The Pope and I

The restored heritage house I toured

  Well, the Pope and I have decided (independently) that tomorrow, Feb. 28, is a good day to step down and move on.  You all know what HIS plans are, but you don't know mine.  I plan to retire into a simple monastic life of quiet contemplation in the countryside outside Tokyo.  I'll be leaving my beloved Penang for a while to be at my husband's side, making muffins and homemade vegetable soup.  I'll probably keep blogging despite it morphing into "Musings on Life in a Japanese Country Town."  I'll have much more time to blog and much less stuff to blog about, so we'll see how it goes. . . .

     Meanwhile, I've tried to pack in as much Penang culture and excitement as I can before I depart (for a while.)  So, one morning recently I joined a Heritage Home Tour of this gorgeous yellow number pictured here.  It's owned by a chef and his wife who've restored this building for their home and a couple of others across the street, which function as their wine bar and restaurant. 

      The home tour was interesting and fun. I always look at those fabulous old buildings that have earned Penang its UNESCO status and wonder what they're like inside, especially the restored ones.  This one is beautifully done,  There's a lovely lap pool beside the house and the original carriage house has been converted into a super guest house that would rent for a lot in a boutique hotel.

Imagine cooking for a household on this original stove!

   Since one of the owners is a chef, the couple has turned the original cooking area into a well-equipped  test kitchen, from which Chef does a TV cooking program called "Chalk and Cheese."   (Which I just watched on TV an hour or so ago.)   They've preserved the original cooking station  -- I don't dare call it a "stove" -- and here it is. Two charcoal burners and some other kind on the right in this picture.  Dunno what it actually was or how it worked.

    I've yearned to restore a house like this myself, but the prices of dilapidated old Chinese shop houses and homes have literally skyrocketed in the past few years.  Then, after you've purchased the property, it costs a fortune to restore these buildings to their former grandeur and, at the same time, make them livable by modern standards.  This couple, for example, turned one whole bedroom into a roomy, modern bathroom.  But, like many other things here in Penang, it took three tries to get the shower stall the way they wanted it to be.

      I can't help but think, when I go through these lovingly re-done homes, "What will they do 10 or 20 years down the road when they're old?"  There are always stairs and often no handrails or bannisters.  There is usually no bathroom downstairs (or upstairs, depending).  In fact, this one above had an outhouse when they bought it, so they had to install two bathrooms.  I suppose if they ever get crippled up with arthritis or need to use a wheelchair, they'll just sell off their hand-crafted, historic home for a handsome profit and move on.  

Even with restoration they found time to read 

    Still, there's a great appeal to knowing the history of one's home, to having an aged sepia photo of the distinguished Chinese grande dame who owned it, to have stumbled upon the original blueprints done in the architect's own hand.  To fill it with things you've lovingly collected in travels around the world.  To have people want to pay money to tour your place and hear about how you did it.  To strive to remain faithful to the original and find elements that fit into it compatibly.  It must be a lot of fun and something that could keep you busy for months, if not years.

    Would I want to have the pleasure of restoring and decorating such a place?  Of course!  But I'm not so sure I'd actually want to live in it.

   

Living in Malaysia

Seen on a cash register in Penang

Bus Terminal Prayer Room

Hi!  I am Blogger.  And I'm going to ramble a bit here about  things you could only see in Malaysia, I reckon.  One thing you see all over is prayer rooms and people using them.  They're far more common than public toilets, unfortunately.  The other day I was down at the bus terminal here in Penang, wending my way between buses.  Right there on the platform is the men's prayer room.  And hanging out to dry or at least air out, were several prayer rugs.  In most hotel rooms, there's a little arrow on the ceiling or in a drawer to indicate which way to orient yourself for prayer -- that is, which way Mecca is located.

Bus station prayer rugs airing out on platform

   The other day, they had a bridal fair at the nearby shopping mall.  It was interesting to me to see what the modern Muslim bridal couple could choose for their special day.

Photo of Malaysian bridal attire

Cross-cultural bridal finery

A bride might add a dash of color with a headscarf like this one:












   




        


   And here are a couple of signs that caught my eye  around town.  This one saying "Sorry, tonight got  function" is to explain why a certain dining room wasn't open to the public for lunch.

Therefore, no lunch here today?

  

     I assume this "No helmet" sign is to discourage potential thieves from hiding their identity.

No helmet, no crime?

But hey, that's nothing compared to Singapore, where you aren't allowed to do much of anything, apparently.      

What CAN you do in Singapore?

  If you do any of these or dozens of other prohibited things in Singapore then, like this T-shirt says, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!  


 But it IS clean, orderly and safe.    Hmm. . . .  which would I prefer on a daily basis, the cheerful chaos of Penang or the organized efficiency of Singapore?  

Depends on which day you ask! 

   

  

Is it Fair to Compare?

     These days, as I edge -- no, actually gallop -- ever closer to my return to Japan (for a while), I can't help but think about the differences between the Pearl of the Orient (Penang) and the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan) , not to mention the Home of the Free and the Land of the Brave (the USA).  Fundamentally, I think it's unfair to make unfavorable judgements about cultures and countries, and I hope thus far I've managed not to do that. 

        However, it does seem to me that comparisons are fair game.  I mean, how could you NOT compare?  It's in our DNA.  People compare their own offspring, all of whom they love equally. And so it is with me and these countries I have love-hate relationships with (though it's mostly love).

Store clerks on Independence Day

   Let's take, for example, privacy issues.  When I lived in Japan before, certain folks knew all there was to know about me.  They weren't nosey, but they couldn't help it.  Why?  Because when I got official mail, I had to ask a trusted Japanese person what it said.  My rule of thumb, was "If it's got any red print on it, get it translated immediately!"  Here in Penang, there's a little of that, but if I go to the office that sent me the "mystery communique," someone there can tell me what it says in English.  I am going to miss that ability to manage my own affairs in private.  AND being able to kid around with clerks and servers and actually have them laugh and tease back. I had a grand old time last summer chatting with these three youngsters about their wearing the national flag at work on Malaysia's Independence Day (August 31).

   On the other hand, here in Penang privacy is  a precious commodity.  All those societal norms and restraints I arrived here with do not apply!  Malaysians will cheerfully ask you almost anything:  "Do you rent or buy your place?  How much your rent?"  Or "Oh, new lamp, lah!  How much you pay?" or  "How many kids you got?"  I've even been asked what my husband's salary is!   The questioners aren't offended if you don't  provide a correct answer -- they just have to give it a try!

         The other day my DOCTOR, for Pete's sake, wanted to know about the cost of our "unit" when all I wanted to talk about was my medical issue.  (Although I think the doc was asking with the thought of buying a unit here.  Many of the units in our condo lie empty because they were purchased as investment properties or second homes.) 

From courtneykeepingbalance.blogspot

   That same day, for the medical check-up, I had to be weighed and measured.  For many of us, this is a procedure that we'd prefer to have done  in private and preferably with the results not announced aloud even to us. Especially to us!  But at the relatively upscale medical center I go to, the scale is right out there in the middle of a hallway, with patients awaiting their appointments on either side.  

     So when I stepped onto that old-fashioned scale where they slide the weights, a local woman sitting next to the scale about fell out of her chair, craning her neck trying to see how much I was going to weigh.  I looked her in the eye and told her to quit.  I shielded the tell-tale weights with my arms.  No embarrassed retreat from her, and the uproar got the fellow on the other side interested in what was going on.  I pouted and objected, the nurse relented, and I was allowed to go downstairs to the "Executive Health Center," where they deal with difficult foreigners like me.  (And they have the best selection of English magazines in Penang.)  

      Contrast that to Japan, where in hospitals, if they're going to do lower-pelvic stuff, they erect a cute little curtain across your midsection so you've got privacy and modesty and everybody, including you, can pretend you're somewhere else.  At hair salons they put a pristine square of gauze over your face whenever you're laid back in the chair.  Eye contact is sooo embarrassing, you know, and there's the possibility a bit of water might splash on your face otherwise.  Ladies who've been out shopping drape a small towel across the top of the open shopping bag so people can't see what they've bought.  When you buy a book, the store clerk carefully wraps your newly-purchased book so nobody can see what you're reading.  

      Next, let's take attitudes toward personal safety.  In the US, where frivolous lawsuits are a national sport, sometimes-ridiculous precautions are taken.  Witness the "zero-tolerance-for-drugs" rules in schools that get kids kicked out of school for taking an aspirin for a headache or cramps.  And don't get me started on security measures at airports! 

From freelanceflaneur.blogspot.com

    Then there's Japan, where the paternalistic mentality makes for endless-loop public announcements about riding escalators safely and standing behind the yellow line on train platforms.  Children who are taught from infancy to hand over sharp objects handle first. Japan, where the standard farewell is "Be careful."  At every single travelator at every Japanese airport, there's the never-ending "The end of the walk is ahead.  The end of the walk is ahead.  The end of the walk is ahead."  I certainly  hope so!

      It's a bit smothery at times, but how can I complain when, for twenty-odd years, my Japanese municipal government did file my taxes for me and for any citizen who presented themselves at the correct help center on the proper day during the appointed time frame, which of course I never did.  I could never read the schedule in the newspaper and showed up at will, but they kindly did my taxes for me anyway!

  This morning my Canadian friend sent me this photo of their back yard.  This made me want to    dive into our pool just because I could. While swimming my laps, I thought about how lucky I am that I can jump into the pool anytime I like, day or night (if I ignore the posted pool opening and closing times, of course.)   In the States, the pool would have a high fence around it and a padlock on the door.  In Japan, I'd be going to a fitness club or a municipal pool where they make you get out for ten minutes of every hour "for a rest."

    Well, it all makes for an interesting life and gives you a lot to ponder, doesn't it?

Musings on Chinese New Year -- the Run-up

   Well, CNY is just around the corner and there's a weird combination of total frenzied activity and near shut-down of normal life as we know it.  They've decorated anything that doesn't move and tangerines and other gold-or-red-colored things are moving around the city in 
masses.  So as to allow for this, the usual double-parking has now expanded to include triple-parking and the traffic, even on a motorbike, is truly daunting.  But it's nothing compared to the 800,000 overloaded passenger buses plying the highways and byways of China itself right now.

CNY Lobby decs at G Hotel 

   I missed the run-up of CNY last year because I was "off-station," as they still quaintly call it when you're away from Penang.  For the actual big night (out of the 15 days total), we'd hied ourselves off to Langkawi for some much-needed R & R.  So I don't know exactly how things go here at CNY, but I'm 

Red money gift envelopes (but no money in 'em)

preparing much like those poor folks on the East Coast of the US who are bracing for a looming super snowstorm.  Mr. Motorbike is gassed, oiled, aired and ready to go -- if I just had anyplace to go on it!  I've stocked up on the necessities of life -- Diet Coke, Cup-a-Soup and toilet paper.

     The latter is needed because I have house guests coming back here after a brief sojourn down in KL.   What with the stomach bug they picked up in Myanmar and the one I got in squeaky-clean Singapore, it seemed advisable to stock up on toilet cleaner and paper.   They decided to hunker down here to pass the holidays when they finally realized that the roads will be so congested you can't go anywhere and prices have been jacked up such that you can't afford to eat out or sightsee, much less stay in a decent hotel.  Never mind the crowds as everybody struggles to get home to their family manse and then have fun once they're there.

One of dozens of shops selling CNY decorations

   With those house guests in mind, I went to the nearby Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlet (like Starbucks) and asked if they'd be closing for any of the coming three days of CNY holidays.  They about fell down laughing and one said, " Coffee Bean is close when the world is end!"  Now, if they could just manage to keep their to-die-for Cheesy Spinach Muffins in stock, I could survive these holidays happily. 

   

Hopefully a pig for roasting, not a corpse!

    




   
 Uh-oh!  What's this mundane photo doing in a post about Chinese New Year?  It isn't red, pink or gold, glittering or over-the-top, so you might think it has nothing to do with CNY. (Red evidently represents life and gold, prosperity.)  But noooo  -- this is (I think) a pig for roasting for the holidays.   I tried to find out how much it costs, but I couldn't even turn it over in the freezer.  Dead weight!  

    Considering how long it takes to thaw a turkey in America, I have to wonder about how long it would take to thaw this sucker.  And how about the logistics of getting it into a shopping cart and then into your car?  And where would you thaw it in this climate where milk spoils in your fridge about two days after you've bought it?  If it really is a pig, you could easily get a stomach bug and really need the aforementioned toilet paper and cleaner in abundance.  

    This should be an interesting time, culturally speaking, to be in Penang.   

                     Gong Xi Fa Cai !

The Eight Immortals Visit 99 Kelawai

       There's a very attractive low-rise condominium on the corner of Kelawei Road and Lorong Leandros in Pulau Tikus.  It's white and classical-looking with only a few units in it.  I've been told that in the past it was used as housing for its teachers when Uplands School was located nearby.  I've also heard that it was a residence for priests at St. Joseph's Novitiate, which is now a preserved structure that's been incorporated into the nearby glam retail shopping mall & residence called Gurney Paragon.  (Now and perpetually under construction, or so it seems.)  I'm not sure if either is true, but it could well have served as both.

99 Kelawai decked out for the Xmas holidays -- 2012

      What I do know is that nowadays it's a reasonably-priced condo where many  Japanese company workers and managers live with their families.  I hear they're rented by the companies themselves and kept as a kind of serviced apartments, meaning that the utilities are always laid on and the apartments are move-in ready.  There's not much parking there, but gentlemen at the upper management level would be transported by company car and driver.  And there doesn't seem to be a swimming pool, but how many wives of such men actually hang out at pools anyway?  

Cranes -- the first part of this year's CNY

   In the past couple of years, this place has been incredibly well-decorated by the owner, who doesn't even live there, I'm told.  Above is a picture of their Xmas decorations this past season.  It was spectacular when it was all lit up at night, too.  

 Xmas decs making way for Chinese New Year ones

            The decorations are installed by professionals using a cherry picker machine like this one above.    This year, the workers took down the Xmas decs and started putting up the Chinese New Year decorations at the same time. 

 So here are the Eight Immortal Gods, waiting their turn to go up.  

One of the 8 Immortals

Another immortal  -- all are lit up at night

      







According to a local newspaper, in Chinese mythology, the Eight Immortals are believed to know the secrets of nature. They represent male, female, the old, the young, the rich, the noble, the poor, and the humble man.   Each diety is said to have powers and can be a talisman to destroy evil or give life.  

      Folks who think they know all about this extravaganza say that the Chinese businesswoman who has it put up spends upwards of US $10,000 or more per holiday. She says she was inspired by the way Americans decorate for the holidays, though these are actually better in a way because they're equally good day or night.  She gets the local Visual Art and Decor Workshop  to put up the display and she said in a newspaper interview that that it took 10 people six months to complete the decorations.  

      I just hope this lady realizes how much her efforts are appreciated, not only by those who live nearby, but by the countless numbers of visitors and tourists that pass by on busy Kelawei Road and marvel at it.  It's truly equal to or better than those in hotels and shopping malls either here or in the States.  I'll have to tell her if she's ever there holding one of her many courtyard parties.  Thank you, Ms E. Tan!