Oh gee, I've been back in Oz for a week almost, and this is only my first post. A little slack, huh? It's been family a-go-go here. Booze and food. Fish and chips on the beach on a cold windy day. Rediscovering old clothes. Patting the family dog. Shoe shopping with my mother. Drinking coffee with my dad. Cutting my sister's hair. Wearing two t-shirts, leggings and socks to bed. Asking if the heating can be put on in the morning. Cripes, it's cold!

I haven't made anything yet. These are images from some cards I collaged in KL. Oh, memories!

Tomorrow I'm off to visit old friends and new babies. Hurrah!

So goodbye KL, so long Malaysia. It feels so strange to be leaving. We did live together after all. And you introduced me to some new friends, I can't help but feel a little sad. But then, holy cow, tomorrow morning when I touch down at Tullamarine...I'll probably be really tired. But happy!

Leaving you though, Thistler, is very hard to do, so you hurry home ok?

Goodbye favourite local coffee shop. Goodbye sweet red bean pastry (will I ever see you again?)



Goodbye Bangsar. You look so nice at dusk, all blurry and glowing, the evening call to prayer ringing out.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

It's home time. It's been almost nine months. Early Friday morning I fly fly fly out of KL and eight or so hours later I'll touch down in Melbourne. Oh my. So, goodbye swimming pool. Goodbye neighborhood.

Yesterday we went to FRIM. Oh la la, what is FRIM? Forum of Really Intelligent Mice? Oh no no. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, of course! It's a big park (with lots of buildings actually) where Malaysians practice a bit of Forest Research. Mmmm. It's on the outskirts of KL, but still in the Klang Valley. We were going for the canopy walk - a high bridge walk through the rain forest, so we packed a picnic and met our friends at the train station.



Our friends recommended NOT catching the train to FRIM, as the line was unreliable and overcrowded, so we caught a cab. Ooh, the place was rather not what we expected. It was like a little, spread out village with houses, schools and a few cafes. The rain forest was sort off around the edges of this. Down at the information center we were informed that the Canopy Walk was under construction. Oh no!
'But you know,' we were further informed, 'there is sooo much more to do lah.' (Some Malaysians like to add 'lah' onto the end of some sentences, sort of like 'yeah'.)



'You can go to the fish pond where, if you clap your hands, a huge fish will jump out of the water! It can jump so high, it could eat a baby monkey out of a tree, ok!!' (Some Malaysians like to add 'ok' onto the end of some sentences. Sometimes they add 'ok lah!' ;) Well we went to the pond and we clapped and clapped, all four of us together, but the fish wouldn't play. So we went to see some bamboo that we were told was the oldest bamboo in the world!! :0



Soon we wandered down to the picnic area only to discover it had been taken over by an inter-school event, where a large noisy game of musical chairs was in progress. We found a quieter spot by a waterfall and ate, battling over sized ants all the while.



Later we took a stroll through the edge of the rain forest, following the FRIM guide, which detailed the uses of different trees. Did you know that the Campnosperma auriculata is used for match boxes and sticks, packing cases, shoe soles, and disposable chopsticks? You didn't, did you?

Quiet quiet weekend here. Some wandering, some eating. Here are some pics...

Spent a couple hours today with another Aussie ex-pat who was kind enough to introduce me to a quilting shop in KL full full full of cottons. Hurrah! Here's a few fabrics I picked up. Oh heck, it was exciting.

Took a little walk this morning. The sky was very blue and clear and our shady street almost felt cool. Now the clouds are gathering once again and you can bet it's hot!

Who knew a monsoon drain could be so pretty?

zoo what?

Had a trip to the zoo last weekend. It was as most trips to the zoo are - long and exhausting. Still, we had a fairly jolly time. Ice-cream, fairy floss. Animals galore. The usual suspects. The following are a few pics of some very impressive folk. Our camera ran out of battery half way through, so unfortunately I can't bring you any images of the female orangutan banging her head against the enclosure door. Like I said, it was a fairly jolly time...






Actually, bittersweet is a more apt description of my Zoo experience. I love seeing these creatures up close, but when I see them doing tricks for food, I want to cry. "Goodness," I think "do they treat you like this at home?"

Buckle up, you're in for a long post. It's a late one also. We visited the Batu Caves on the weekend, and I'm only NOW posting about it because I forgot to take the camera along so used my phone camera, and it has taken me this long to send the images from my phone to the laptop. Ok?

The entrance to the Batu Caves, a Hindu temple here in KL. It's dedicated to the god Murugan. Here he is, gold and glorious.

This is the elaborately decorated archway to the 272 steps that lead to the Batu Caves. It is very very beautiful. My images don't do it justice but they are my souvenirs so...

Three friends begin the climb...

as many monkeys dart around, food in mouths. Those monkeys will happily leap up and snatch any food you have straight from your hands. It looks quite frightning, so we left our peanuts at home.

A temple inside the caves.

Looking outside from within, a souviner shop to the right.

The descent.

Deities decorate the other side of the entrance archway.


In true KL style there was plenty of rubbish scattered along the sides of the cave :( We only visited the main 'cathedral cave', but it was pretty special. There's some history on the Batu Caves here at reliable (!) wikipedia. There is the yearly Hindu Thaipusum festival in KL where devotees make a pilgrimage to Batu Caves. Some carry jugs or containers filled with offerings, others attach offerings to their bodies by piercing or hooking their skin, often dragging the offerings behind them... Obviously the Batu Caves are a deeply important to Hindus, and the day we were there there were many (gentler) forms of devotion taking place.

Be still, deer.

Yesterday a friend and I took a trip to the Deer Park here in KL. It's in the same area as the Butterfly Park Thistler and I visited some time ago. It was my friend's birthday, and we had already had nice lunch together with our husbands (!) in Mid Valley (Oh mega mall, where would we be without you?). We bought drawing supplies along to the deer park and settled down to an afternoon of sketching. The rain settled in also, and you can see how the deer (and two stags) congregated under the shelter. Oh, they really were so sweet! Standing there, staring back at us. Very very still most of the time then of course, at the inopportune moment, a little shuffling and the drawing is ruined. Never mind, it was so lovely to sit there and watch them as it rained, thundered and lightninged around us and I slowly re-acquainted myself with drawing.

This weekend Malaysia celebrated Merdeka, or independence (from British rule). There were many many flags adorning houses, buildings and cars. A car covered in small flags is quite a sight, each one flapping gleefully in the breeze. There were lots of thing happening in KL (many sales, of course) and on Saturday Thistler and I headed down to the Annexe Gallery in Central Market for the Art for Grabs market they hold there every so often. The gallery was also putting on a programme of films and lectures about Malaysian identity (and constructions of) that looked pretty good, but our love of craft won out over intellectual curiosity...
Lots of handmade goodies to see, here are a few we bought home for ourselves.


This little critter is a handmade softie constructed from a glove. Rather in keeping with my own sock kitty. Below is a set of hand cut perspex brooches. The black fruit is a durian - a beguiling fruit that stinks to high heavens but is heavenly to taste, apparently. Never eaten it, but have certainly smelt it at the markets. That and the umbrella are perfect Malaysian souvenirs!



We totally made it up to our intellect this afternoon though. We were hanging out in the city when, surprise surprise, it started raining. We thought we'd pop in to see a film. 'Don't Mess With The Zohan'. Yes, it is as bad as you think it may be. At one point Zohan says he's from Australia (hiding his true identity) and another character says 'Oh, it must be nice there now that Apartheid is over.' We must've been the only Aussies in the cinema, cause no none else chuckled. Now I've told you the 'funniest' part, you don't need to see it.

Rainy Days

It's been raining all morning. Really raining. Tropical rain. I wonder how long it will last and how many parts of the city have flooded already. No matter, I'm enjoying it. It's a complete distraction.



I wish I smoked so I could stand in the open doorway, arms folded, sucking that cigarette and looking sardonically to the sky. Or reflective, like I was contemplating something REALLY big. "Yeah," I'd think, "it sure is raining."



These pictures go no way to showing you how much water is falling from the sky. But you get an idea of the colour scheme.

We have been getting lost in the city (again), eating banana leaf meals at 'lost' locations, dining with Russians, cleaning our drains and spying piano players in fancy malls.

Mr David is Selling His House

This banner was hard to miss as we walked up the highway to the shops. It wasn't there the next day. I wonder if Mister David managed to sell his house. With 5 bedrooms and 7 toilets I bet it was snapped up quick smart.