My Electric Postcard

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – OK, so I guess when traveling you have to experience a few bumps in the road right? About a week ago my computer started dying. For some reason it wasn’t re-charging. I basically used it until the battery ran down and I thought that would be the end of it for the rest of my trip. Well, I don’t know what happened since then, but given that I’m using it now, something got fixed. Perhaps it’s more likely I was screwing something up, but whatever. Comparatively more serious was loosing my wallet at the Park Royale Hotel during the Asian Mycological Conference. Word to the wise, don’t wear cheap ass shorts from Target with shallow pockets, stuff them with an oversized designer wallet then sit down on a over-stuffed lobby chair. It’s going to squirt out of that pocket like you’re stepping on a tube of toothpaste. I didn’t know I had lost it until 2 hours later. Luckily the myco-gods were smiling on me since some kind person turned it in to the reception desk. Perhaps...

Penang, Malaysia – So I’m here at the Asian Mycological Congress that is being held at the posh Park Royal Hotel. It’s good to be back in Malaysia. This signifies an end to what was a pretty challenging semester. To be honest, I can’t think of a better way to end it than on a beachside tropical resort, socializing with friends, both personal and professional, new and old, foreign and familiar. This is my first trip to Penang and I’m glad I made it. My friend Cathy wasn’t so lucky. She was waylaid by storms in New York, ended up missing her flight out of Hong Kong and had to stay an extra 24hrs. I guess it wasn’t too bad since her airline fed her well and put her up in a hotel. I had my own bumps in the road to get here. I flew out of Boston on a Thursday morning and went through Long Beach on my way to Oakland. Jet Blue however decided to ship my luggage from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. I arrived in OAK at around 3PM and my flight for Kuala Lumpur was going to leave out of San Franci...

One of my concerns about traveling in Malaysia was the cost. Little did I know that the low cost airline, Air Asia, would for me re-define the meaning of... well... low cost airline. I had to get four flights to travel in Borneo, and the prices ranged from RM270 ( First stop, visit Grand Perfect Sdn. Bhd. in Bintulu, Sarawak. The company works with the Forest Department of Sarawak to develop an environmentally stable source of paper and pulp though planting Acacia trees (http://www.plantedforestsproject.com/#). There I finally got to meet with Joannes Unggang who, along with Rob Stuebing, has been my main contact with the organization. Both help manage the department of conservation for Grand Perfect. I had diner with Joannes (Rob was away) and two co-workers Jacinta Richards (who would be my guide for the visit), and Belden. They explained they appreciated having someone bring a new kind biological experience and perspective to their conservation work. Much of their work has be...

After a long flight it’s hard to do much else but take it easy. The Dukes of Hazard, the one with Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke, was on HBO in my hotel room when I got to Malaysia. Every time I’m traveling down some twisted Malaysian highway I hear Willie Nelson singing that goofy theme song, “...Straight'nin' the curve... Flat'nin' the hills.”. Those lyrics followed me all the way up to Fraser’s hill. Fraser’s hill is named after some British recluse who lived in the mountains bordering Selangor and Pahang provinces. He had a mule and traded in tin. The local Bishop made a point of keeping track of him and when he failed to make his regular visit, he put out to search. Finding this area where Frazer apparently lived. It looked like like a good place to set up a regular outpost.Fraser never turned up... so the area was named after him. The forest in the mountains around Fraser's Hill is thick with steep, sometimes plummeting, slopes. People have gone missing recentl...

…Sounds like a couple comic book super heroes huh? Actually this episode is about dining in Malaysia. And there’s quite a bit to share. Ethnically, Malaysia is quite diverse. Besides the local Malay culture there are also a number of Chinese and Indians located here. Probably due to the shared connections to British colonization, but it is an interesting mix. The cuisine in Malaysia also tends to be structured along these ethnic lines, making the dining experiences more varied than you would probably get in another Asian country. First of all, lets start with the Malay food. What can I say about the Malay food? For Malay it is very much comfort food. Food that satisfies, makes one feel at home, familiar. Perhaps what hotdogs and beans for breakfast must be like to the Brits. It’s good but for an adventurous westerner such as myself, the everyday Malay fare is not as exciting as I would hope. First of all, Malay food is centered around fish. They curry fish, put little sardi...