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June 13, 2006
i'm back in KL until friday when i leave for Indonesia, staying with my friend As and her family again. and unlike the first time i stayed with her, when i felt grateful but also slightly overwhelmed and terrified, now i just feel grateful and happy that i get to see her and her family before i leave. not that i don't feel overwhelmed, which i probably haven't stopped feeling since i've been here. coming for only 7 weeks, and splitting that 7 weeks between two different cities makes this a little like summer camp, all your time is spent either making new friends or saying goodbye. only summer camp in another country in another language and with no counselors to show you how to get around
anyway, i got to bring buah pala (pickled nutmeg, which Penang is famous for) and t-shirts with cheesy pictures of seashells or the Penang Bridge to my friends in the restaurant today, and last night i finally got to sing karaoke, which here is not usually in a bar with a DJ like the US but in individual rooms that you rent out with a TV and a microphone. the track list included a song in English by the winner of last seasons Academi Fantasia (like American Idol, but hosted by the Malaysian equivalent of David Letterman), a song by P. Ramlee who is sort of like Frank Sinatra crossed with Woody Guthrie and probably the most famous singer here (for instance there is a road named after him in Penang), Malaysian 80's pop, a Japanese pop song and Cat Stevens
Posted by diparker at June 13, 2006 05:25 AM