city structures, Kuala Lumpur

 

 

While away on our recent holiday, we saw a strange mix of architectural styles. There were ultra-modern skyscrapers and hotels, while some of the buildings were still around from the 19th century and long before.

walking around the Colonial District

 

 

The iconic Petronas Towers (above left), next to the KLCC shopping center, are the tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur, and the tallest twin buildings ever built.

We stayed in Chinatown during our nights here-and-there in KL, and Petaling Street is the official entrance.

All of these pictures were taken during our strolls around KL, except for the last one on the right. The lighthouse was situated at the end of a little peninsula down the coast, near a town called Port Dickson. We took the 2km or so hike up the hill, saw some trees with leaves larger than us, and found this at the end of our ascent. Once we reached the topside of the lighthouse, we saw lots of monkeys playing around in the shade, and the beautiful Malacca Strait in front of us.

Cuisine of Southeast Asia

Let's face it; I'm really bad at blogging about our trips. I'm going to try a new approach to writing about them, so let's see how it goes. The first of a few about our recent trip to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Island of Bintan will concern something that Chris and I are both passionate about: food. Nothing can tell you more about a culture than the types of food a person can eat. For example, here are some questions we ask about food.

1. Is it halal? ("Halal" is a term used for anything that is lawful in Islam. Pertaining to food, it mostly refers to the process of how animals are killed for meat, "dhabiha," or what has touched the food. The opposite of "halal" is "haram." Pork products, alcohol, and carnivorous animals are definitely "haram.") In our recent travels, most of our food was "halal" because Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim countries. Singapore's Muslim population is about 15%. Everything in Kuwait must be halal-certified, especially if it's imported.

2. Is it local? Has it been grown/prepared/produced/raised/killed in this region and is it used in traditional foods? We don't always ask this question because it's often very obvious. In Malaysia, they use a lot of tapioca, which is a starch from the cassava plant. It made its way from South America all the way to Southeast Asia via the Spanish and Portuguese colonial periods. We ate slices of cassava fried like chips, and sweet treats that were made of tapioca flour and coconut steamed together inside hollowed bamboo shell.

3. Is it fresh? In third-world countries, freshness is everything. Especially in humid, hot weather countries, it is highly undesirable to eat food that has been sitting out all day. An opposing argument could be that some foods are most desirable after being cured for weeks, or that there is a risk of food-borne illness from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. I usually have only three strict rules to eating in other countries: no peels/rinds, no drinking tap water, or I see someone else eating it and s/he hasn't dropped dead. They're simple rules, really. On our visit, we enjoyed piping hot Singaporean noodles, super fresh sushi, and a buffet of tropical fruits prepared in snacks and drinks.

Death is as a Door

We found out last night that Chris' grandmother passed away on Thursday, March 8th. This came just two months after the death of his grandfather on Dec. 31st. Both were the parents of Chris' dad, Allen, who is currently in Texas looking after some of the family's affairs. What do we say at a time like this? How do we think, feel, and respond? While our joy is tainted by our earthly sadness, we can rejoice in the fact that our God is good and that he carries things out in his own time.

at Chris & Stephanie's wedding in 2005

John William "Bill" Freeman Sr. (1930 - 2011)

John William "Bill" Freeman Sr., 81, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. Funeral: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Greenwood Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Bill was born Sept. 27, 1930, in Grapevine to Rex B. and Ruby Freeman. Bill was a cherished husband of 59 years and beloved father, grandfather, brother and friend. Survivors: Wife, Tressie Freeman; son, Allen Rex Freeman and wife, Carol; grandchildren, Christopher and Alicia; sister, Kathryn White; numerous nieces and nephews.

Tressie Freeman (1932 - 2012)

Tressie Freeman, 79, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, March 8, 2012. Funeral: 1:30 p.m. Monday in Greenwood Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Tressie was born May 3, 1932, in Danville, Ark., to parents, Tommie Lee and Velma Woodard. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She was preceded in death by her cherished husband of 59 years, John William "Bill" Freeman. Survivors: Son, Allen Rex Freeman and wife, Carol; grandchildren, Christopher and Alicia; sister, Carol Bane; and numerous nieces and nephews.

"The Lord cares for His believing people in their deaths. Their times are all in the Lord's hand. The hairs of their heads are all numbered and not one can ever fall to the ground without their Father's permission. They are kept on earth until they are ripe and ready for glory and not one moment longer. When they have had enough sun and rain, enough wind and storm, enough cold and heat- when the fruit is ripe- then, and not until then, they are harvested. They are all immortal until their work is done. There is not a disease that can take their lives until the Lord gives the word. A thousand can fall at their right hand, but there is not a plague that can touch them until the Lord sees fit. There is not a physician that can keep them alive when the Lord gives the word to bring them home. When they come to their deathbed, the everlasting arms are wrapped around them. When they die, they die like Moses, "As the Lord had said," and at the right time, and in the right way [Deuteronomy 34:5]. And when they breathe their last, they fall asleep in Christ and are immediately carried, like Lazarus, to Abraham's bosom. Yes! It is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat. When the sun of other men is setting, the sun of the believer is rising. When other men are laying aside their honors, he is putting his on. Death locks the door on the unbeliever and shuts him out from hope, but death opens the door to the believer and lets him into paradise."      J.C. Ryle, Practical Religion

- obituaries taken from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

National & Liberation Day 2012

This past Wednesday was our school's National and Liberation Day celebration. In elementary, we celebrated by having an extended flag ceremony, and each class performed a very Kuwaiti style song/dance. The elementary secretary and one of the class assistants taught a different dance to each class during two periods per week for the last month in preparation for this event. I even went with them on a few occasions to help out, which ended up being really fun. I also went to one of the local shops before the performances to find a unifying theme or costume item, and I came up with some butterfly wings done in the colors of the Kuwait flag. The girls looked so cute!



 Here's our hallway bulletin board. We made the shape of the Kuwait flag from little country outlines and camels that have the girls' names on them.

We had lots of treats (cupcakes with Kuwait's current flag and the old flag's colors) and it was pretty much a non-teaching day. It seems like we've had a lot of those lately... Here you see me with J, whose mom is an assistant in our Early Childhood program at the school. They are a fun family! (You can see her mom in the red head scarf in the video, taking pictures.)

This is a great month for people in the car detailing business:

 As much as I'm tempted to complain about certain aspects of these celebrations, they really are something to see. I'll be sure to post pictures if we see anything crazy tomorrow.

Valentine's Baby

None other than the spectacular Chris Freeman is a Valentine's Day baby. Ok, there probably are some other people that have the same birthday, but how many that you know? I tried to keep it low-key the other night since it was a work night, but we still wanted to do something out of the usual. Since it's Chris' birthday, I like to do the planning for this holiday, but he was sweet enough to pick up something I've grown to love- dried fruits.

First, we went to a piano recital that was held at one of the local library/concert halls. We left with what I thought was enough time to get there, but I didn't take into account the extra traffic for Kuwait's National Day month-long visitors. (In general, traffic during the entire month of February is awful, especially around dinnertime.) The concert started at 7pm, but we didn't arrive until 7:25pm, which is a major no-no for a musician. Chris didn't seem to be terribly affected by it though, so we had a really enjoyable hour listening to some amazing, young Kuwaiti performers who have been preparing for international competition. I found out about the free recital on a website that I follow called The Grapevine Kuwait, which gives notice for a lot of local social events.

After the recital, we drove over to a restaurant called Rangoli, which is at one of the seaside hotels. It usually serves Indian cuisine, but they had a variety of menus for Valentine's Day. We ate. A lot.

There was live music and funny little "love" decorations were worked into the appetizer display, making it a unique evening.

The restaurant is situated under a dry-docked boat, which actually houses another restaurant. Here's one of two Arabic bread ovens that are located near the entrance of the restaurants, serving both. The smell of "khubz" is near heavenly.

"underneath" the boat

We had a really great time on Tuesday evening, but it's nice that having a date isn't out of the ordinary for us. We try to have a "date night" every week, a habit we started early in our marriage at the encouragement of others. It has really allowed us a lot of face-to-face time over the years and respite in the middle of each busy week. We don't always do something formal; sometimes we just go for a walk along the seaside, but Chris has been really good at leading us to block out this time just for each other.

 Happy Birthday, Christopher,

my beloved, my friend.

Flash Mob in Kuwait

Now, this is something to see, for sure.
If you've never heard of a flash mob or seen one, I recommend watching this one in Antwerp train station.
Here's an Arab version done by Kuwaitis of all shapes and sizes at the Avenues Mall earlier this month. The  drums start at about 0:44 of the video, and the actual dancing starts at about 1:14.

Jazz, Cats, and Look-alikes

Two Thursdays ago, I went to an Ahmadi Music Group concert featuring the singers themselves and a jazz band called the Kuwait Jazz Collective. I can't tell you how amazing it has been to see and hear such talent in a country that, as a whole, doesn't particularly value the arts. Chris has performed with them for a few of their events, which has been a special treat for both of us. The conductor, Richard Bushmann, is always cooking up something new. This particular concert featured the music of Duke Ellington. If you don't know much about him, you can take a look at his official website, presumably run by his estate. At the concert, the groups performed selections from Ellington's three "Sacred Concerts," which included themes from a lot of old spirituals, combined with the music styles uniquely Ellington.

On a somewhat related note, Chris and I occasionally see strangers throughout our travels that look like our friends from PA. It's weird when we do, because most of the people we interact with are not western and do not have European features, and most of our friends at home do. It's a funny surprise. At the concert the other night, there was an amazing alto soloist whose similarity in appearance to my friend Megan W. was uncanny. This "look-alike" surpassed the previous frontrunner, who was an Egyptian guy that looked like our friend Mike B...but surprisingly not like his brother.

Last week, Chris traveled with our friend, Kyle, to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. He came back probably more tired than when he left, but with a new appreciation for Southeast Asia. I'll post more on his vacation once I get more story details, but he said that the natural beauty of the area mixed with the present poverty and the history were very sobering things.

A number of schools had holidays at the end of the semester, so lots of people were out of Kuwait for the last two weeks. I volunteered to watch my friend's cat while she was gone, which was more than I bargained for. Rather than having to drive to her building everyday, I brought Meeshu to our place. He proved to be good company while Chris was gone, but also confirmed the fact that I will probably never own a cat. There are pigeons that sit on the outside of our windowsills, so I learned to clear all objects near them quickly, especially after one of my perfume bottles was knocked over and broken...

At school, I'm busy getting the students ready for the National and Liberation Day holidays. Our curriculum and activities focus on Kuwait's history and cultural heritage throughout the month of February in light of these events on the 25th and 26th of the month. Celebrations, decorations, and sales have been plentiful since this year's Parliamentary elections on February 2nd. Thursday was Sports Day for the elementary and early childhood students, so we spent the day at Yarmouk Sports Club in various competitions by grade levels. The kids had a blast as usual, but my voice is a little on the raspy side today. Next year, I need to remember my whistle!

Last night, we went to the American Embassy with some friends and heard the Volunteers of the The US Army Field Band. We loved being able to end the week with good music, good friends, good food and drinks, all set on a cool patio and lawn area. When we go there during this time of year, it reminds me of a cool summer evening at a pub at home.We've had a bit more dust, wind, and rain in the last few weeks, so my guess is that Spring is on its way to Kuwait. The mornings have been really hazy, so much that it's hard to tell where the sky ends and the water begins, but the temperature is perfect right now.