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March 5, travel notes:

I woke up early again, and dug in to the computer. Lots of work to catch up
on, setting up the event page for the Kedah ride, fixing Merri's photo and
story pages, running the stairs again, with a cool-down jog in the early
morning streets outside the hotel. Work and work, breakfast, more work.
Finally we met Shah and Mr. Rusi, aka The Sherrif, downstairs and off to the
market we go!

The hotel is smack dab in the city center, so everything is close. We went
to Pecan Rabu, a very old native market, tons of great little shops, crammed
into a 4 level open building. Shop keepers at every shop, color everywhere!
We had a great time shopping, and Shah and Mr. Sherrif bravely kept up with
us, carrying our filling bags, and offering comments and suggestions. So, do
I look better in this gold shirt? or is the green better? Shah's answer "You
look good in both" (he's studying foreign affairs, on the path to being a
diplomat!). Mr. Sherrif's answer "The gold". A straight shooter, right to
the point!

We search endlessly (it seems) for shoes for me, by US standards my feet
aren't that big, but in the land of tiny Malay women, finding something to
fit was a challenge. Finally gave up on the shoes, and we decided to go to
the Menor Tower, the 9th tallest tower in the world, I limped along in my
blistering feet (wearing flip-flop sandels I had purchased before, wearing a
blister on my toe), but the 360degree view from the tower was fantastic! We
could see the ocean off to the west, the mountains, Kedah's highest peak,
the rice padi's surrounding the museam we had visited earlier, the air was
cool up there, an ocean breeze, I was a little chilly, Merri was happy.

Afterwards I decided one more attempt at finding comfortable walking
sandals. Concentration and perserverence - I had to find some shoes! We went
back to the mall (sort of western style, but still very Malay feeling). The
first shop upon entering the mall was a shoe shop, and I tried on dozens of
shoes - the women's shoes just don't fit me. So Shah, the charming diplomat,
suggested perhaps some nice men's sandals.... I swallowed my faintly feminie
pride and tried on a couple pair of men's sandals... ok, yes, not so pretty,
but it's time to move along. I'll take these! And I also bought some pretty
black beaded slip on shoes, a litte snug perhaps, but it made me feel a
little better. and everything is so affordable here! the USdollar goes a
long way.

A collective sigh of relief and we decided to go celebrate with a curry
dinner. It was late, almost 7pm, and we were starving. We went to the
wonderful open air curry diner again, and gorged. Conversation froze while
we wolfed down the incredible assortment of flavorful foods. Shah and the
Sherrif ate Malay style, with their hands, and did an admirable job of
cleaning their plates and picking the bones. Merri and I struggled with a
fork and spoon, but managed to eat our fill. and then some.

Back to the hotel, happy, full, bags of goodies in the trunk, back to the
hotel just in time to see the Sultan and his family arrive for an annual
charity function (the Sultan's first wife had started a charity organization
for the needey). We watched as the beautifully dressed men and women, all
silk colors of the rainbow, paraded in, warm greetings and smiles, and the
Sultan finally arrived, walking the yellow carpet to the elevator, smiling.
A very kind looking man.

Two Tiger beers to cap the night, lots of laughs over taking pictures of
Merri's raven (puppet) on the gold carpet after everybody had gone (the
carpet was still there for the royal exit). Hopefully nobody found our
American humor offensive. I have great respect for these people. The royalty
is loved and revered here, I find that so refreshing!

Now, it's almost noon, time for a little more shopping. John arrives this
afternoon, and we'll go out to dinner again, maybe the same Indian curry!

later,

Steph


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