Phuket, Thailand: Thanksgiving on a beach

November 26, 2010

Phuket, Thailand

Thanksgiving on the beach

This was my first Thanksgiving away from family. Phuket made our longing for family on Thanksgiving magically disappear.

We heard of Phuket, and had vague impressions beforehand of an overdeveloped, overtouristed island in Thailand. But, we wanted an easy, cheap flight from Kuala Lumpur for a long beach Thanksgiving weekend, and Phuket was it. The reaction to our trip from our KL friends ranged from barely restrained disdain (from those who’d previously lived in Thailand) to their faces lit up from just remembering how blissful Phuket had been for them. We now fall in the camp of lit faces.

Truth is, we’re living in a bubble in Phuket. We will manage to not leave our resort the entire vacation. Funny, we’ve avoided vacations trapped on resorts but this time we surrendered to resort life. We just plain needed a break. For Ken, he needed a break from the stay-at-home relentless routine, for the kids from the intense, early morning school schedule, and for me, from pushing myself so hard in my work and family time.

My body and mind felt like they were still running from one activity to another here, for the first day or so. I would rush myself to breakfast, thinking we had to get there before the rush, to find there is no such thing as a rush in Phuket. I’d even rush to my massage. Now, I’m at least able to put the break on my fast-paced thoughts and planning. The massage, running every morning on the beach, then floating in the ocean topped off with a little meditation sure helps.

We are in paradise here. And, the kids know it. They passionately threw themselves into beach play like it had been years. There were an overwhelming number of choices of beaches to stay in Phuket, and Ken wisely chose a beach with calm surf. Then, the kids have been able to learn to snorkel for the first time in their lives. The waves gently rock them while they follow schools of tropical fish along the shallow waters next to the rocky coastline.

Abraham has patented a body surfing technique that allows him to body surf with the tall kids. It involves his putting his snorkel equipment and leaving his snorkel breathing tube up, then he lets the wave wash high over his head, with his breathing air the entire time. He emerges unscathed from each wave break, smiling triumphantly.

Boom has taken on body surfing too. He calls his boogie board his “skateboard.” Once again, he’s patented his own signature boogie boarding technique involving his riding his board sideways, undeterred by his older sister correcting his board position with every wave.

Then, they return to the beach to attempt to catch speedy little silver fish with their nets. They haven’t caught a fish yet but that hasn’t stopped them from fishing for hours, yelling at each other to herd the school of fish into their nets.

Our resort is intimate and nestled up on the cliff rocks next to the ocean. The food is amazing at the restaurant, where I eat nightly green mango coconut salad, with some sort of ceviche dressing. We have a view of the ocean from our balcony lounge chairs. The resort owner is an architect who has designed soaring ceilings, modern clean lines, and Thai traditional gold designs and patterns. And, I’m soothed by the constant sounds of fountains, little waterfalls, and ubiquitous Buddhas, since Thailand is a Buddhist country. I’m bowing to everyone here, and ended my run this morning with a prayer at their Buddhist shrine, watching a skink lay on the hot, stone Buddha.

Ken Sighting

Hi Folks - Ken here. I like to think of Colleen's posts as the daily ice cream we feed our kids after dinner; the kids posts as the sprinkles on top and mine as the occasional banana stuck inside. So here goes the big banana:

First, I want to acknowledge my brother-in-law Peter. Peter is in the critical stage of cancer, and our thoughts and prayers are with him, as well as Jen, Avery, Julia and Dylan. It has been frustrating for us to feel so helpless and far away as my family unites during this difficult time. I've been struck by one persistent image that we saw in a cave in Miri. Ancient cave dwellers cast off their dead in small boats for the trip to the next world. We are thinking of you, Peter, and we wish you a safe journey...

We've had a few interesting firsts recently. We visited the Aquarium, and they had a nice Touch Tank where you could feel and handle some fish. Colleen pulled the Horseshoe Crab out of the water for us to touch, and Alice said "Mom, it says not to pull them out of the water." We all stopped and looked up at the sign that did indeed say just that. "Alice!" Griffin shrieked, "you read the sign!" Alice's conversion to a reader had just been clearly demarcated. As I mentioned to my parents, it was even better than the moment at the Singapore Zoo when two Chinese teenagers were yelling at the sleepy lion in Mandarin. "They're saying 'Stand Up" Alice casually observed. Colleen and I looked at her dumbfounded, and relished the overseas moment.

Finally, Boom ("I'm 4 now, I'm Abraham") came home about a week ago and showed me how he could draw two letters, an A and a B. I think they were working on the first letter of your name at school. Somehow, within a week, he came home and proceeded to write a whole bunch of random letters in no particular order, often not really sure what he was writing. He would write an "N" hesitantly, then look at me wondering if he had written a letter? Same with the R. Sometimes he wrote a squiggly line and I said "nooo" and he said "No, No, it's a fox's tail!" as if that made sense. But he could write lots of letters. So Alice pointed to a sign on the wall, one letter at a time, with his name on it and he wrote his name for the first time. Yet another milestone on our march towards the end of innocence. Now if only he could stop sleeping in diapers...

How do you know you're in a third world country? Instant fines payable to the police officer who pulled you over for a moving violation. Love that. Another benefit of not having a car here.

Did you know Malaysia hired Jack Abramoff at his peak to get a meeting with George Bush to improve their image? He got them the meeting, too.

For those of you who have known Colleen a long time, she is the happiest I have ever seen her since we met in 1991. She is also in the best shape. When I mentioned that to her, she started musing about what good shape she was when she played soccer. I said "you mean 10th grade?" I rest my case.

Many of you wonder what I am doing. I have discovered illegally downloading music and movies through file-sharing web sites. While I'm too scared to do this in the U.S., it is like a national pastime here. In fact, I don't really understand how Hollywood and the music industry tolerate it. American movies and music are our dominant export here. It is not unusual for us to get in a teksi and have current hip hop playing. I can not go to a mall or street market without several people approaching me with pirated dvds for a $1. The cost to those industries must be enormous. So here I am contributing to the problem, at least for a year, but television here is unwatchable. It's pretty addictive to be able to access any movie or any album you were ever curious about, for free. In a nod to Annie Potter, who demonstrated the courage, I've also signed up for beginner guitar lessons. Peace.

Alice's Blog: Fun times at school

November 22, 2010

We made ornaments for the school Christmas tree. I heard a scream from my teacher Ms. Thompson. I looked over and saw that Ms. Thompson had gold sparkles all over her hands. I saw gold on her nose. I saw gold on her mouth. There was gold even in her hair. It was so funny! I looked back at their table. Ms. Thompson was now laughing her head off.

Before Mommy came to the class to help with the ornaments, we planned to sing Happy Birthday to her when she came in. When Mommy came in, we all sang Happy Birthday to her.

Some of Mommy's friends helped me make my ornament good. A mom helped me put sparkles on it. I was so happy when I was done with my ornament, I hugged Mom.

Valeria was sitting next to me. Her ornament was so pretty. It had a pattern on it.

For Girl Scouts, we were celebrating...Thanksgiving. We made turkeys with our hand prints. I chose lots of different colors. And then the teacher told us to sit down. We made turkeys with cups next. We stuck the turkey head on. We stuck the tail on. We put legs on. After everyone was done, we writed what we were thankful for. I writed I was thankful for...my brothers!

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia: How to live like a British Colonist

November 7, 2010

After a weekend in the Cameron Highlands, we now know what it was like to be a British Colonist, who were still colonists up until 60 years ago. The colonists built homes up in the mountains 4 hours north of Kuala Lumpur, to escape the heat. They were drawn to the cool, clean air and fresh produce, especially the strawberries and tea that can grow year round here because it's frost-free. So, were we.

Despite the colonists' tending towards being oppressors, the truth is, we empathize with them. Or, at least, with their needing a break from more than the heat, but also from the stress of living in a big, jangly, stressful city like Kuala Lumpur. Think of it like the need to escape from NYC on weekend getaways. But, KL is more poorly planned than NYC.

The scene was set for us, backdrop in place, when we arrived in the Cameron Highlands to our hotel called "Ye Olde Smokehouse." Cheesy and chintzy in some mild ways, yes. But, largely, an intimate, warm home from the 1800's filled with Colonial memorabilia and touches from the past like a British garden and lovely beamed ceilings. We'd start every day there with a big, fattening British breakfast with baked goods that just aren't worth eating in Kuala Lumpur. But, at Ye Olde Smokehouse, they specialize in baking, British-style. And, they love their meats. So, we'd have loads of ham and sausages and more for breakfast. I'd chase the kids in the garden while waiting for breakfast. Afternoon tea had clotted cream and delicate, warm scones with Devonshire tea.

Ah, dinner. What British comfort food --- steak and mushroom pie, scotch broth, and Beef Wellington. But, we'd start dinner out with drinks by the fire in their small pub, with the cool rain pouring outside, us feeling all toasty and cozy inside. Ken said it reminded him of being rained-in at his parents' country house. The kids had free reign of the place -- sitting with us by the fire, running up to our nearby room, watching a movie upstairs while we'd eat dinner. It gave us all a warm, trusting sense of freedom that we really missed in our cold, glass and marble high rise life in Kuala Lumpur. And, to top it off, the general manager, Alex, is Chinese Malaysian with a clipped British accent, and he'd stand chatting with us and other families relaxing by the pub fire while we'd wait for our meal to be ready or have dessert and after-dinner drinks.

Needless to say, we didn't want to leave. It was like having to leave your mom's home and return to work. You just don't want to leave the warmth of home.

What we did do in Cameron Highlands was touristing and trekking. We picked berries at a strawberry farm (dipping them in chocolate fondue!), smelled roses at a rose farm, and went to a famous tea plantation, the biggest in Malaysia, called Boh Tea. They are so successful that they actually own the property our KL high rise is on and the ultra valuable property next door to us -- they keep their own, rare low-rise homes with a pool and jungle space in the middle of the city right here in KL.

We trekked on a hike to the "Mossy Forest" which was as magical as its name. But, they should have renamed it the "Soggy Forest," since we were mud-caked by the end of climbing all over the top of a mountain, slipping on the big jungle tree roots. The kids seemed unleashed by the freedom and empowerment of leading the hike. You'll be happy to hear that we no longer let Griffin or anyone run ahead of us without adult supervision. We joke with him that he needs to let us know before he kills himself, this time -- see Taman Negara near-death experience down the river rapids for background.

Today we hiked from our hotel through the jungle to a nearby town where they had a fabulous playground and some yummy Indian food, on a banana leaf. Alice tried it and shocked us that she'd expanded her palate this much already. Used to be, we couldn't order her anything at an Indian restaurant. The previous day, we'd eaten a Steamboat at a Chinese Malaysian restaurant. It's a big pot with the deepest, richest broths we'd had in a long time. Ken and I couldn't stop eating the spicy one. We'd boil our seafood in the boiling broth, and the kids loved it too, other than Griffin's traumatizing green chili eating, which he'd mistaken for what they call a "ladyfinger" here (okra). He jumped up and down, pouring sprite into his mouth.

I jogged both Saturday and Sunday morning, which is unusual for me. I usually run 11 miles on Saturdays, with my jogging group in KL. But, in Cameron Highlands, I didn't feel like running so far, but loved the run in the cool air, for a refreshing change, around the golf course. I worked some on speed, instead of distance. It was such dream runs for me.

We ended our trekking days in the hot bath. It still required extra sharp Mom nails to scrape the muck off of them.

Soccer with the locals

October 24, 2010

We went to Lake Titiwangsa park, now two times. The first time we were on our way and a woman had some extra roses from an event she hosted, handing them to Alice. We'd heard of the hospitality here but this stopped us in our tracks. Then, we walked into the Titiwangsa (don't laugh!) park and were struck by how many rules there were, including our all-time favorite of no male-female physical contact. The picture makes it look like they are about to kiss. Given the laws against homosexuality here, you'd think they'd also have a picture of no anal sex.

Anyways, you can see that the prohibitory signs and moral police cruising the park with white gloves and whistles quick to blow at any stray touch are having an effect. Note the couple sitting next to each other, almost awkwardly not touching each other. Ken and I restrained ourselves from groping each other.

The second time we went, we played some soccer with just our family, picnicked, then sat in the shade next to the playground, unable to motivate to stay under the sweltering sun for long in the playground. I trailed some couples taking their wedding pictures -- just to show the contrast of the Muslim vs. Indian Malaysian wedding wear.

On our way out, Griffin convinced us, against our wishes, to play one more soccer game in the hot sun. Truth is, Griffin's felt deprived from feeling free to play soccer like he can in Prospect Park. The new management at our high rise have created a lot of resentment among Griffin and his latin soccer playing friends over new rules prohibiting ANY soccer or ball play at our building. It's actually been really demoralizing for Griffin, despite his playing soccer twice a day at his school.

So, we grumbled and grudgingly played again, out of empathy for Griffin. As we dragged ourselves around the concrete soccer field, local boys were slowly circling us on their bikes. Then, they stopped and sat in the shade watch us. After about 10 minutes of watching and conferring, a few came over and asked if they could join the game. Unlike most barely competent American soccer players, all geared up with proper footwear and padding, they wore flip flops, eventually kicking them off to play barefoot. And, they kicked our soccer ass.

Truthfully, they were actually pretty restrained. Almost to the point of elegance. Gently passing the ball to Abraham. Laughing with delight when they were challenged by each other. But, seeing me play did give them pause. I realized they'd never played with a woman before. And, they definitely had to pause and restrategize their goal shots when confronted with me as goalie.

At first, they gently kicked the ball to me, for me to easily block. Soon they playfully double-teamed me, topped with kicking the ball past me by kicking it along the ground, between my feet into the goal. Soon, they were outshooting me with power kicks. Finally, one strong kick glanced the ball off my right breast. I laughed and chased after the ball, returning to find the usual boy giggling laughter completely silent. I watched then realized they were embarrassed and stumped over how to handle having hit a woman's sexual organ with a ball. After a few awkward minutes of silence, the offending boy turned to me, without direct eye contact, and deferentially said "I'm sorry about that."

I then jumped on the opportunity and slammed the ball down to the local boys on my team, to score a goal for our side. I had a blast. So did the rest of us. The boys were shocked again when we asked for a photo with them. They conferred in Bahasa Malay then all put their shirts back on for the photo.