RAVEN RIDES MALAYSIA!

Thursday March 8 2007

OK, so I'm not riding in tomorrow night's official 120 km FEI Royal Kedah International Invitational Ride 2007, but I did get to ride a horse in Malaysia! I got to be Steph's jockey today. The Raven got to ride in Malaysia too! And OK, so it wasn't much of a ride, just a nice half hour trek to loosen the horses' muscles for tomorrow night's ride. I'm not really bent on competing internationally - I just want to ride, anywhere and everywhere (as does the Raven). And today we did just that!

We arrived at the stables in the morning, when it was, I have to admit, almost pleasant outside (i.e., not too swelteringly hot yet)! Grace was saddled up for me, and with Peter Toft's permission - Peter from Australia brought 6 horses for the ride, and Grace is one of them - I climbed aboard - with the Raven in my pack, of course.

Now what other horse sport can you go out for a nice ride in the countryside, like, say, Malaysia, and ride with 4 other instant friends from Australia, Malaysia, and Qatar, and enjoy yourself doing it! Amir and I discussed just that - he started riding only a year ago in Malaysia, and he really enjoys endurance. His wife Nadia started riding in London 8 years ago when she went to school there, she's got a really nice seat. Isi is here from Qatar for the ride. Peter is from Australia, has endurance horses in training and competition all over the world - I'll get to spend some time with his operation in Australia in April.

The riders here in Malaysia are naturally concerned about the heat and humidity. Arab horses are bred for heat and distance, yes, but not the humidity. I expect some horses will handle it well, and some may be like me - just don't function well in it. The trail is also different from the last ride in Terrenganu; there's some technical footing - plenty of rock and roots to be aware of, especially in the dark; and the horses will have to deal with encountering villages, road crossings, water buffaloes, paddy fields, canal ditches. Steph will be riding the entire ride with the Tofts. Their goal is to take it easy and complete, with an eye toward Malaysia's WEC in November 2008.

Our ride took us around a little lake - man-made, I expect, and on a little path that gave you a little glimpse of what some of the jungle will look like. The bugs were already greatly irritating Grace - they'll all get fly spray for the ride, before going out on every loop. Grace had a great big walk, was interested in moving on out. I think Steph will have a great ride tomorrow night/Saturday.

I'm not too disappointed I'm not riding in the Kedah International. Besides, I'd have a very hard time in the heat. I don't think fellow riders would want to listen to me whining all night and all day long.

Maybe we can come back in winter and do a ride! (Malaysia doesn't have a winter.)

Pekan Rabu

Tuesday March 6 2007

Sunday evening Steph and I worked in our room till late, into dark, then figured we'd better get outside for some fresh air and to find something to eat. We went out and right around the corner found ourselves in Chinatown, rows of open air Chinese restaurants filled with families dining and visiting, and several cart vendors with all sorts of indecipherable goodies. One man was pushing thick bamboo shafts through a machine to squeeze the juice out.

We came upon the Masjid (Mosque) Zahir, one of the largest mosques in Malaysia, built in 1912. It's certainly not nearly as old, nor as fantastic and ornate as, say, those mosques in Istanbul, but there's just something about mosques that are eye-catching and pleasant. Walking onward in the almost pleasant (for me!) night air, we turned a few corners and stumbled upon the Pekan Rabu market, hooray! We'd read about this, a "bustling bazaar that offers a smorgasbord of northern delicacies and produce, handicrafts, trinkets as well as garments." Now, who wouldn't want to come shop here!

It was just closing down - definitely a day market, so we made plans to come here tomorrow. We figured we'd go shopping without Shah our escort, because polite as he and our first driver Mr Mahadi were the first time we went shopping, we figured they had just about anything better to do than stand there waiting for a couple of women to shop who weren't even their wives. And we certainly didn't need a driver since the market was less than a 15 minute pleasant walk away.

In the morning I went for a walk about town while Steph worked, then we both worked till noon. About then Steph got a call from Shah's school counselor - Shah is studying international affairs at university, and an assignment from one of his classes is to be our escort. Ours, and only ours! And apparently he takes his job quite seriously, because this woman said Shah was quite upset that he hadn't heard from us yet today, and she wanted to check that everything was alright. Oh dear!

Steph called Shah and asked him to meet us at the Pekan Rabu market. Oh, no, that wouldn't do; Shah was afraid we'd get lost. (We figured we'd better not tell him we'd walked the streets at night and found the market that way.) He said he'd call our driver to pick us up and take us to the market, and it was so important to him, we agreed.

At 3:00 Shah and the Sheriff (not sure of his name, but Shah told us he's a sheriff, and it's just fitting), picked us up and drove us the few blocks to the market, with a cheesy American love ballad oozing from the speakers, some crooner howling over and over, "How can I live without you, how can I LIVE without you, HOW can I LIVE without YOOOOOOOOU?"

We parked and walked into the Pekan Rabu market: four stories of shopping bliss! Shop after shop of an overwhelming array of beautiful fabrics and scarves and sarongs and shirts, printed and batiks, of cotton, silk, linen, every color under the sun, and everything so sinfully inexpensive! We were like kids in a hundred candy stores - our eyes lit up and grew huge, we stared at everything in awe, we touched, we wanted, we bought, bags and bags of goodies! We bought from the first shop we walked into. We bought from the second shop... we bought from the third shop... blouses, shirts, a skirt (a girl from the beauty shop next door came over to help show Steph wrap the skirt on, because the man didn't quite know how!), scarves, sarongs... but really, how do you decide on just one when there are a gazillion in all different colors and designs to choose from? The prices were unbelievable - a shirt for $3, a scarf for $5, a sarong for $5. I've found a sarong is handy for anything - a skirt, a wrap, a sheet, a tablecloth, a towel. It could probably be used as a saddle pad in a pinch!

We bought shirts at one shop from a very friendly old man, who has an American daughter, married to his son, both of them living in Boston. He knew enough English to converse (most everybody we've spoken to does, even though this isn't a tourist destination), and in his heavy Malaysian accent he asked our names, and wrote them down. I asked him his name: "Ahmed. But people call me Paklong. It means Uncle." He wrote it down for me so I could remember. In Paklong's shop, Steph couldn't decide between two shirts. She asked Shah, "Which one do you like better?" He answered, "Both are nice, I think." Yes, this young man is going to make a fine diplomat in the foreign service!

Every time we bought something, Shah or the Sheriff took our bags. They kept expanding, but the men never complained, just followed us around indulgently. The Sheriff seemed to know just about everybody, or he had a very easy way of talking to everybody that made it look like he knew them. Everybody in the market was friendly, no pressure on us to buy or to come into the store. All the women and girls and men gave us friendly smiles - Steph said Malaysia is known as The Land of the Smiles. How appropriate!

Steph was getting ahead of me in the purchases, though she has a whole family to buy things for. I had no excuses, my goodies were all for me, but then, I didn't bring enough clothes to Malaysia for just that reason. A next-door building was just fabric shops - rows and rows of brilliant colors of dazzling material, for scarves or sarongs or blouses and skirts. How does one choose?? It was quite overwhelming.

We were finally satiated for the day (but only for today - but we made secret plans to return!), and switched gears to continue the search for another pair of comfortable shoes for Steph. The men were either very patient, standing around watching Steph and helping her with interest, or very impatient, standing around watching Steph and helping so she'd hurry up and decide. I think they were patiently amused. Steph did finally achieve success in her shoe quest!

Shah then suggested a ride up the Alor Star communications tower to the observation deck. Great idea! It was a lovely view of the city and surrounding countryside - to the west through the haze you could just see the Andaman Sea. I loved it up in the tower because a very strong refreshing cool breeze was blowing!

Then we went back to what has probably become our favorite place in Alor Star: the Deejay restaurant - Indian food! It was even better the second time. Shah ordered us a mix of dishes, and it was so orgasmically good, I just stuffed and stuffed my face, eating myself stupid. Steph must have been pretty busy too, because when our plates were empty, she said, looking up, "Whew! Now I can see!" I had also been so intent only on shoveling the delicious food so fast in my mouth, that Viggo Mortensen could have sat down at our table to eat and I wouldn't have noticed him, or cared. SUCH good food, and a slushy iced cappuchino drink to go with it! And in the background, more of the same music, which seems to be a staple here: Tom Jones, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Englebert Humperdink...

A great way to end another day in Malaysia!

Crashin' the Oscars

March 5 2007

Well, OK, so it wasn't exactly the red carpet... but it was the royal yellow carpet. And it wasn't movie stars... it was the Sultan of Kedah.

We got back from a very successful day of shopping, and stuffing our faces at our favorite Indian restaurant in Alor Star (more on that later), and as we are driving up to our hotel, we notice there are a lot of cars in the parking lot, and as we get near the front door where we are always dropped off and picked up, we see golden yellow carpet laid out leading into the hotel, and Shah says, "The Sultan is coming here." We didn't quite absorb that at first, then, "The sultan? The Sultan? THE Sultan?" The same guy that was the 5th King of Malaysia, and who is in line to be King again in 5 years (after Steph's friend the current King is done), the one whose organizing committee invited Steph to come ride in the Royal Kedah International Invitational Ride 2007, that Sultan is coming here, to our hotel? Yep!

I was afraid to even step with my un-royal sandals on the yellow carpet that led through the automatic doors, so I tip-toed around the sides of it and slipped inside. Steph asked what was going on, and the nice boy at reception told us yes, the Sultan was coming here. Could we hang out and watch? Sure, not a problem, like no big deal, like we were hanging out waiting for a bus or something.

So there we were, two gringos dressed for shopping not royalty, celebrity gawkers on the fringes, watching the Malaysian glitterati - ladies and men in waiting in beautiful dazzling vibrant outfits, the women in traditional dress (like the red one and the pink one I tried on, but they looked quite stunning on these women), and the men in gorgeous traditional Malaysian silk shirts. Who needs tuxedos when you've got beautiful material like this.

As we waited and gaped, a nice young man dressed in a nice tailored western suit and standing back and watching everything, came up and asked where we were from. I thought I was going to be asked to leave for looking like an underdressed, gawking tourist, but he just wanted to visit and welcome us - he was Eugene, the manager of the hotel. He told us the Sultan's wife had started a charity for underprivileged people, and they were here for a ceremony for that. Eugene asked how long we'd be here, and even apologized for the mosquitoes in the hotel! (Many have been happily gorging on my blood). We asked if we could watch and take pictures; he said sure.

A few people would walk in the doors here and there, and greet and be greeted by the glitterati in line. Everybody just looked dazzling. The reception boy would tell us who some of the people were, "That's the Sultan's daughter. That's his brother." The brother arrived with a police car with flashing blue lights in front, him in a car with a flag on the front hood, and a car full of men (bodyguards?) after. He shuffled in, and greeted everybody kindly, shook hands, and followed the yellow carpet past us into the elevator.

More waiting around, then the videographer lifted his camera to his eye, so we knew the Sultan must be coming... yes, here's more flashing blue lights: a police car, followed by a formation of about 6 police motorcycles in pairs, followed by a car, followed by flashbulbs popping. The celebrity has arrived! Again a nice sweet older man entered, kindly greeted people (here in Malaysia they have a lovely common handshake where you use both hands to shake, and you touch your heart with your right hand afterwards. The Sultan, the guy who invited us here to Malaysia in the first place, walked along the yellow carpet to the elevator, and he smiled at Steph as he went by. Better than any movie star, because he just looks like your little old grandpa you just want to give a great big hug to!

Well, that just made our day. The only thing missing was the Raven. Don't worry, he is going to Sunday's Closing/Prize-giving Ceremony where the Sultan of Kedah, the King of Malaysia, Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prince Rashid of Qatar, and Sheikh Sultan Al Nayan of UAE will be present. But, he's never been on the Royal Yellow Carpet before, so we fixed that!

We ran upstairs, got the Raven, and brought him down,
where he sat on the Royal Yellow Carpet. Hope we didn't offend anyone, but I don't think we did. It was worth it because the Raven had a great time!

Kuda

Sunday March 4 2007

Kuda is the Malay word for horse. We were picked up by our young escort Shah and a new driver and shuttled to the Darul Aman stables 20 minutes away from our hotel at 10 AM. We were hoping to get to ride, so we came prepared with our riding clothes and helmets, and brought our cameras along also.

It turned out we wouldn't get to ride today - things were busy, they weren't sure what horse(s) we might ride or whatever (people are probably pretty busy getting ready for the ride), but we strolled around the place anyway. It's a nice strip of green set between two golf courses, with a small stand for people to sit in the shade (I did!!), some permanent stables to the side, a nice big sandy arena, further beyond a lunge ring, and further beyond that temporary (I think) stabling set up for the ride horses. Many Malaysian grooms/riders were out exercising the 20+ horses of Edaran's Ar Raudah stable; Steph recognized a few of them. One was Tamruddin who won several rides in Malaysia last year with his mare Malin, then went to the WEC in Germany and got pulled. One guy was riding around the arena on a tough naughty little pony that almost got him off. Fattima the journalist who interviewed Steph on the Durian Night was there; she followed us around, and she actually climbed on a horse for the first time (the naughty little pony! but the groom had a snug hold on him). She was pretty excited about that.

The Raven had a great time; he got nuzzled by Azreal, a Thoroughbred ridden and much appreciated by Steph in the 2005 Edaran Classic, though they were pulled near the end of the 120 km ride for lameness. He finished 3rd in the Sultan's Cup 100 miler in November in Terennganu. Nice horse, she said, well trained. The Raven met Azreal and they appeared to like each other a great deal.

We ate lunch at the outdoor Equine Cuisine and Cafe on the grounds there, yet another Thai-type curry meal. Yum! I asked for an iced coke, iced tea, iced coffee, iced anything. Because it was hot.

Now, just because I don't mention the heat in every paragraph, don't think I don't notice it: every minute I'm outside either I'm consciously or unconsciously thinking of nothing but ripping my clothes off or sticking my head in a bucket of ice water. This heat (though it's probably not even 90*) and the humidity (probably in the 90's) is stifling, stunningly and crushingly oppressive to me. I'm constantly clammy, sticky, sweaty. My hair sure has lots of character though!

But I can't rip my clothes off or strip down, because this is a Muslim country, and it's best to stay covered up here so as not to offend. I can't imagine how the women stay wrapped up here, most all of them in at least head scarves, and especially ones in the full abayah (not sure if this is the correct word) with only their eyes showing, especially those in full black with only their eyes showing! I guess they are used to it, and probably don't even find it hot. I come from where I find 20* and dry outside to be bracing and refreshing. Nor can I stick my head in a bucket of ice, because ice is not that easy to find around here. And, since I am a constant drinker of iced tea, or iced anything, this is a constant craving for me. I'm constantly craving cool air, cold drinks. I won't go into detail every day about it (well, I'll try not), but just keep it in mind, while Steph finds this atmosphere refreshing, I'm a wimp and IT'S DANG HOT AND HUMID HERE!

On the way home we stopped at Muzium Padi - the Rice Museum - where we were blown away by a huge 360* mural of the surrounding countryside as if we were outside on a peak; the 25 foot high, 300+ foot long mural shows a panoramic view of the process of paddy planting, in different seasons, and it's just incredible. It literally looks like what you'd see from up on a peak at this spot. It's all so accurate - the scale, the perfect fine details, the distant details many miles away - it looks as it's a panoramic photo somehow made into a painting. I've never seen anything like it anywhere. And it looks as if it's in 3-D, again, as if it were real.

Most incredible is that no artists are given credit! Who painted this? How many people? How many months or years did it take? How on earth did they do it?

Back home at the hotel where we got our internet back up and working, so we went to work and didn't stop till about 7 PM. We figured we really ought to get out and at least take a walk. We immediately stumbled upon a little China Town - lots of Chinese families hanging out in many open air restaurants visiting and having dinner. We came across the Masjid (Mosque) Zahir, built in 1912, a pretty mosque lit up at night and the walkways strung with colorful lights. We stumbled upon the Pekan Rabu market that we wanted to go to - it was closing up but will be perfect for tomorrow's shopping excursion! (If we have no horses to ride.)

We stopped for dinner at a Thai restaurant in China Town and sat outside in the pretty pleasant breeze and had delicious crispy mango chicken, to the tune of a fireworks show a few blocks away - it's a bit after Chinese New Year 2007, but perhaps they are still celebrating.

I can't believe I'm in Malaysia!

Our Mission

Sunday March 4 2007

The reason Steph and I are in here in Malaysia is because Steph and endurance.net have been invited to participate in the inaugural Royal Kedah International Invitational endurance ride. This is being put on in conjunction with His Royal Highness the Sultan of Kedah's 79th birthday celebrations and Visit Malaysia 2007 - it's Malaysia's 50th year of independence. This event is part of efforts to raise international awareness and interest in the World Endurance Championship 2008 (WEC 2008) which will be held in Terengganu state in November 2008. There's a 120 km FEI ride starting at 5:30 PM Friday, and an 80 km ride (5:30 PM Friday) and a 40 km ride starting 7:30 AM Saturday. There will be 80 riders, including 15 international ones (including Steph). Sunday March 10 is the closing ceremonies which will include a reception for the Sultan of Kedah and his visiting dignitaries, including "gulf state royalty." Stay tuned for that!

As for Malaysia:

Two-thirds of Malaysia is jungle; it contains the oldest rainforests in the world, over 130 million years old. The jungles here contain the world's largest flower, Rafflesia. The entire plant is just a flowerhead, and it can be 3 feet across and weigh 19 lbs. It's beautiful but very stinky, smells like rotting flesh. Worse than durian, I wonder? It only blooms for a week, then it shrivels up back into the earth. The jungles here have the tallest tropical tree, the Tualang.

There's a Malaysian legend version of Big Foot: in the late 80's or early 90's, 2 Americans found 17-inch human-like footprints. Native guides were not surprised; they said it's a sub-human covered with hair who roams the jungle. If I see one of these during a ride, I will not tell anybody, just as I have never said if I've seen evidence of Big Foot in the Pacific Northwest. You know, they'd be captured in the name of science, put on display, taken care of under lock and key for their own good and health. Mum's the word on any Big Foot sightings.

Prehistorically, Eastern Malaysia has produced a human skull from 35,000 BC. Boy would I like to touch something that old! Historically, Malaysia's located at the convergence of 2 major sea routes linking India and China, so it's always been a coveted trading area. It came under the control of the Portuguese in the 1500's, the Dutch in the 1600's, the British in the 1700's (all sound familiar?), till 1957 when Malaysia became independent. Piracy was common in the old days, and it's a growing concern now. The Strait of Malacca (runs along the southwest coast of peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia across the way) is one of the most dangerous shipping corridors in the world. John Burnett wrote a very good book on modern piracy, Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas.

Malaysia is made of 13 states. It's the size of Japan but has a fraction of the population. Malaysia was and still is the world's primary exporter of natural rubber and palm oil, and is also big in sawn longs and timber, cocoa, pepper, pineapple, and tobacco. Rice is a primary product here in Kedah state. Logging only began during the 19th century to make a substantial contribution to the economy. Today an estimated 59% of Malaysia remains forested. The government's commitment to protect the environment and the ecological system keeps forestry resources managed on a sustainable basis.

Tin and petroleum are the 2 main mineral resources in the economy. Malaysia was once the world's largest producer of tin until the collapse of the market in the early 1980's. In 1972 petroleum and natural gas took over from tin as the mainstay of the mining sector.

The Malaysian government is similar to Britain's: there's a parliament, and a federal constititional elective monarchy. Each state has a sultan, and every 5 years a new sultan becomes king. (Steph's friend is now the current King of Malaysia.) He's supposed to ride in this weekend's endurance ride.

Islam is Malaysia's official religion; it arrived here at the end of the 13th century. There's also Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism.

Here ends your Malaysia lesson.

Celebrity Shopping

Saturday March 3 2007

We both needed a good night's sleep and that sure happened. I noticed there was some light outside the thick drawn curtains, and when I heard Steph stir, I asked what time it was. "11:00!" What!? We missed breakfast downstairs, had to postpone our 2 PM shopping trip pickup by Shah and our driver till 4 PM. We had to leave the room so the ladies could straighten it up, so we had lunch downstairs - a yummy Thai soup while we worked away on our computers.

Biggest mission today: shopping! Going to a birthday party for a sultan, at which the King of Malaysia and a couple of Gulf State princes will be in attendance apparently calls for more dressy clothing than my riding tights or the Goodwill hand-me-downs I live in. Steph needed shoes and a scarf or shawl for her dress; she said we needed to find me a dress. I said I don't do dresses. She said we could find me some pantaloons. I said a dress would be just fine. We also needed to find a trophy shop for an engraved plate to put on the Painted Pony gift Steph got for the sultan. It's a beautiful blue pony with snowflakes on it - I wonder if most people here in Malaysia have ever seen snowflakes?

Shah and Mr Mahadi picked us up at 4 PM in the tropical heat, and drove us first to a trophy shop. Mr Mahadi and the nice girl who waited on us helped advise Steph what would be tasteful for the sultan and what type of engraving to use.

From there Shah and Mr Mahadi escorted us to a big shopping mall. Four stories tall, full of local people - again, we were the only gringos around. Steph found a lovely scarf in the first shop we walked in, and the next shop we visited was for me. Most of the women around here wear very colorful clothing with head scarves. What on earth would I look good in? The other problem was finding something that fit! I'm a pretty thin-sized female in the US, but here I'm taller and wider than most women (Steph towers over everybody), and I don't fit in their small sizes! The girls waiting on me were laughing every time I said I needed a bigger size. I found one shirt I liked, ("I need it bigger!") but that really wasn't dressy enough for kings and sultans and princes. We picked out a nice black blouse, and to go with it I tried on a few skirts, and hooray, a pair of black pants that looked nice enough to get away with.

Mr Mahadi suggested we look next door at some silk batik clothing; we had a look, and wow, what eye-catching dazzling stuff! I didn't even know where to start, told the girl I was looking for evening wear. She said "You are S, no?" Recalling all those tight tight shirts in the previous store I couldn't get in, (my head almost got stuck in one) I said "No, I don't think I'm small. Medium, maybe." She immediately zeroed in on this spectacular vivid red long blouse and skirt on the dummy in the window. Yikes! I took it in the dressing room and tried to slither into it but it was way too small. I could barely button the blouse, and the skirt, well, I couldn't get the zipper halfway up. But, it was pretty amazing, so I stepped out to show it off. I got some Wows, and the girl came up to turn the skirt around - I had the slit in back instead of on the side. I'd realized my mistake but since it was way too small hadn't bothered to adjust. She and I both tried to tug it around into the correct position, but it was way too small and I was clammy from the heat, so we had a good laugh until we just gave up. "You need medium!" she said. and as In the dressing room I peeled off the bright red one, and she handed me through the door a medium outfit - in bright pink! Whoa!

Though I'm NOT a bright pink person, and these outfits were way too expensive for me anyway, everyone, including some other Malay shoppers, seemed to be having a good time watching the gringo try on the beautiful Malay outfits, so I put it on. Quite dazzling! But not quite me! We went back to the other shop and I picked up the pieces I'd already tried on. The girl there delightedly gave me a 10% discount on every item, AND she gave me a VIP shopping card, for the next time I come back to Malaysia and shop there!

Next on the list were shoes. Steph needed a few pairs, and I guess if I was going to look good up top, I guess I shouldn't wear my riding boots or my tevas around sultans and kings and princes. Shoe shopping required another mall, at which we both found pairs. Mr Mahadi and Shah acted patient and indulgent, but I expect they were quite happy when we told them we were ready to leave.

We walked out to the car in front of the City Plaza shopping center, and suddenly Steph says, "Hey! Look!!" She ran to a banner hanging off a lamp post - with her picture on it! It's a picture of her and 2 other endurance riders in last year's Terennganu ride, and is the same picture/poster that is on the cover of the Kedah Invitational ride packet given to us (and will be distributed to everyone involved in the ride.) Steph, famous, plastered on the cover of a booklet and on posters, hanging in the streets of Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia! I'm hanging out with a celebrity!

And then from there, things went out of control. "Oh my god! Look!!" Down the street the other way, there was the same picture - Steph - flashing on a big billboard!! I took a picture, we had a laugh and we walked back to the car - and there Steph was AGAIN! Big bumpersticker of her on the back window of the car!

On the way home we stopped at an Indian restaurant where we pigged out on some delicious curries and rice and nan bread. Steph and I didn't know what to order - it all looked fantastic, so Mr Mahadi filled our table. The air was actually not so terribly hot because a nice breeze was blowing, and as the sun set, the trees lining the street were invaded by a billion noisy starling-like birds, and then the call to prayer filled the air.

What better place to be is there other than hanging out, shopping and eating Indian food with a celebrity in Malaysia!

King of All Fruit

Saturday March 3 2007

After about 30 hours of travel, we finally made it to our hotel room in Alor Star, or Alor Setar, depending on which map you look at, biggest city in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah.

A driver Mr Mahadi and his young volunteer helper Shah picked us up in the airport, drove us from Penang Island (and state) onto the mainland peninsula and Kedah state. Took us about an hour or so to drive north, including a stop for us for a drink (Kiwi juice!) and a stop at a tyre store when our fancy smart-car told us one of our tyres were low and needed to be checked out. Cheesy American 80's love ballads were on the radio in the background. It's the dry season, but man oh man, what a hot humid place. Steph said "Yeah!" when we stepped outside the airport. I groaned and wilted into the cement. It's green and THICK: miles and miles of palm tree forest/jungle/plantations, as far as the eye can see in the misty/smoggy/steam. Actually I think most of that is from the rice fields being burned off between their 2 plantings a year. There's colorful flowers and trees blooming everywhere along the sides of the highway.

Steph and I have 4 or 5 days before any of this endurance ride commotion begins next week, so she was thinking we'd have a few days to be tourists. We do have to buy dresses for the Sunday closing ceremonies/birthday party for the Sultan of Kedah, which will be attended by the King of Malaysia (Steph's friend, and he will probably be riding in the 80 or 120 km ride), AND there are rumors that Prince Rashid of Qatar and Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia may be there also. Oooh! The Raven's going to love meeting royalty.

She also asked about us visiting Langkawi, an island north of here that is one of Steph's favorite places in the world, where she wants to come back to in another life as a red eagle. Our driver said, "No problem! Whatever you want, you tell me!" Then she asks if Malaysia has durian. Durian is a fruit distinctive for its large size and shape - it comes in a thick thorn-covered husk, and is known for its 'unique' odor. Some people think it's fragrant (as well as the taste) and some think it's unpleasant or horrific. He says, "Oh, you want to try this?" Steph says "Sure, why not?" She also asked about open-air markets, and he says, "Yes, there's one tonight." Only tonight, it appeared, and since Steph hadn't been to one before, we figured we should go, even though I was now getting pretty tired.

Our driver and Shah said they'd pick us up in an hour, 8 PM, at the hotel, to go to the market, which gave me time for a quick shower and fresh clothes, which fooled me into temporarily thinking I was good for another couple of hours awake. Our friends met us in the lobby, then we stepped outside to wait for the car... and I got body slammed by the muggy heat. Ugh! Our driver was standing around, and we wondered what we were waiting for; Shah said we were waiting for a photojournalist who was going to come with us and record Steph trying a durian. We thought he was joking, but he was not; our mission had changed from what we thought was visiting a local market to the mission of finding durian for Steph to try! A young lady Fattima showed up and jumped in the car with us, and we headed off to a market, Fattima interviewing Steph and taking notes on her answers. Our Malaysian friends all said they liked durian; Fattima said she loved it. "You are going to try it?" she asked Steph. Steph said yes, and Fattima said, "Ah, yes, the King of Fruit!"

We wove through the busy streets of Alor Star (they actually drive in lanes here!) and came to this crazy bustling night market. People strolling, riding and revving their mini-bikes up and down the lane, fruit stands, stalls selling anything you could imagine. Several vendors gave Steph and me tastes of fruits we didn't know; all were very tasty. But, there were no durian here. A vendor told our driver we had to go to another market. He told us we could stay here, or we could drive to the other one; Steph and I didn't really care, but you could tell our driver really really wanted to see Steph try a durian. So we said Sure, take us to the other market.
We hopped in the car and drove a few miles away to another market - just as busy, bustling, full of people. We pulled up right in front of a stand that had piles of big wicked-looking spiky coconut-like things - they looked like one of those weapons from Lord of the Rings that the Black Lord of the Ringwraiths tried to kill Eowyn with. And - they were amazingly heavy. The vendor picked out one for us - test-cutting some and smelling them before picking the right one to cut open. (The most fragrant/pungent?) He laid it out on a crate covered with a plastic bag, and our driver ceremoniously carried it to the front of the stand. Fattima took pictures, and Shah took my camera and sent me over by Steph to try the durian too. I was supposed to be the photographer, but somehow I got roped into this sampling gig too. A few people gathered around, watching two gringos trying this strange fruit.

It was a great setting - chaos, people all around, laughing talking yelling, cars and motorbikes zooming by, a generator running, and right then the call to prayer from the nearby mosque went off. That's just one of the coolest sounds there is, especially in an outdoor setting like this.

Pew, the durian certainly did stink. I of course let Steph try it first, being the chicken I am, thinking I'd still be able to get out of it, and I waited while she swirled it around in her mouth, watching her expression closely. It seemed touch and go there for the first few seconds... and she finally said "Hmmm, well, it's not so bad." So I took out a piece from the inside - a lumpy soft squishy blob, kind of like a wet lump of cookie dough, and I took a bite. It was kind of touch and go for me too... it starts out in your mouth as a lumpy soft squishy blob of stinky dough where you can't immediately tell if it's good or if it's going to make you barf. By the time you get past that sensation, it's gotten better, and by the time you finish that bite, it's not so bad. The texture never does improve. But by that point you might as well eat a few more pieces. A very strange fruit indeed, though I don't know that I need to try it again.

We walked around the busy market, stalls of trinkets, fruit, skinned chickens, cow legs, fresh fried foods, flip-flops (Steph bought a pair). We tried a few things: little donut-like things, chicken kebabs, a cup of what we'd call custard - corn flavored, which was amazingly delicious. Many friendly vendors gave us free samples of their things. I asked to pick up some of the "noodles" on our way out; Fattima led us to an indoor market store to I guess pick up some dried noodles. What I really meant was "Mee goreng", which was a type of pad thai. I also lusted after the samosas, but figured I'll be able to get those somewhere again along the way.
We left the market about 9:30, and got dropped off at our hotel, burping durian fruit, by now both of us pretty wiped out after our long travels topped by our encounter with the King of All Fruits.