Berapa harganya ini? - How much does this cost?
kerang - cockles
ikan keli - catfish
biri-biri - mutton
babi - pork
chupat - hurry up!
chepap - pussy
Recent obsessions:
sentimental books
my new little houseplant and the worm inside the pot which keeps attempting a suicidal escape
The past week has pretty much been a euphoric celebration of having my health back again...more great food, impulsive purchases of dirt cheap pirated DVDs, drinking, birthday celebrations and in general, a new found sense of homeyness I have come to appreciate about KL. My sister has always said that it always takes a sickness to really feel at home with any new place you move to, and I think she's totally right.
Some SISters and I went to University Malaya (UM) on Thursday to eat lunch with an ex-coworker who just left to do research on Malaysian economic development. While we ate our noodles the sky instantaneously turned ominously gray and it started to pour. Really pour. This is a photo of us all completely drenched and very late for work.
Some of my lovely coworkers.
On Friday, I rushed home and got ready to go out again to meet a friend and quench a raging sushi craving, followed by a 30 minute foot dunk into a tank of flesh eating fish. [Oh the circle of life...] It felt like my feet where being poked by hundreds of dull pencil tips. For the first 10 minutes, I couldn't keep them in longer than a few seconds without wanting to piss myself, but I eventually got used to it. When they were done with their meal, my feet felt like satin sheets. Amazing. And weird. Mostly weird.
Photo of a decorated tree in Bukit Bintang, the KL equivalent of Sunset Blvd.
I started out my Saturday, lounging around at home, went swimming for a while and cleaned my house until I had to go to the Crown Princess Hotel in Ampang Park for a talk by Dr. John Esposito called "The Future of Islam: Reformation or Stagnation?" and hosted by SIS. The talk was mainly about the misrepresentation and assumptions made about Islam by non-Muslims and Muslims alike. One of the best points he made (which I hadn't even thought of before) was the fact that Islam is currently portrayed as a violent religion. Yet if you think about it, Christian nations (or Christianity itself), has probably caused much more insane amounts of violence and war over the centuries than Islam ever could at this point (think Spanish Crusades, WWII, and European colonialism ALL over the world...)
The fact of the matter is, the principles of Islam like Christianity, is based upon 2 fundamental things: Their holy text and the interpretations that are claimed to be grounded with it. The Qur'an has pretty much stayed the same since the 7th Century, but what has constantly and reliably changed is the social context in which it is read and understood by people. The main point about his talk was that Islam should never be simplified or consolidated to a series of assumptions or ideas. Not only is it constantly evolving throughout the ages, "it" really isn't any singular set of ideas or beliefs. Millions of Muslims interpret it in their own unique way to make it relevant for themselves, and therefore saying anything that begins with, "The Muslims think/believe/practice/claim that..." is in itself a fallacy.
Anyways, it was a great talk AND I got to take this great awkward picture with him after it was over.
After that, I went to a little mixer hosted by a new friend I met at Barcamp Malaysia a couple weeks ago. This guy, Khailee, I swear knows everyone and their Malaysian mommas. So needless to say it was a charming group of people, some of whom were journalists, photojournalists, Ruby developers, tech dudes, and entrepreneurs. There's nothing like having great conversations about everything from politics to tongue rings over a nice glass of wine.
That's all for now. I also made another blog for my other random thoughts, haikus and writings that don't necessarily have to do with life in Malaysia. If you're interested: www.mairasutton.blogspot.com
Until next time.
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2 comments:
So you put your feet in a tank of flesh eating fish, huh? So are your feet as soft as a baby's bottom?
I like the diagonal human head formation in that last picture.
nice blog post. enjoyed it a bunch. see you soooooooon~ !
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