more than our living room sofa--but they're ordered up by neighborhood associations, so the cost is shared.  These big feet to the right are just the beginning of a 12-foot paper "statue" that will be delivered to a temporary streetside "temple" bigger than a garage.  But more on that later!                                     


Anyway, those feet will, in the course of two days, be added to a huge effigy of one of the "hungry ghosts," who come out in the seventh month on the lunar calendar to cause trouble--unless they are treated to lots of food, entertainment, and such.  They definitely need to be placated, big-time!

A stockpile of horse effigies

   During the "off-season," so to speak, the effigy-making workshops produce smaller paper items that the deceased might need in the afterlife, things like cars, pets, cell phones, money, etc.  These are burned at the funeral so they can go along with the person to be used after death.
      
These effigies take a long time to make and cost a lot of money, but the local associations are only to happy to collect money to buy them, get them blessed, display them for a while and then watch them go up in smoke.  It's kind of like what happens to my money when I travel abroad.


    Next blog post:  the displaying of the effigies.  Watch for it!

British Columbia -- Berry. Berry Good!

Well, here I  am in Sidney-by-the-Sea, a little town near Victoria, B.C.  The place is quaint and charming, with lots of neat little shops and a summer twilight street festival (full of fresh produce and earrings, lots and LOTS of earrings) for sale.  It's a great place to while away a week in summer, and that's just what I've been doing.

   

     The most amazing thing about this part of Canada is the huge amount of produce and agriculture they do here.  In spring and summer there are immense fields full of daffodils, tulips and gladiolas.  (Pictured here are daffodils.)  In fall, you can see fields of pumpkins as far as the eye can see. 

Tayberries on the vine

   In this season the item on offer EVERYWHERE is berries, all kinds of berries.  Red and black raspberries. You can stop your car along the side of the road and pick blackberries, which are essentially black raspberries.  The plants themselves are considered quite pesky and they'll take over a home garden in no time.  In Penang or Japan, just one small pack of those blackberries would cost an arm and a leg, if you could find them at all.

    Then there are odd ones called tayberries and loganberries, both of which are variants of raspberries, I gather.   Blueberries are sold in 5-pound boxes for under $10.00.   When asked if he had any more, the produce manager at the store said, "I have 200 pounds more.  How many would you like?"   I read somewhere that 98% of all the blueberries consumed in Canada are grown right here in British Columbia.  And this area is the third-largest producer of "blues" in the world!

     Sweet, sweet sweet corn grows here, too.  Eight ears for under two bucks!  I could live on the stuff all summer long.  Back in Japan, even bad corn on the cob was about two dollars for one ear, or two if you were lucky.  It's no better in Penang, where field corn is labeled sweet corn and is close to inedible, at least for a person who has experienced real sweet corn from the American Midwest or this region of Canada.  Folks around here just have no idea how lucky they are to have this bountiful variety of beautiful produce in fields all around them.  How I envy them!

     Just like in Hokkaido, there are lavendar fields all around B.C., and there are so many different kinds!  There's English, French and Spanish lavendar  growing right outside our window here.  They sell it in huge bunches at the street market.  People make sachets and pot pourri with it, and they cook with it as well--lavendar cake, whipped cream, tea and more.  Evidently it can be used somewhat like thyme.  Who knew?

        A lot of the local farms will allow visitors to come and do "you-pick."  What could be more fun than picking your own daffodils, strawberries or pumpkins?  But you have to be a bit careful because of crop rotation.  The other day my friend and I went off in search of a farm where they let you pick your own gladiolus flowers.  But where they used to grow, there were cabbages as far as the eye could see.  Evidently after three years, the flower bulbs get exhausted and that field now has a different vegetable growing in it.  A smiling, friendly young man whose family owns the countryside for miles around assured us that "The glads will be back next year, better than ever!"  And so will I!

Oh, Canada!

Uh-oh! Another blog post with no photos. I'm going to have to make up for that when I get back in a week to my somewhat surreal life in Penang. At the moment, I'm on the final leg of this epic month-long journey across North America, having just washed up in a suburb of Victoria, British Columbia. I arrived here yesterday afternoon, though my luggage didn't. It did manage to get all across the US of A without a hitch, despite being grossly overweight. (No surprise there! One of them has a Singer sewing machine in it, still in the box and only US $30, if you can be believe that!) But because I was delayed in entering Canada, my luggage had to wait patiently for me to re-check it and therefore it missed the 13-minute flight from Vancouver to Victoria, though I miraculously did not.

The hang-up was the Immigration Hall at the Vancouver Airport,which was amazingly (and distressingly) crowded yesterday. There were HUNDREDS of people ahead of me and HUNDREDS more behind me in lines that hair-pinned back and forth, back and forth for miles, I daresay. The vast majority of those in line were Asians, and many seemed to be Japanese, so I assume they were visiting Canada during the school summer holidays or for O-Bon, since we're now in the run-up to that holiday period in Japan.

The only thing that saved the day was the fact that they graciously provide free Wi-Fi access there in the Immigration Hall. Most airports (at least in the States) won't even let you pull out a cell phone while you languish in line under pain of death or immediate deportation. But there in Vancouver they very hospitably allow you to use your phone and they even provide free wireless Internet access, which goes a long way toward making the whole miserable process less so. Kids were playing their hand-held games while they waited, businessmen were balancing their open laptops as they snaked along, and I? Well, I was watching America go into financial freefall, with the stock market plunging, and my country's financial reputation getting tattered and beat up. All courtesy of those thoughtful folks at Canadian Immigration!

And while I'm at it, I also have to commend the Vancouver Airport authorizes for providing an EXCELLENT display for incoming passengers to appreciate as they wend their way from the arrival gates to the immigration area. It's like a combination of a mini art festival and a folk crafts museum. They have a whole First Nations native art and handicrafts display and nature diorama complete with real water right there on the second floor! You see a handcrafted canoe bobbing in the water, hear water flowing, birds calling overhead and so on. It's a terrific way to welcome visitors and introduce them to Pacific Northwest culture as they pass by into the airport itself. I spent a bit of time there, taking it all in and reading the very informative labels on the exhibits, which is probably why there were SEVERAL HUNDRED more people in front of me in the immigration line by the time I wandered in. At least two jumbo jetloads full of exchange students from Tokyo and Osaka, all intent on perfecting their English there in Vancouver language schools before the new semester begins.

Oh, well! I didn't have to pay for my second suitcase because I was traveling internationally coming into Canada from the States. They didn't charge me for a decidedly overweight bag. They let me stagger onto small aircraft with unconscionably big hand
luggage and too much of it. Wholesome Canadian youths with straight white teeth and eating healthy snacks helped me get my luggage into the overhead bins. And the airline brought my delayed suitcases right to the door of the home where I'm now visiting, so how could I possibly complain?

Tales from Missouri

Well, here I am in the sizzling heart of America. I thought it was hot up in Illinois, but that was NOTHING compared with here! The temps are record-breaking here, too. The weather forecast for tonight showed that right this minute, at 11:00 at night, it's still 90 degrees out there. That's 32 degrees Celsius, hotter than it is in Penang during the daytime. And Penang is practically equatorial, for Pete's sake! The weather forecaster's prediction for temps throughout the day tomorrow read like this: Morning,78 degrees & already hot. Midday,95 & stay indoors. Late afternoon, 105 degrees (40.5 C) & record heat. By bedtime, 85 degrees and still miserable. Time for some indoor, air-conditioned activity!

On another weather-related subject . . . . Joplin, Missouri, experienced a monster tornado back on May 25. It was the worst one in 55 years or so. For that matter, 2011 has been an incredibly tornado-prone year, with over 1,000 of them so far and the season isn't over yet.

My friend whom I'm visiting here in Springfield, Missouri, has a young cousin, Kevin. He, along with his roommate, lived in Joplin, right in the path of that killer tornado. Somehow they both miraculously survived! They'd just moved into their second floor apartment when the tornado tore through it. They took shelter in the bathtub, but the tornado pulled both lads out and deposited them in a closet. It then knocked the door of the closet down on top of them and that's evidently what saved their lives.

When the dust had settled, they crawled out and looked at the other side of the door. It was riddled with shards of glass, bits of wood and other things that had been driven into the wood by the tremendous force of the wind. Theresa said that even now, two-plus months after the event, people are showing up at doctors' offices and hospitals, complaining of infections from things that had been driven under their skin by the incredibly powerful wind.

This is kind of gruesome, and I do apologize for that, but she also said officials were unable to get an accurate body count immediately after the tornado because sometimes they had body parts, rather than bodies, to count.

Kevin survived and at first they thought his stuff had, too. He'd just moved in, so a lot of his clothes, his computer and such were still in those big plastic tubs with the lock-on tops. In the aftermath of the tornado, he saw that many of them were still there with the lids on. However, there were teeny, tiny holes up near the handles under the lids. The tornado blew tiny particles of fiberglass insulation into the boxes, where it got into all his clothes. Even after they were washed, there were still so many particles in them, they all had to be thrown away even though they'd looked perfectly all right. His computer had been in a tub and it, too, seemed OK at first. But fiberglass from the roof insulation had gotten into that one as well, so his computer wouldn't even start up.

This 21-year-old kid had to get all new stuff, but at least he had his life to live and his family to support him. How about all the others who had neither? Whether we support the disaster victims in Japan or those here in Missouri or elsewhere, it's important for all of us to keep those people in our minds and hearts. we need to keep on giving and not forget about all these unfortunate folks even though the news media have moved on to other, "hot topics" like the weather.