After several years of balik kampung, we’re celebrating Hari Raya in Kuching. Opah spent Ramadan with us. Hopefully it will be our last Raya before the house is torn down and rebuilt. Same building, exciting new structural integrity. Amin ya rabb.
Category Archives: Journal
Shah Alam Botanical Garden
Not ten minutes drive from downtown Shah Alam is the Shah Alam Botanical Garden. An enormous green space gazetted on Bukit Cerakah, the gardens range from open lawns to jungle trails, from ornamental plant collections to a mini zoo. For Malaysians looking for something truly exotic, there is even a four-seasons exhibit. I had to […]
Kitty Caught in Tree: Tropical Edition
A kitten adopted us this Ramadan. I wasn’t eager to take in another cat but one should feed a hungry guest, what more during the fasting month.
Climbing Mount Santubong
Mount Santubong looms ahead of my morning commute every morning, as it has for a dozen years. I’ve skirted the base of the mountain countless times, on the way to Damai beach or Sultan Tengah’s tomb, but I’d never made it to the top. Not for lack of trying. Two years ago, my son, my father […]
Spelling Champions of Sarawak
The biggest annual national spelling tournament in Malaysia is Spell-It-Right. Starting early in the year, several of my daughters had participated in rounds starting within the school itself and moving to wider competitions from there. Inattentive father that I am, I didn’t realize this was the big day, the State Finals, when I dropped Kak Yang […]
Hari Raya 2015
Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Dan Batin Eid Mubarak from Sarawak. May your fasting and ours be received by the Most High in His Mercy rather than by our merits, amin. It’s a special one for us this year since my eldest is in his last year of high school. Who knows when we’ll all be […]
36 hours in KL
Time for my semi-annual ritual humiliation at the Immigration Department. After 12 years here married to a Malaysian, I ought to be well on my way to Permanent Resident status. But permanent residency is predicated on holding a Spouse Visa, and I have as yet been able to get one. Kuching says I’m married to […]
KL Bird Park Part 2
The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park was so big and so fun we had to go back again. This year we were less two aunties, but we picked up seven cousins, making for a party of two lone adults riding herd on 14 young people. We only made it to half the park the first time around, […]