ten ₱esos

When I buy Marigold brand milk here, it thickens and sours one day after opening a carton which is dated two weeks later! When I buy Marigold brand ‘orange juice’ (ahem), it sours after one day! When I buy Pepsi Max in one store here, it’s bitter as if it’s too old. Gee… wasted money. I can’t buy skimmed milk here though all milk is skimmed in the factories. And when I buy lowfat milk, it’s ‘not right,’ according to my taste. In all dairies they add sugar and milkfat to the skimmed milk. Here the lowfat milk doesn’t taste as ‘clean’ as it does in the U.S. It’s sickly sweet. In the Philippines, I bought only skimmed UHT or refrigerated milk after I hated the taste of the lowfat milk to which the dairies had added milk solids, whey and vegetable oil. Yuck!

The weather here on Penang is breezy and sunny and irresistible, so I went on another motorcycle tour of the island. And I saw teenagers playing Sepak Raga on three courts within a kilometer of each other. I was pleasantly surprised!  I hadn’t brought a camera, because I had only intended to swim from the beach of a fishing village on the corner of the island opposite from home, 24 km away. But after passing the first court then passing the second not so fast and thinking about spectating, I stopped to enjoy watching matches at the third court that I’d come upon at low speed in a neighborhood with a mosque, Islamic school and a small Sepak court.  »→

disservice from Banana Travel and Tours and Banana Cafe:

I had to depart Malaysia by May 30, so I thought that I’d ride a bus or train north to Thailand.  Rather than ride a slow, narrow-gauge  train 19 hours to Bangkok, which may have been an interesting trip, then wander in Bangkok making tourist photos, then come 19 hours back, I opted for an easier solution: a Toyota van ride from New China Penang to the Malaysia/Thailand border just to exit then later reenter Malaysia. »→

This afternoon I bought van tickets for a one-day ‘visa run’ from Penang to Thailand’s border and back, because my Malaysian  Social Visit visa will expire on May 30. I need to exit the country, you see. I can reenter almost immediately and be granted another three-month social visit visa. Many van, bus and train tickets to nearby Thailand are sold each week in George Town to tourists who want to visit Thailand and expats who need to exit New China Malaysia.

Last night I saw, from the den, a cockroach calmly crawling across the kitchen floor. I thought, ‘What audacity! The apartment’s not dark and silent. I haven’t gone to bed yet.’ I walked to the kitchen, picked up my spray bottle of chlorine bleach, used for sanitizing and cleaning and insect ‘control.’ I set the nozzle to ‘STREAM’ then aimed at the intruder which didn’t seem to notice that I was standing behind it. I shot. »→

Today we remember IndyCar racer Scott Brayton, who died during an Indy 500 practice session in 1996. †

“Drink wa-ter!” ~ That’s bellowed to soldiers so that they’ll drink enough  from canteens and Camelbaks and avoid dehydration in hot weather. I think that I’ve drunk a hundred gallons in four days to try to flush-out toxins and to maintain hydration. Last night I began to have nasal allergy symptoms due to pollen in the air here or the power plant nearby or cooties from this internet cafe. My nose began dripping. »→

I wrote optimistically a day ago that I was recovering from insecticide poisoning, largely because the dry, painful coughing had subsided. And I suppose that my headache had abated because I had taken an aspirin tablet.  I was still groggy/dizzy. I went walking -unsteadily- on the esplanade here. I felt like a staggering drunk. I likely wasn’t as visibly unsteady as I felt, but it was not a pleasurable stroll. I was just to eager to escape the apartment. We’ve had such beautiful weather, and I had been inert indoors, coughing and feeling miserable for days rather than enjoying recreation or photography in tropical sunshine. »→

I’ve been out of commission for more than two days since being poisoned Tuesday evening by anti-mosquito aerosol which was sprayed in George Town, Penang by MPPP employees blowing great clouds of it from wands. I have had a headache which won’t quit, grogginess/dizziness, dry, painful cough, muscular aches, joint aches, bone aches it seemed, near-continuous nausea (no vomiting), two miserable nights of fitful sleep …  I’m mostly recovered, I hope … I still have headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and sometimes the feeling that I’m about to puke. The painful coughing has mostly stopped. I have drunk gallons of water, trying to help flush-away toxins, if that’s possible. I hope that without the violent coughing I will sleep well tonight. †

Two weeks ago, as I walked south on a street in George Town, looking for photo opportunities, I glanced left at two Africans walking north with shopping bags from Prangin Mall. The taller one asked me, “Where are you from?” as many people have done in the Philippines and Malaysia. When I said, “Florida, U.S.A.,” they seemed enthused, and the tall one said that they were visiting from Liberia, which had been founded by Americans and that they were fond of Americans. »→

What we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. – C.S. Lewis,  The Abolition of Man

In Kuala Lumpur yesterday, I visited the very nice aquarium in the basement of the convention center and visited the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge again. I walked through downtown to find an affordable hotel and a Thai restaurant. I didn’t make my way to the top of Menara KL (KL tower), which I had half-intended to visit ( for 38 ringgit/$10.78). Maybe next time – in two to three weeks. And I didn’t photograph the twin towers or Menara KL at night, either. I hadn’t taken a camera with me to dinner. »→

I’m ‘stuck ‘in Kuala Lumpur overnight to await the opening of American Citizen Services at 9 a.m. The U.S. embassy’s American Citizen Services will only serve Americans from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Mondays through Fridays except Malay holidays and American holidays. Wow — what exemplary service. So … what do American Citizen Services employees do the other six hours of each workday? »→

A thief stole 400 ringgit from Dominic’s pocket as he tried to disembark a Rapid Penang (municipal) bus in George Town. Now Dominic wants to buy a motorcycle to get around town.