after breakfast at the local food stalls, we visited the rest of the acreage today. two new sections to the compound had been constructed since my last visit here five or six years ago. one was on the other side of the pond. the other - the older addition - was accessible through the backyard. the former - a long construct - reminded me of a native longhouse. the window frames were constructed of various geometrical designs. apparently it took a while to build, because each piece of wood needed to form the structure of the window had to be custom cut and precise. the latter, accessible by stairs, sat high in the skies, above the rest of rest of the houses. it was a three-tiered complex, with the living room on the main floor, the kitchen in the back, and private quarters in the top two levels. the furnishings, simple but complete, suited the surrealism of the environment. with the wild birds and the crickets chirping, and sometimes, the occasional monkey yelping in the background, it was a perfect retreat for those seeking peace and tranquility in a world driven by economics. my favorite living area, to say the least. i could sit all day on the top floor, looking over the valley. with a few good books in hand, i could stay for weeks!

we made some new friends today. twelve to be exact. as soon as we drove up to my uncle's house in malaysia, i could see one of them waiting to find out what was causing the ruckus at the front gates. as it turns out, he was the most shy of the lot. he squirreled his way between some planks of wood and the wall, and stayed there for the better part of setting morning sun. the others took a little bit of warming up, but before long, and with some bribery in hand, they were taking turns licking our hands and biting our toes.

i estimated them at being no more than two months old. they were walking with the newly acquired skills of a toddler who had just found his legs, their forelegs sometimes not catching up to their hind counterparts. a foot-wide drain ran around the perimeter of the house. in order to get to the grass, one has to jump across the drain. with legs so short, it was not uncommon to hear the yelping of puppies in distress! at one point, i found 3 all piled into the drain, which was about a foot deep. with a little bit of patience, they learnt to navigate across with the aid of a wooden plank. before that, though, some took to meditating at the edge, as this little one did. or perhaps he was building up his courage to jump?

tonight xiaogu made her lions' head - a spectacular way of calling meatballs, taiwanese-style. this were deep fried, however, so the difference in taste was just as spectacular. and with the sweet and savory sauce that she thickened and poured lovingly over the heads of the lions, it was a dish to be reckoned with. we all had two ... maybe more, then found no better way to digest than to walk around the local night market. friday nights are the best because the stalls are ten-fold in number and last until at least 11pm at night. not a mean feat since these stalls start at about 4pm. of course, by 8pm, which was the time we reached the market, most of the good selectables are gone. malaysians love to shop! but most of all, they love to bargain. it was not uncommon to see one walking away from a vendor, still hurling insult at the departing person. on the other hand, one could also be sweetly cajoled back to the purchasing table...

i stumbled across the malaysian variation of one of my favorite snacks that i pick up at fujiya. isn't this funny!

one last pic before we say goodbye. he's leaving home for vancouver in an hour and they're not yet out the door, but already i know i'll be missing, for two weeks, the sight of his scrunched up nose; he does that when he grins or is laughing. born a monkey, always a monkey. i think singapore has been hard on him. new surroundings, new environment ... and always perpetually hot! but he handles it well. as well as a baby would. after all, how much can one explain such things to an eighteen month old? in a few years, one wonders how much he would retain in his childhood memories of his international trips with his parents. the first trip that i remember - i do that by the skin of my teeth, and the flashes of memories come in bits and pieces, chunks if i'm lucky. a few stolen words from the treasure trove long put aside as the daily passages of life consume us and age becomes us. it's odd what we choose to remember. to steal a few words from john irving - what we remember at [an] early age is very selective or incomplete, or even false. i can still remember the way my feet were placed together as i looked up at the smiling face, peering through the crack of the slightly opened door. the heaviness of the musty air in the hotel corridor. the way my brain processed her reply to my innocent question, can she come out and play now? how i remembered thinking how creative the answer was. how inappropriate yet so innocent. who knew that i would remember the words nay, she's bombing tokyo right now so clearly?

the little princess
i think it's the way she stares into the camera. if you look into her eyes, just her eyes, the coolness of the gaze belies her age. they say that you can look into the souls of people to see if they have been around before. with alli, i think that hers is an old soul, seen much and felt more, and here on this earth at this time to bring more joy into our lives. we are the lucky ones.

i visited the singapore botanical gardens for the first time. ever. yes yes, i know...how can i call myself a singaporean? what shame! in any case, it was my first visit to one of sandy's favourite places to stroll around in while visiting singapore. the weather was hot - perfect for sweating out the viruses. there were plenty of people around, all with the same agenda - to visit the beautiful flowers and tropical nature in the garden city, as singapore is affectionately known. we walked together and didn't see anything worthful until we were in the pay-zone. orchids galore, and a wonderful coolhouse that sprayed an evian commercial worthy mist at us and kept the ambient temperature (and hence tempers) at about 20degrees. why couldn't we have stayed there? in the end, we bought ice cream to placate the kids. here's what ice cream is like in the sweltering heat of singapore. you'd better lick fast, or you're getting it down your shirt!

i was picked up at the airport in the wee hours of the morning. except for the sound of crickets, the night was quite still ... not! this is singapore, after all, and much as the legend goes, the city does not sleep. we drove through the residential neighbourhood of tampines, passing by late night patrons seated at the tables of their kobi-tiams (coffeeshops), which never seem to see their doors closed. one common denominator connecting these silent men sitting at the table of their choice - SOCCER.

i spent the better half of june 11th on the plane to singapore. this time, thank goodness, a quiet, unassuming japanese man sat next to me. it seems to me that he was of the cautious and/or nature - he kept to himself, avoided all side glances, and occasionally whipped out a book to read. i wasn't in the mood to strike up conversation. i either slept or read briefly from samantha's model, an intriguing book into the dirty background of modeling ... and looking forward to disembarking. i've spent enough time on the plane - it's time to get off!

- how to get an irritating passenger to stop talking - images from dave's blogography site
just my luck...i wanted to be seated in one of the front rows, so took the middle seat...and happened to plunk myself between a reader and a talker. the reader was fantasticly glued to her book. the talker, however, couldn't take a hint, even when i had my book firmly open and my earphones plugged into my ear.

maybe he was just really excited about his first plane ride out of vancouver ...NOT. apparently this is just one of the many regular flights he takes from vancouver to vietnam. this time, though, it's "special". he's on his way to pick up his wife. oh. i stand corrected. his SECOND wife.

whatever happened to the sanctity of "till death do us apart"? don't people believe in marriages as long term investments in relationships, rather than a consequence of a look across a room to find that someone is pretty?

am i really that old fashioned?

Travel round
I travel round
Decadence and pleasure towns
Tragedies, luxuries, statues, parks and galleries
Making love to the criminals
Asia has a language problem
I travel
And on and on and on and on and on and on and on