Spending Time in an Aquarium on Redang Island
We’ve been given a day for relaxing at the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort off the coast near Terengganu, Malaysia. This slice of white sand beach is an oasis on a very rugged and undeveloped island in the South China Sea. The first thing you see when you debark the small […]
Watching the Big Game with Italy Fans
GOALLLLLLL! went to bed early then asked for a 2 am wake-up call. The World Cup was in high gear, I entered a room full of screaming fans, inexplicably all of these Malaysians are die-hard Italy fans. They set up rows of chairs and brought us coffee, fresh juices, noodles, […]
The South China Sea in View
We’ve arrived in Terenggamu, on Malaysia’s eastern coast, and we are staying in the Primula Beach resort here. The town is decidedly more conservative and poorer than KL, we see that in that nearly all the women are wearing headscarves and there are fewer high rises and more shacks. The […]
Citrawarna Is Indeed All it’s Hyped Up To Be
The main event was last night..Citrawarna,the Colours of Malaysia, the big shindig that the Tourism board brought us all here to see. It did not disappoint, beginning with the resplendent arrival of the King and Queen themselves. Alighting from the Royal float, festively decorated in yellow, the king, a short […]
Partying Muslim Style
Last night we partied Muslim style! I got an email from cousin Steve warning me about Islamic terrorists and another from my sweet Cindy worried about pirates in the Straits of Malacca. Well we drove right by them thar straits and saw a boat out in the water. I kept […]
Meeting Iranians in Melaka, Malaysia
This morning we attended a huge tourism conference organized to promote tourism in Malaysia. More than 400 travel writers and agents from 33 countries were in the big hall, and among these delegates were men in suits from Iran. I have always wanted to go to Iran and write a […]
Breakfast in Kuala Lumpur
It’s six-thirty am here in Melaka, (the alternate spelling for this town we’re in on the Malaysian coast) and it’s six-thirty PM where I live. So no need to change my watch, but we’re in different zones, I’m just going into 7/7 and they are winding up 7/6. At the […]
On the Tracks, Holding her Kids, Waiting to Die
Reading the Sun newspaper in KL and found a sad story. There was a diagram that showed the path of a young mother, who walked with her three kids down a street, around a hedge, and onto the train tracks, just ahead of a big curve. You can guess what […]
A Fleeting Glimpse of a King and a Bird Zoo
Today’s first stop was the ornate palace of the king. Outside the guilded gates, soldiers stood in crisp uniforms, leaning against silver guns, while tourists snapped photos of their relatives hanging out next to the men. Other guards sat on horseback, while click, click went the cameras. The gates suddenly […]
Now That’sa Roll: Kuala Lumpur Bakery
How about some chicken bread, or hotdog bread, or savory rolls? This bakery had so many different varieties of meat, dough, and creative kinds of ingredients I’d never thought you could bake into a roll or bun.
Meeting the President of Indonesia
My Johnny Jet moment of the trip came when we were having dinner at the revolving restaurant atop the Kuala Lumpur Tower. Perched 450 feet above a rainforest, where monkeys live, this edifice is now the fourth tallest tower, and we enjoyed a Malaysian buffet with lovely fish and seafood […]
Kuala Lumpur and the Search for Free WiFi
The search for free WiFi goes on…just as soon as you begin to assume that it’s free everywhere, you find so many different place that charge for it. Our hotel, the Boulevard, in mid valley, just outside the center of Kuala Lumpur, has WiFi…but it costs. Then I brought the […]
A new Kind of Singapore Sling–for Coffee
The longest flight in the world on Singapore Airlines wasn’t that bad, even though unlike our Travel maven Kent, I didn’t get an upgrade to business class. They called my name and gave me a ticket for a seat at the start of the aisle, so it was legroom aplenty. […]
That Nervous Feeling When You’re About to Go…
I am nervously awaiting my long-haul flight from Newark to Singapore tonight. Well, not nervous, but I have that antsy sort of feeling I get when I’m leaving on a big trip. The cafe is incredibly slow, so slow in fact that we’ll probably close at noon. Who knew that […]
The Soft July Evening with Garrison at Tanglewood
Garrison Keillor is a lot of fun close up. We are heading tonight for our fourth annual pilgrimage to watch the recording of the last Prairie Home Companion show tonight at Tanglewood. The lawn picnic we prepare is usually luscious…with Bill’s strawberries and snap peas, fine chilled wines, delicacies from […]
Sharing WiFi with the World for Free
We let the public know about our signal generosity a week ago, when the Daily Hampshire Gazette published a story about WiFi in cafes. We chatted with Rachael and talked about why giving this away to our customers makes sense. But just in case everybody didn’t see the paper, we […]
Getting Ready for a Long, LONG, Plane Ride
Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur are the tallest buildings in the world. I read about them in a huge packet of literature that DHL dropped off at the house. I am getting ready to fly to Malaysia on Monday night. The flight is with the best airine–Singapore Airlines. And this […]