Barefoot Basketball

A high school student came to the classroom with the following announcements:

1) Tomorrow is PE
2) Wear your PE clothes - (a t-shirt and sports pants or shorts - no jeans)
3) Wear sneakers
4) Bring an extra T-shirt to change into after PE
5) If you don't wear you PE clothes, you'll have to sit and watch.

A little later in the day, one of the teachers said to me: "Wear some sports clothes. We'll be dividing the school into groups. You'll be supervising the high school boys."

(I'll wear my PE clothes and watch the boys and speak a little English (backboard, dribble, foul, shoot, etc.) but I'm certainly not going to"teach" PE, especially to high school boys.)

The following day, the students arrived in PE attire: t-shirts printed with English slogans they didn't understand, denim short-shorts, unlaced sneakers about 4 sizes too big (a shared family pair??), flip-flops, and hoodies (remember, it's 7 degrees above the Equator here which means very hot and humid all the time - why would anyone possibly need to be any warmer?).

We lined up by class and gender in the parking lot in front of the Chinese restaurant below the school and walked single-file along a very busy one-lane road with cars whizzing by in both directions. Several students walked veeeery slowing noticing the frogs and lizards in the ditch along the roadside. Other students eagerly marched ahead quickly planting themselves in the limited shade from banana palm trees dotting the perimeter of field awaiting further instruction.

(While bringing up the rear of the line and nudging the reluctant athletes ahead, I consumed over half of my liter of water. It was going to be a long, hot two hours.)

The athletic field consisted of a half-circle shaped garden about 50 yards across and 15 yards wide with a few lovely trees and shrubs dotting the field.. An experienced teacher, retired from public school and helping out part-time here, led the lineup and instructions with her whistle and switch, a long, thin bamboo stick used to slap misbehaving students in the classroom and herd unruly athletes (mostly boys) on the field.

(I was thinking about cattle, Twitter feeds "teacher herds students with switch", Bible verses "spare the rod/spoil the child", and lawsuits.) 

My assigned group of students, the lines Under 18 and Under 15 boys, so classified because of the track meet they will compete in next July, were instructed to take two laps around the field. Off they took and I decided to jog along behind them. After seeing one particularly sporty looking fellow slip on a curve in the wet grass, I noticed he was in his bare feet. A quick survey  of the joggers showed about one third of the boys were running without shoes.

At an inconspicuous time, I quietly asked the principal if they were supposed to be participating without shoes.

 (It seemed a valid question since yesterday we'd been told they needed shoes.)

He smiled and said, "Oh, they have shoes dedicated to basketball and they'll put them on when they get to the basketball court."

(Ok, this made sense.For a country that prides itself in flip flops or bare feet, saving shoes for something special seems logical. I get it. But, I was also aware the kids are kids and forgetting shoes is common...) 

Then, he pointed one of the barefoot boys and said, "He's a great leader and he'll be able to lead the boys in a warm-up."

 (Great! That saved from trying to be a PE teacher, especially since I had neither a whistle or a switch (Thank goodness on the latter).)

We walked to the back of the school and onto the basketball court where we proceeded to warm up. Barefoot Boy never did "find" or "put on" his shoes but he did, eventually, make it to the front of the group to lead a "warm-up."

(I was getting the sense that he's a leader in the more "negative" sense e.g. class clown, antics for laughs, etc. )

The first thing he did was place in hands in a prayer position with his fingertips touching his chin (kind of yoga or Zen-like) as he began the relaxing  head stretches  to the left, right, front and back, several wrist stretches  and a couple of arm shakes. When he sat down on the concrete in the butterfly position, his classmates burst into laughter. He continued the "relaxing" stretch with his right hand and elbow pressing his knees to the ground and his just-a-tiny-bit self-conscious left hand pulling his t-shirt down between his legs.

(Seemed like enough of a warm-up to me so I was glad when he said it was time to play. Who needs sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, etc, when you can limber up your wrists for all the writing you'll do later in the day...)

One of the older boys divided the group into three teams of five for short games of basketball. Barefoot Boy remained barefoot and and was positioned on the court to play guard for team #1. 

( I love the fact that natural consequences still play a major role in life here. And the absence of laws (or lack of enforcement thereof- not exactly sure which) made me fairly confident that if Barefoot Boy played basketball and got hurt, he or his parents wouldn't sue me. Play on!! )

Sure enough, several minutes into the second game, barefoot boy's toes were crushed under the foot of a much taller and heavier boy wearing some nice, large Nike basketball shoes. Barefoot Boy yelped and hobbled off the court to the nearest bathroom stall, a ceramic hole in the ground with water splashed all over the floor from the hose that is used in place of toilet paper and washed down his sore foot. Several minutes later he hobbled back on to the court to resume his play.

(Barefoot Boy is actually quite athletic, shoes or no shoes, and that's probably why it was a good idea that he played. His leadership and skill on the court was rivaled by none and it would have been a very long morning had he not been there to "get the ball rollling.")

Bottom line...having PE in Malaysia is difficult -there are very few indoor facilities and by 9:00 am it's extremely hot outside. To top that off, we get to study together in a small room with only a dry t-shirt (notice I didn't say clean) to change into for the rest of the day...Going barefoot seems like a minor inconvenience.

Biking to Cameron Highlands

Caught up in the frenzy of  annual alcohol inspired New Year's Eve goal setting, Eric and I decided to make our first goal of 2014 a bike ride from near Ipoh, Malaysia to Cameron Highlands, the beautiful green hill region just to the south and west of town. Our goal is a lofty (pun intended)  1500 meter climb over a distance of 50 kilometers. (100 km round trip).

Reapplying sunscreen after a quick rinse from the mountain spigot

For you non math types, that's a pretty steep climb for a really long time. As a  matter of fact our Garmin navigation system estimated the trip up and back would take just over 9 hours - ( a long and painful 6-7 hours for the ride up and an exhilarating 2 for the race down.)

For you math types, that's a 3-4% grade if you do the straight math (1500/48,000 x 100) but because there were a few downhills on the way up, the grade is more like 5-6% for a long, long, long time at a very slow 9 km/hour pace.

For you non-fitness types, spending a day like this would be your worst nightmare. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it would be difficult to even comprehend why anyone would subject his or her body to the heat, humidity, and pain of a long hill climb when you could be sitting home, screaming at your favorite team for the Wildcard Football weekend, sipping a few brewskis, and snacking on cheese puffs. I often wonder myself why we make these kinds of goals.

Here's what I decided -  a goal such as this is a) an excuse to get out of bed on our one day off in a town with little opportunity for entertainment b) we're in a different time zone from Wildcard Weekend and haven't figured out how to pay for or record ESPN, c) we're a little impulsive d) all of the above.

Anyway, our enthusiasm for meeting goal #1 of 2014 was tampered only by our lack of expertise anticipating the impact of heat on our adventure. Naively enough, we figured a 9:00 am start time would be plenty early enough to summit by 2:00. It might be a little warm at the bottom but the temperature is cooler up in the Highlands...(one of the reason the British expats made this a famous retreat of theirs.) And, a good night's sleep followed by a big pancake breakfast are important to success, too...right?!

We packed 5 liters of water between the two of us and a small lunch figuring we could supplement by one of the many Malaysian vendors lining the side of the road and the many water spigots coming out of the hillside pouring fresh mountain water to keep us hydrated.

We started spinning our wheels at about 9:30, a little later than anticipated, but not really a big deal. The first 12 kilometers were kind of fun and just steep enough to limber up our legs and warm up our muscles, but not so steep to scare us off our goal. We came to the first watering hole where I filled one of my already empty bottles and topped off the other which was down to 1/4 full. Eric's Camel back seemed full enough so he actually poured the warm water out of one of his bottles and filled in with cool mountain stream water. We rinsed our head rags in cool water to try and get some air-conditioning going through our helmets.

Hoping the water is good. The truckers and the locals tend to fill up their bottles.

The next 8 kilometers became much slower and steeper making us both work up a good hunger. Stopping at a guardrail under the shade of some jungle vegetation we inhaled our sandwiches  in about 30 seconds. Based upon the speed with which we inhaled the food, I was sorry I hadn't followed Eric's advice and loaded up on Snicker bars from the gas station where we'd parked our cars. Sweat was from pouring from all part of our bodies including what seemed like Eric's eyelids. It was only 10:30 a.m. and our water supply was dwindling. Still non-plussed, we continued our journey up the hill certain we could find both water and more food.

Another hour up the road, we found some Orang Asli people selling wild honey and rambutans in their stalls at the side of the road. We bought several bunches of fruit and, after shaking off the ants and picking though the non-moldy fruit, we reveled in the juicy sweetness. Revived, we pedaled on-wards and upwards even discussing the fact that, if need-be, we could buy a bottle of honey and drink it for our natural "energy goo" and survival on the way down.

Family selling honey and rambutans (yellow and red spiky fruit)

By now, each kilometer was taking longer and longer to complete, and the water supply dwindling to sips in each bottle. The watering holes we'd noticed on previous car drives up the mountain were dry (our guess is that they only run after large rains).

I was thinking about decision making processes in the face of adversity and weighing the odds (we were 10 kilometers from the top and 20 kilometers from the watering hole below us.) On flat roads, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) is nothing - a trip to the grocery store and back, a chance to stretch our legs after work but not really work up a sweat, a walk in the park... But on this hill, 10 kilometers meant at least another hour or more of constant, slow, hard pedaling. And, we really weren't sure what was 10 miles ahead.. We could both remember a chocolate factory, but straight chocolate does nothing towards staving off thirst. Reaching our goal was so close and yet soooo far.

Reluctantly, we turned around and started the downhill ride. Within seconds, I knew why the ride uphill was so slow. Our bike odometers read 35, then 42, then 52 kilometers per hour. We were headed downhill and downhill FAST.  Jungle vegetation was a blurr at our sides, our sweat evaporated and left a salty residue, bugs slammed into our foreheads and helmuts, our hard work was rewarded with an adrenaline inducing ride. This was FUN!!!!

No, we didn't reach the top  but  yes, we had a great time. Can we check this off our New Year's Resolution list? Again, the answer is "no." Although this ride is the hardest ride we've ever done, surpassing even Mingus Mountain in Arizona which we'd always considered our barometer, we can't consider Cameron Highlands conquered.  We plan on a repeat ride next Sunday  hoping that our "lessons learned" - start earlier, bring more water containers, pack more food - will get us to the top.

N.B. Even though the ride uphill was long, slow, and painful, we were rewarded with beautiful scenery and the ability to see thing and hear things  that we don't normally notice while we're in the car. I saw many native huts on stilts (still inhabited)  hidden in the jungle with secret  paths that leading to hidden villages. I heard many kinds of birds, owls, and wild animals communicating with each other  in the jungle. If I let my imagination run wild, it was actually kind of creepy.

We bought fruit from and photographed a nice Orang Asli family.

And, we had front row seats to about 30 crazy Malaysian motorcycle riders wearing full pads and racing up the hill and taking turns with bikes at 20% angles to the road like professional racers. There were some pretty sick 200,000 RM ($70,000) BMW cycles within spitting distance of our front handle bars.

12 Day Malaysian Driving Tour

My husband and I had the pleasure of touring Malaysia with our daughter and son-in-law for the past two weeks. Each location offered a different type of experience but gave us the flavor of this beautiful peninsula. Here are some highlights:

An afternoon pitcher of Singapore Slings

Singapore - (3 days) - Although Singapore declared it's independence from Malaysia in 1965, this modern, well-organized city makes a good starting point for a Malaysia tour for the following reasons: 1) United flies its new luxurious Dreamliner from Denver to Changi. The cup holders, the large windows with dimmers, and the charging devices at each seat make the 30 plus hour flight from Denver almost a "dream." 2) The city is well-organized and clean. Until you cross the border into Malaysia, you don't really appreciate the significance of the "no spitting" laws and the clean bathrooms. 3) The botanical gardens with world class orchids, the tasty dim sum in Chinatown, and the photogenic Merlion in Marina Bay are worthwhile stops. Finally,  no trip to Singapore would be complete without drinking a Singapore Sling, a lovely concoction of cherry brandy, orange, pineapple and lemon juice - a refreshing cure for jet lag,.

A typical fishing village near Lumut

Lumut (2 days) - After an all night bus ride on a 1980s style bus with reclining seats that don't quite recline, spongy shocks that don't quite absorb, and roads that are paved but not really flat or smooth, we arrived in the industrial town of Lumut that includes an industrial sized shipping port and a ferry to the local tourist destination of Pangkor Island. Our short visit was punctuated by an early morning bike ride through small fishing villages and palm oil plantations famous in Perak State  ending at a fancy Chinese temple located on the shores of the Straits of Malacca. A highlight for our guests was renting motor scooters (cash and go - no paperwork or licenses required) on Pangkor Island.

A view of the houses built on the pier (quay)

Canopy walk in Penang National Park

Very tame butterflies

Monkey eating the remains of our coconut

Penang (3 days) - Penang is a "must see" on any Malaysian tour. It's got delicious hawker (street vendor) food, "World Heritage class" historical sights, tropical nature and  the sandy beaches of Batu Ferringhi. We enjoyed seeing old fishing houses (still inhabited by original clan members) built right on the pier  called Clark Quay. We trekked though the jungle in Penang National Park where we enjoyed intermittent views of the sea, felt like members of Swiss Family Robinson on the canopy walk strung between gigantic Banyan trees, and laughed at the antics of monkeys scraping the coconut meat out of the shells after we enjoyed the interesting (but not my favorite) coconut water. A final stop at the beautiful, colorful, peaceful Butterfly Garden capped off a great visit.

Taiping (Lunch stop) - After 8 days of exotic food and questionable bathrooms, many of us were ready for some Western comfort. I highly recommend the McDonald's located near the Lake Gardens for a cup of coffee and a bathroom. The hamburgers are predictable but that, too, was a welcome respite for several of us from this  taste bud challenge of Malaysia. A short walk to the Lake Gardens provided beautiful photos and some well-needed tranquility from the bumpy roads and impatient, bumper-to-bumper traffic on the E1.

Afternoon tea

Cameron Highlands (Overnight) - A drive to Cameron Highlands would not be complete without a stop at a hut on the side of the road to purchase honey collected from the tops of the trees from the Orang Asli - indigenous people. This honey is almost better than pure maple syrup on our traditional Western pancakes. Continuing on our journey, we arrived to Brinchang just in time for 5:00 tea which we sipped on the upper terrace of one of the local tea plantations. A few miles further down the road and we arrived at the Equatorial Hotel.

Steamboat meal

Hike up Trail #1

 Our rooms on the top floor (yes, I noticed it was floor number 13) provided beautiful views of the surrounding lush green mountains shrouded in a misty fog. As long we didn't look down to see all the strawberry and vegetable farms carved out of the mountains and covered with ugly plastic tarps, we could almost imagine being in Paradise. One of our favorite meals this trip was "Steamboat" (or Chinese fondue) in Brinchang. The fresh vegetables, spicy broth and tasty food was even more delicious because we got to cook it ourselves. After a good night's rest, we again explored the jungle by hiking up Trail # 1 to Gunung Brinchang. Although the start of the trail was tricky to find and we'd been warned to get a guide, and then told "but there are no guides available", we managed to both find the trail and find our way home with only a few minor scrapes from the saw-like blades of the jungle flora. The drive south out of Cameron Highlands is one the most beautiful I've seen anywhere in the world. It was like living in scenes from the movie Avatar.  Definitely a "must-see."

Petronas Towers

Kuala Lumpur (2 nights) - Warning! KL is not a driving friendly city. The last 3 kilometers to our hotel took almost as long as the rest of the drive from Cameron Highlands. (OK, I'm exaggerating a little but 40 minutes to drive a mile and a half is not pleasant). But after we parked our car at the Trader's Hotel it was time to relax. Our first stop was the Sky Bar on the top of our hotel for spectacular nighttime views of Petronas Towers. The next couple of days were spent walking around the city, taking in the Christmas sights and decorations, and taking advantage of things a city offers: going to a movie, eating food in air-conditioned restaurants and enjoying the cleanliness and functionality of modern plumbing. The thing that impressed me the most about this stop in KL was the energy and effort every service person put forth to make sure our Christmas was merry. Their gestures were greatly appreciated.

Trishaw rides in Melaka

Istana - Sultan's Palace

Melaka aka Malacca ( 1 night) - A fairly quick 2 1/2 hour drive south on the expressway brought us to one of the oldest trade ports in Malaysia and Asia for that matter. Settled first by the Portuguese, then followed by the Dutch, and later the British, modern Melaka is a mix of food, cultures, religions and languages. We walked along the Melaka River (described as the Venice of the East) and took a "super cheesy, super touristy and totally worth it" trishaw ride in a colorful, pink Hello Kitty trishaw with the hit song, "I'm Gonna Pop Some Tag" blaring and the sub-woofers in the back of the cart giving us a nice back message. We ate Chinese food with some Portuguese spices and we hiked to the top of A'Famosa where we snapped a photo of St. Francis Xavier (the father of the Jesuits) who actually preached in Malacca. We visited an Istana which is the Malay word for a Sultan's Palace and walked through a garden where the Sultan's daughters and wives would have played. Visiting Malacca is important for getting a part of the picture of Malaysian history and it's a short bus ride from Singapore, but be prepared for the crowds.

Our tour of Malaysia centering mostly on the west coast and central peninsula was wonderful but by no means complete.  We'll need another month to cover the east coast noted for its pristine beaches and world class diving and the states of Sarawak and Sebah. However, for a good flavor of the nation, I recommend this itinerary.