Rotary World Understanding Month

On February 23^rd Rotary celebrated its 107^th anniversary.  As a global non-profit organization, The Rotary Foundation has designated themes or celebrations for each month.  This month is World Understanding month.  November is Foundation month, March is Literacy month, etc.

As a Rotary International Scholar, I have been invited recently to many Rotary Club gatherings for international celebrations.  On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the Rotary Club of Gombak’s International Night.  We were treated to a presentation by the High Commissioner of Kenya and also in attendance were the Ambassadors of Namibia, Russia, and many other countries around the globe.   With all attendees, there were 14 countries represented in all.  It was great fun to be in such a diverse room and learn from people all over the world. 

The dress code was "ethnic" so I pulled the kebaya out.

The next day I attended the Rotary Club of Kelana Jaya’s “Out of Africa” themed international night.  I took place at a rare African restaurant at a sports club.  The food was very ethnic and we were treated to a key note address by the Commissioner of South Africa who was very jolly and even sang for us at the end of the evening.

The past few weeks and coming weeks are also filled with many Rotary Club presentations for me.  I’ve been happy to share my passion for Alaska, Rotary in Alaska, and my role as an Ambassadorial Scholar with the Rotary Clubs of Pudu, Kelana Jaya, and shared some info with the Rotary Club of Kajang at their international night at one of the member’s homes.  As I’ve mentioned before, one of my favourite parts of this experience is being invited to people’s homes to see how local people really live.  In the coming week I will be visiting my wonderful host club while in Malaysia (RC Titiwangsa), as it’s been a while since I’ve actually been able to attend one of their official meetings.  Additionally, I will make an appearance at a “visitor night” for RC Danau Desa.  I look forward to presenting more about Alaska and my “culture” to a joint meeting of RC Subang and RC USJ and then heading back to Seremban to visit another favourite club there (RC Senawang) with my roommate and Ambassadorial Scholar Tomoko.  Lastly, right before I leave for Vietnam, I will present to a joint meeting of RC Danau Desa and RC Bernam Valley in Rawang. 

I have some creative ideas for what I am going to do with all these flags once I get back.

Maybe this post is more of a reminder to myself than it is of importance to those who are reading J  But it at least gives you a glimpse into some of the activities and responsibilities of being part of this program and trying to perform the true duties of an ambassador.  And not to forget that I also get to attend classes, meet many new people outside of Rotary, and engage in volunteer projects.

I’m really looking forward to the Rotary International Convention in Bangkok in May as a chance to meet many of the other Ambassadorial Scholars in the region and to share/compare our experiences.  I don’t think I’ve described it here, but this year there are roughly 400 Ambassadorial Scholars scattered around the globe.  In SE Asia we have 6 or so in Singapore, 2 in Malaysia, at least 3 in Thailand, 1 in Hong Kong, 1 in India, etc. etc. and those are just the ones I know about!  Someone started a Facebook page for SE Asia Ambassadorial Scholars so its fun to know who is out there.   

Olympic Qualifier Football (soccer) Game

Having a sports journalist as a roomie provides the benefit that I am always alerted if there is an interesting game worth attending.  Although I am not an avid sports fan by any means, I do enjoy watching live events every so often, even if I don’t have a personal connection with any of the teams playing.  With the 2012 Olympics in London creeping closer, we were treated to the opportunity to watch an Olympic Qualifier football game between Malaysia and Japan at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.  This stadium was built to host the 1998 Commonwealth Games along with nearby facilities for aquatics, tennis/badminton, cycling, etc.   The National Stadium can seat 87,411 which makes it the 25^th largest stadium in the world and the 9^th largest football stadium in the world.

I attended the event with my (other) Japanese roommate and her Iraqi boyfriend.  We decided to sit on the Japanese “side” to at least save our hearing.  Although there were not that many Japanese fans, she did say it was the most Japanese people she had ever seen in one place at one time while in Malaysia.  From my understanding, the Japanese population in Malaysia is only about 10,000-15,000.  It is great to have to opportunity to learn not only about the many main ethnic populations of Malaysia (Malay, Chinese, Indian), but also about the Japanese culture from my housemates.

Overall, the scene was much less crazy than I expected.  We took the lightrail to reach the stadium since we were afraid of getting stuck in a traffic jam and when we arrived we were greeted with many options to buy jerseys, noise makers, etc. to support Malaysia.  But since we were actually “cheering” for Japan, I waited until the end of the game to buy a token jersey J  Now I can at least wear it to the gym.  The stadium seemed less than ½ full, but when it seats 87,000 people, even less than half of that is a lot.   

The game was entertaining to watch, even though the end score was 4-0 with Japan for the win.  It was expected as the Japanese team is much stronger, but it was fun to see the Malaysian patriotism.   

Another Example of a Small World

In 2010 I was awarded I fellowship from the Hydro Research Foundation to support my thesis research, along with eight other recipients.  With this grant we were also invited to attend a hydropower industry conference that is held every year.  It was great to meet the other students, learn about their respective research, and gain insight into the industry.  In 2011, the foundation awarded another round of fellowships and we again all met at the conference this summer including the new recipients.  The foundation provides brief biographies of each of the participants and their research.  On my flight to Sacramento on the way to the conference this past July, I was surprised to read that one of the new awardees had grown up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was now studying in New York!  I was very excited to meet her at the conference and of course ask millions of questions, as it was only two weeks before my departure date to Asia.  It also turned out that her parents were visiting California with her as part of a longer visit to the US as they still live in Kuala Lumpur.

Fast forward six months and half way around the world...she and I and our families were able to have a nice meet up in Kuala Lumpur just a few days after my parents arrived.  She happened to be visiting for Chinese New Year and amongst all the craziness of the holiday we were able to cross paths and enjoy a very delicious Indian vegetarian meal while catching up and learning more about Malaysia.  Small world indeed!

Bali: Round II (part 2)

My apologies for the delay in posting the second half of the Bali photos.  If you want to go back and look at the first set, I've annotated them.  Now that I’m motivated and have some free time I’m trying to catch up on sharing the last 5 weeks worth of adventures.  Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!  Sending my love from Malaysia with some pretty photos J

Janelle and I enjoyed a week of yoga and hot stone massages in Ubud while exploring the surrounding area (temples, rice terraces, and volcanoes) and then headed east to the magnificent Tirtagangga water palace before heading south to find the beach!  There are lots of stories in between and behind all the photos, hopefully I'll have time to write more about the trip in the future.



Cooling off from some nice hot springs.

Enjoying a soak with the locals.

Beautiful rice terraces at Jatiluwih.

Approaching Mt. Batur.  Janelle was psyched to climb a volcano.  I was too but I got food poisoning the night before so I didn't make it to the top.

Lava flow from a historic eruption.

Growing onions at the base of the volcano.

Tirtagangga water palace.

Yet more beautiful rice fields.



Mt. Agung, Bali's tallest volcano.




Janelle enjoying the serenity of our patio adjacent to the water palace.



Colorful sails at Sanur beach.

But we opted to head to Balangan beach instead.

It was fun watching the surfers and trying boogie boarding.  Unfortunately there was a fair amount of plastic in the water.  Not derived from this beach, but brought in by the current.

And just relaxing and devouring a few books.

Sunset wasn't bad either.

Chinese New Year

Two days prior to my parents’ arrival marked the first day of Chinese New Year; yet another wonderful holiday in the treasure chest of this multicultural society.  It really is a treat to have the opportunity to experience and learn about the traditions of so many different celebrations.

On the eve of Chinese New Year I went out to dinner with some Rotarian friends and happened to return to my apartment right at midnight.  As I looked out the window of my 23^rd floor apartment, I watched in awe as I witnessed fireworks from at least nine or more different locations throughout the city, that those where just the ones in my field of view.  Mind you that only one or two of these were officially sanctioned firework displays, and the rest were just set off throughout very festive Chinese neighborhoods.  Everyone was happy to welcome the year of the dragon, and a long weekend. 

Mall decorations for the Chinese New Year.  This is the same space that had 10+ Christmas trees in it not that long ago.

The first two days of Chinese New Year are official national holidays, although Chinese New Year is 15 days long, so most people return back to their families homes.  Similar to Hari Raya, I was warned that the city would be very quiet and it was a great time to drive around or dance in the streets because they would be empty.  Well, that was quite true for the actual holidays themselves, but Janelle and I had happened to arrive back from Bali on the Friday before the long weekend when everyone was either coming or going and that’s when you learn there is a limited supply of taxis in the city. 

Although I was busy cleaning my apartment and preparing for my parents visit, I did sneak away to Seremban, a nice little town south of KL that I have visited previously several times to visit a Chinese friend of mine Q’Juan who I visited the Perhentian Islands with when I first arrived in Malaysia.  I spent the evening with her and her family visiting different households of their friends and family and participated in some cards and gambling which is typical for this holiday.  

I think I came out even in the end.

There are many traditions associated with this holiday.  For the Chinese, red stands for life, energy, and wealth so one is encouraged to wear red and something new.  This color is also very important in Chinese legend. Once upon a time (it is said), a man-eating beast known as Nian terrorized China every New Year’s Eve, until people discovered that Nian was afraid of loud noises and the color red. Thus people are encouraged to light firecrackers and wear red clothes to prevent another attack from Nian on the New Year.  Older married folks will give handouts of ang pow (red envelopes filled with money) to their kids and other young unmarried adults (including me!).

My ang pow!  Nice little surprises of $5-10RM each.

Every day of Chinese New Year has different meanings.  The seventh day of Chinese New Year is considered the birthday of all human beings.  The ninth day is particularly significant to Hokkien Chinese: on the ninth day of the New Year (it is said), the enemies of the Hokkien tribe banded together to wipe the Hokkiens from the face of the earth.  As a horrible massacre ensued, a few survivors hid in a field of sugarcane. The heavens intervened, and the marauders left.  Since then, Hokkiens have thanked the Jade Emperor for his intervention on the 9th day, making offerings of sugarcane stalks tied together with red ribbons (OK, I stole that info from the Internet).  The last day of the New Year celebration, this day is also the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day, as unmarried Chinese ladies toss tangerines into bodies of water with their contact information on it hoping a nice young lad will find it and they will live happily ever after. 

A loin dance could erupt at any moment.

Fruits to celebrate the New Year.

From the Road

A quick post from the road, or the water taxi I should say.  My folks and I are having a great time traveling around N. Malaysia where we spent time in Ipoh and Taiping before heading to the island of Langkawi.  From there we hopped a boat to the small island of Ko Lipe less than an hour away just north in S. Thailand but the differences couldn't have been more pronounced.  On Langkawi the beach is populated with Malaysians and visitors from other Muslim countries where women swim in head scarves and children and adults swim fully clothed.  A skip away on Ko Lipe European sun bathers enjoyed the rays sans bikini tops. 

Ko Lipe was beautiful, we spent 5 days soaking in the warm, glowing waters and fresh white sand.  I think I "picked" a good winter to be away from Anchorage as the city has been getting dumped with snow (I miss the snow, but not driving in it) and long periods of temps well below zero.   

Its been great hearing stories about when my parents traveled extensively around the world (including SE Asia) 34 years ago.  Everything is so different now!  Tomorrow we're off to Ipoh again to experience the Hindu festival of Thaipusam before heading back to Kuala Lumpur.  I'll have a lot of catching up to to do with the blog when things settle down again come mid-February.  But I'm happy to have visitors, even for 5 weeks straight :)   

True water color, no enhancements!

My folks at the beach on Ko Lipe.