Jill, Dipesh and I continued on our tour of Melaka and came across the famous Christ Church of Melaka.
It is the oldest functioning Protestant Church in Malaysia.
The Dutch conquered Melaka from the Portuguese in 1641 and turned the churches into Dutch Reform.
For the celebration of the centenary capture of Melaka, the Dutch built a new church which is the Christ Church of Melaka.
In 1824, the Dutch and British signed a treaty which then gave control of Melaka to the British and the Christ Church became the property of the Church of England.
It was originally painted white but was painted red, with many other nearby buildings, to remind people of the original Dutch heritage.
The paving stones have inscriptions in Portuguese and Armenian. One in particular, captures a bit of the history of Melaka and the person buried within the tomb.
Greetings, you who are reading this tablet of my tomb in which I now sleep. Give me the news, the freedom of my countrymen, for them I did much weep. If there arose among them one good guardian to govern and keep. Vainly I expected the world to see a good shepherd came to look after the scattered sheep.
I, Jacob, grandson of Shamier, an Armenian of a respectable family whose name I keep, was born in Persia near Inefa, where my parents now forever sleep. Fortune brought me to distant Malacca, which my remains in bondage to keep. Separated from the world on 7th July 1774 A.D. at the age of twenty-nine, my mortal remains were deposited in this spot of the ground which I purchased.
An interesting fact of the Christ Church of Melaka is that it was built without any nails. We guessed it was because the nails would rust in the tropical air but were wrong.
They built it without nails because Jesus Christ had been crucified and they didn’t want to remember him with the nails in his hands and feet. Therefore, they built a church that would not have any nails in it.
Jill, Dipesh and I were walking around Melaka and just having a great time when we wandered upon a professional photo shoot.
I’m intrigued by fashion and how the Western belief of fashion has taken over many places and being intertwined with local fashion in some instances.
We watched as the photo shoot continued and I appreciated that angle the photographer used for most of his shots as he was laying down and shooting up to highlight both the clothes and the tower from the mosque behind the models.
After this we continued on our way and kept walking around the backstreets near Jonker Street, which is a very famous street and I will be blogging about in a future post as it is quite beautiful and full of life.
My favorite of all the pictures. Jill did an amazing job as the photographer to catch the moment!
Jill and I enjoyed the bird park so much that we ended up taking a lot more pictures than we thought we would.
So, in hopes that my dear readers enjoy birds, and photography, as much as we do, I wrote a second blog post with more pictures.
These are mostly of the enclosed area where the lorries hang out and we were able to pay 2RM (about 70 US cents) to feed them and have them land us.
It was a bit scary at first to have all these birds flying straight at us but after a few seconds, it was just fun and exciting. Jill was pretty nervous about the birds landing on her and I asked her to try it and just see how it would go (I did it first so she could see it wouldn’t be painful or dangerous) and she loved it.
Something I truly love about Jill is that she is willing to take on things that cause her fear and anxiety and do, as we call it in behavioral therapy, “Exposure therapy” where one exposes themselves to the fearful, or anxiety causing, event and then realizes, very quickly, that the anxiety was just a lie and they can master it.
Jill is incredibly courageous and has yet to turn down an exposure therapy when we travel. Again, I make sure to do whatever she is afraid of first, and I make sure to do things that terrify me so that I can get over my fears and anxieties since they are not based in evidence or reality. Swimming with sharks on this trip is a perfectly example of that. So was skydiving a few years ago. For almost all of us, we are amazing safe and protected. We just interpret things incorrectly and get anxious instead of working through them and becoming stronger as we master the event.
As Robert Frost wrote, “The best way out is always through.”
And a day after Chinese New Year, my blog heads back to Kuala Lumpur.
Jill and went on a Hop On Hop Off bus tour in Kuala Lumpur and had a great time.
Kuala Lumpur, even though it has around 13 million people living in it, is a rather “small” city. It is easy to get to most tourist attractions by walking, or a very short taxi ride. However, whenever we travel to a new location, we like to take the hop on buses so we can get a good idea of where everything is located and sort of “ease” in to the new place without pressure of figuring everything out on our own.
We hopped off the bus at the KL Bird Park and we instantly fell in love with it.
The people there are quite friendly and everyone seemed to be having a great time.
The birds, of course, were the main attraction and they were incredible.
Our favorites were the peacocks that were strutting around the park and showing off to anyone that would look their way.
Another favorite was having the birds drink from our cups and sit on our hands, arms and heads.
We stayed for the performance and enjoyed that greatly. I was able to get a picture of a massive parrot flying right by us and sent it to the KL Bird Park who then published it on their Facebook page later that week.
The world gets smaller and smaller the more we try to connect to each other.
As I wrote on the Chinese New Year blog post, this is how expatriates make a family that spans the world and find ways to get the support they need when they are far from home.
Please ask your friends to “like” this page on Facebook or subscribe by email!
Jill and I have been told about the awesomeness of Chinese New Year fireworks for a few months.
We weren’t sure if we’d stay in Beijing, or China, for it as it is a massive festival and most businesses shut down. Also, if one wants to travel around China, there are about 200,000,000 people traveling back to their homes and the trains are jammed packed and quite chaotic.
Speaking of travel in China during Chinese New Year, Jill and I watched a brilliant documentary on this migration titled, “Last Train Home.” I would recommend it to anyone that wants to have a better understanding of what an average Chinese worker goes through to survive in today’s world. It is very powerful and moving.
We were told of a rooftop party at a restaurant near Houhai Lake. This is a beautiful area and I have a blog coming out, in a few days, when we went to watch people ice skate on the lake.
Luckily it is a quick subway and then bus ride to get there and we planned on grabbing a taxi home since all the buses shut down around 11 pm. One of the joys of Chinese New Year in Beijing is that almost everyone else has gone home so the subways and buses are almost empty. It has never been so easy to get a seat as it has been in the past day or two.
Amazingly, it wasn’t that cold and we were able to walk around in just our jackets and didn’t even need our hats or gloves for most of the night.
We arrived at The Orchid and sat down for a few drinks. It was an all you can eat and drink menu for 300RMB (about 50 USD).
Not a bad way to say goodbye to the Year of the Snake and welcome in the Year of the Horse.
We waited for our friends, Nick, Deven, Nic and Jason and when they showed up we moved upstairs so we could look out the windows and watch as the festivities started.
Another couple arrived and we invited them to sit down with us since they looked like they didn’t have anyone else to celebrate with at this point.
As we talked with our new friends, we found out that he originally Eric was from Half Moon Bay and Kimberly was born in Santa Rosa, California.
For those that don’t know, I’m from Healdsburg, California. It is a beautiful little town in the middle of the wine country. Santa Rosa is about 10 miles away and was one of our main rivals in sports and pretty much everything else.
As Jill’s and my world gets bigger, it continues to get smaller.
As midnight approached, we went on the rooftop but it was so packed we had to stand on the stairs. I was worried about Jill and her knees being in pain and tried to figure out somewhere else to stand and still be able to see the fireworks clearly.
Jill noticed our friends on the top of another roof and we asked if we could come join them and they agreed. We hung out with them and enjoyed the fireworks for about 30-45 minutes.
We then went back to the party and hung out until around 2 am and were lucky enough to grab a cab almost the second we walked out the door with another friend we met tonight and shared the cab ride home, turned on our air filter to the highest power (it makes a grey noise that blocks out the sounds from the constant fireworks and firecracker explosions) and happily fell asleep after welcoming in the Year of the Horse.
I wishing you all “春节快乐“, which is pronounced “Chunjie Kuile” and means Happy New Year in Mandarin.
I apologize for jumping around regarding dates, times and locations of my blog posts.
I tend to write my blogs about a week or two in advance because I don’t want to miss any days.
Being that I have a full time job and a full time life, if I wrote each blog, each day, I’d fall behind and forget what the heck I had written about, want to write about and will write about.
I’d also have stacks and stacks of photos sitting in my folders and unused because I don’t have the time to edit them in that moment.
This is especially true when I go on vacation or travel.
Lastly, the internet connections are not always reliable so it also interferes with my ability to do timely blog posts.
Therefore, this is a blog post about how I spent my New Year’s Day evening.
As you know, we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Singapore watching the fireworks down by the Marina Float with about 200,000 of our “closest” friends. There was an 8 minute fireworks display and I’ve now seen NYE fireworks in the USA, Australia, Japan, and Malaysia. I will see the Chinese New Year’s fireworks in just week from now in Beijing. I’m looking forward to it although I’m a bit apprehensive of the 10 days of sleepless nights when fireworks are continually exploding all around the city.
Jill and I were wandering around Singapore on New Year’s Day and just relaxing.
We had spotted the Thekchen Choling Buddhist Temple about two blocks away from our hotel and since we were visiting temples, mosques and churches on this visit, we decided to stop by and see what was happening.
Luckily enough, they were having a special chanting session since it was the start of the lunar new year that day!
Jill, being the person she is, had people walk up to her and start talking to her as we waited. A few people talked to me also but I was sitting on the men’s side of the aisle while she was closer to the door and sitting on the women’s side of the aisle.
As I was talking to someone, Lama Thubten Namdrol Dorje Tulku walked up beside Jill and talked to her for a few moments. He then handed her a book that he had written. He had just returned from learning with His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama and had a feeling of such calm and peace that it emanated from him.
The book, Direct Expressions, is wonderful. I read it on our bus ride up to Melaka a few days later. I highly recommend it as it is based in mindfulness and caring for your fellow human being and, in what seems to be part of the Buddhist tradition, very humorous and jovial terms of language and belief. It also shows great respect for the beliefs and traditions of Buddhist life.
One man started playing a drum and ringing a bell to announce the start of the chanting. People that had been wearing shorts and tshirts just a few minutes before, appeared in gorgeous black or orange robes and sat down in the chairs around us.
Here is a quick video of the call to chant:
The chanting started and the Lama sat by the drum. He looked around a few times and as he rose to move to a different position I saw him smile. He seems to be a genuinely happy person.
One reason I’m interested in Buddhism is that behavioral therapy has recently been adapting Buddhist ideology into its practice. This is where the idea of acceptance and choice is so apparent in the work that I do with my clients and the work I do on myself: I can choose to make a change, which will cause suffering of one type, or stay the same, which will cause suffering of another type.
If I choose to stay the same, I accept that I am making this choice and try to do so without regret, guilt or other emotions that would cause negative reactions. Or, if those emotions appear, notice them, welcome them and then let them go and continue on my way.
I mention that either changing or not changing will cause suffering because to live is to suffer.
This may sound like a terrible idea but it is actually quite freeing. I know that I will suffer, and the suffering will end, so I can use that to continue, move through the suffering, and know that suffering will come again and be ready for the experience.
I love my mom. However, when she dies, I will suffer. I will suffer for the things unsaid, the things said and everything in between. This is life. I can do the most I can to make sure she knows I love her (and I know she’s reading this blog so I know she will see this) but there is only so much. Life is impermanent and so the ability to cherish what we have now, in the present, and let go of the past and fears of the future, allow us to be truly alive.
The ability to live in the now is all we truly have because we can die at any moment. Again, this can be a terrifying reality or it can be an enlivening one. I choose to be excited by this belief because this means I can cherish, and relish, each and every moment I’m alive. I live with the feeling of joy and excitement at what each day will bring and where I will go.
As the chanting continued, the kind man sitting next to me kept showing me the words, in Chinese and and in English, that they were chanting but since I don’t speak Chinese I didn’t understand them and just listened and tried to take in the feeling of calm and comfort.
We stayed for about half of the chanting and then quietly got up and left. I felt some guilt at leaving because it seemed to be so relaxing and generous of them to welcome us. However, I realized this was just an emotion and I had enjoyed my time, and hoped that the people with me had enjoyed theirs, and that was how life continues to be.
I’ve posted two videos of the chanting. The first is in normal speed and the second goes into double time:
I love the different colors of hijabs and ice cream.
Kuala Lumpur is hot and humid.
Even during Christmas.
Even during the winter.
I have to say I love it.
I’ll take hot and humid over cold and windy any day.
So, in the middle of winter here, people eat a lot of ice cream.
Jill and I were visiting the Muzium Negara (National Museum) and we saw these women all getting some ice cream and laughing, smiling and having a wonderful time.
I snapped a picture, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, but it didn’t work out.
The woman in the back noticed me and threw up the universal “peace sign.” It was very cute.
By the way, there is a choice to have ice cream in a cone or in bread. The girls all suggested I have mine in the bread. I tried it and the ice cream vendor gave me green tea bread. As you can see, the bread is actually green. It was slightly flavored and quite yummy. Definitely worth a try if you ever come to Malaysia.
I then asked them if I could take a picture of all of them and they laughed and agreed.
In China, people often ask to take pictures with us when we are out and about traveling.
We find it rather hilarious and absurd because we would never think of going up to someone, in America, and saying, “Hi, we don’t know you but can we take a picture with you?” We always agree and do our best to promote cross cultural relationships that will help people see us as fun loving and generous with our time. It may not seem like much to take a picture with someone but during the holidays we are sometime asked 10-15 times a day and it can actually get a bit tiring because when you take one picture, people will line up and wait for their turn. You end up having to run away from the crowds which is pretty comical in a way.
However, we find ourselves taking pictures of people here in Malaysia and they don’t seem to mind. They seem to have the same sense of humor about being photographed here as we do in China.
And, with that, I wish you a Happy New Year’s Eve and lots of love, joy and ice cream in the New Year!
If you watch certain American media outlets, or read newspapers by them, there seems to be a number of people worried about a hypothetical “War on Christmas” back home.
I’m utterly confused how one can have a war on a holiday that is made up but hat is just me.
Think about it: A dude that flies around in a sleigh with a bunch of reindeer and circumnavigates the entire Earth in less than 24 hours. This includes people who don’t believe in Santa Claus, or have never herad of him, and he still gives them gifts.
That sounds like a pretty cool guy that no one would want to go to war with. He also doesn’t sound like anyone that would go to war, either.
One of the issues that often comes up by people who believe that there is a “War on Christmas” is that other religions are trying to take away Christmas as a holiday and make it their own or destroy it.
The fact is I live in Beijing, China and am vacationing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, right now.
According to “The War on Christmas” folk, these nations should hate Santa Claus and everything that he represents.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
China is supposedly a Communist nation that doesn’t believe in religion. This isn’t really true because of Buddhism but we will ignore that point for now.
China spends so much money and time on Christmas that it all people need to do is visit and they will lose all fears of a war breaking out anywhere. The people here LOVE Christmas and everything about it. It is probably more like Christmas here than it is back in the USA. The Chinese have more fun and less anxiety about Christmas because they love buying things and giving gifts.
Maybe we all could learn how to respect the Christmas spirit and give a little more to the needy?
In Kuala Lumpur, as you can see by the pictures, there are Christmas trees everywhere. Remember, it is about 90 degrees with 90% humidity so it isn’t like Santa is going to be flying in and landing in the snow here anytime soon.
If anything, I’d worry he’d get heat stroke and die with his big heavy coat.
Listen up, folks: The Commies in China, and the Muslims in Malaysia, love Christmas and Santa Claus. So, if you believe in Santa, and Christmas, relax a little bit and feel safe that nobody here wants a war. Let alone, a War on Christmas.
I think that all people want is a little peace, love and holiday cheer.
Isn’t that what the Christmas spirit is supposed to be about anyway?
If you agree that it is, please donate to a charity or help people in need.
I have a friend that would be such a person.
Her name is Mary Resenbeck and she is stuck in an isolation ward in a hospital in San Diego. She has diverticulitis and is having a very difficult time.
She has developed C-Diff because of the antibiotics and can not even hold, or breastfeed, her newborn 3 month old baby, Gracie.
She and her husband, Doug, have 5 children and neither of them can work at this point since Doug is taking care of the children himself. Gracie is staying with family members since she is so young.
They have insurance but it will not cover everything they need, let alone the basic necessities that they have during this time and the months to come.
Mary may be in the hospital for months to come, as she heals, and then needs surgery to fix the ruptures in her colon and reattach it. This is no small problem and not a quick fix.
This is the reality of life. People need help and, if we have the means, we can choose to help them.
I donated this morning and hope you will also.
Please follow this link and help her out. It explains her whole story and is touching and powerful that what I posted here.
Please make it a Merry Christmas for Mary, Doug and the rest of her family.
200 Days in Beijing. And Shanghai. And San Francisco. And Healdsburg. And Johor Bahru. And Kuala Lumpur . And Sinagpore.
It should be day 200 in Beijing for me.
It is not.
I’m in Kuala Lumpur.
Little did I think when I started this blog that I’d even be doing a daily blog that would take me all the places I’ve been to as of today.
A bit of history: I used to have a blog, a few years ago, where I posted things about my views on life, love and therapy. I decided that it probably wasn’t the best thing to do since I wasn’t sure I wanted my personal life out there.
However, when I started getting ready to move to Beijing, I decided to do a 14 day countdown for my friends and family that wanted to keep in touch.
When I arrived here I found that I enjoyed it so much I’d attempt to do a blog post for each and every single day of my 3 year contract at my job.
I may stay longer than 3 years but that was my minimum and that is where I wanted to start.
I’m now at 200 days and surprised at how easy it has been to think of something new, and different, each day.
There have been a few tough times where I felt I was losing steam but I asked my readers to give me suggestions and it brought me back to life.
I would like my readers to comment more and tell me what they like and what they want to know as that does excite me and I have more of an idea that people are actually reading my blog. I would like to think people are reading it and enjoying it but I won’t know unless they tell me.
So, I appreciate, deeply, everyone that writes to me and comments.
It honestly makes me smile each time.
In honor of that, I think Steve Johnson needs a shout out, as we say in the states.
Steve is an old high school friend of mine and has been a one man cheer team for me and my blog. I think he has “liked” every single post and commented on most of them.
Steve, thank you. I’m honored and humbled to be your friend and someone that you feel deserves being read.
And, since this blog is mostly about life, love and the pursuit of travel, ending with a thank you to Steve, while visiting Malaysia with Jill, and then living in the same apartment complex as my older brother Robert and his wife and new born son in Beijing, China, while conversing with my family and friends all over the world, do I realize that, in the end,
