really missing the visual stimulation of islamic architecture. walking down the streets and noticing all the colors and geometric details in the facades.
(by comparison, shanghai is so bland and grey…)

so there we were, in the middle of rows of tables. kampung baru, the same area that was deserted during the whole day is now busy with life. people all around us, sitting on these tables, food steaming in front of them, colorful plastic glasses filled with iced colorful drinks. but no one is eating, not even the kids who stare at the food with hungry and impatient eyes. there is rain outside the improvised tents that cover this canteen and it is getting darker.

at 7:15, a chant on tv, subtitled in arabic. on the radio as well, a man prays in a mixture of praying and singing. and as soon as they stop, the feast starts. in the whole country.

we’ve been looking for places to stay in kuala lumpur/singapore and since we are having trouble finding couches (ramadan starts today) someone suggested us the tune hotel, describing it as a “no frills hotel, that is for hotels as ryanair is for flights”. and you know what? it is exactly like that – except that it is made by airasia, one of our favourite lowcosts in asia.

the place looks neat and is just what we were looking for: a simple, chic and clean room to sleep without all the fancy stuff that we won’t use. i’ll let you know how it goes. :)

image by lynac on flickr.

summer has been good, despite the silence.
the olympics have come and gone and i guess now we’ll see how much life changes (or not), when it all fades away.
my company changed offices to a shiny new place, which unfortunately is located on the other side of town. the commute is now much lengthier, but watching shanghai in the morning through the bus window can be eye opening.

a couple of couchsurfers have surfed our couch too, true citizens of the world hopping between countries and cities. their stories and energy is what makes new this hobby so much interesting. i hope we can make use of this good karma on an upcoming trip to kuala lumpur and singapore. the weather there looks lousy right now, but we need a break from this city. a lot of exploring and sightseeing are in order, some gastronomical adventures and tons of pictures. if you have some tips, leave them in the comments!

malaysia, as we found out, is a young and beautiful country, well versed in the arts of receiving people. it’s one of those countries that is filled with curious details, that you could probably explore in countless days.

we toured a bit of the countryside in terenggannu, on the bus to and from the airport. wooden colorful houses on stills filled with and exquisitely detailed architecture. colorful dressed women working around. lots of food stands, with all sorts of dried food (and also some smelly fish sausages). men flocking to mosques with their sons on the backseat of their old bikes. people drive on the left side of the road. “all meats are halal” said the sign on the sandwich shop. and then of course, the sea and the sky. an insanely green and blue country.

malaysia is mainly muslim, and you can see the influences everywhere, from the mosques to the veils covering the heads of women. and yet, describing malaysia as muslim is a poor simplification. it’s more of an intense asian melting pot. chinese and indian people are also well represented and it seemed to me that besides malay, everybody could speak either chinese or english, which was brilliant.

there were lots of details which we could not explain (orange nail polish on girls and boys?) and others that our “asian background” made a bit more clear, such as the empty beaches and the snorkeling fully clothed (veil included). asian people don’t fancy getting tanned – the whiter the better around here.

in the end, the friendliness sticks out and i feel like we could definitely end up living in kuala lumpur in the next few years. who knows?

sugar = gula in malay.

gula in portuguese = gluttony.

:)

there must be a color named “malaysian blue” – if there isn’t, i think i’ll name it. it’s the color of the sea in malaysia, the impossible mixture of green and blue, unbelievably dreamy and beautiful.

the water was as warm and clear as promised. the sand was white and there were lots and lots of colorful fish swimming in amazing coral reefs. our week in redang island was short and sweet, but felt like a month away from shanghai.

malaysia caught me off guard in many aspects, but made such an impression on both of us that i can see us living in kuala lumpur in the future. what an exquisite mixture of people, architecture, colors, cultures, languages…

more on this soon. meanwhile, thank you to everybody who wrote or twittered me happy birthday! turning 26 on the beach and sharing the cake with impromptu friends pretty neat. :) and now, on to another brilliant year!

time for a much needed vacation, with white sand beaches and clear water. see you soon! :)

picture from nahele, on flickr.

hello!
posting on this blog has been scarce, and gently replaced by other tasks… here’s a bit of what has been going on:

- i’ve been keeping things running more or less at anita na china and hanzillion, while studying chinese and learning new characters like a mad woman. i’ve finished my first textbook and we’re moving on to a harder one, which uses characters all the way for the texts and exercises. it feels really good to read them now, in full sentences! but i am still too shy to strike up conversations in the street, on the elevator or even with our ayi… which is slowing my learning process a lot, says my teacher. i have to agree, things would go faster if i made the effort to use the language i am learning – must work on that.

- meanwhile, i’ve discovered the wonders of taobao, the chinese ebay site, on which i am now completely hooked. it feels like an online version of my dearly missed mama mini, a shop where you can find the most amazing treasures or everyday items for a small percentage of the price. oh! and all with the chinese convenience of things being delivered to your doorstep on 24 hours, for one euro. :) it’s perfect, and it’s working as a big chinese learning motivator.

- after considering guilin, sanya and thailand, we’ve set or heads on malaysia! we’ve been planning a trip to redang island, which will include lots of sun, sandy white beaches, coral reefs (and some sharks!), blue turquoise sea and snorkeling every day. looking forward to escaping shanghai for a while, especially now that the much dreaded steamy summer season seems to be here to stay, with 30ºC temperatures already!

- i’ve been fighting distractions… and headaches. daily headaches and some dizziness that sent me to the nearest pharmacy, to get checked on my blood pressure. “too high!”, said my mom on the phone. so we’ve been reducing the caffeine & salt intakes to nearly 0. not as hard as i thought it would be. the headaches persisted for a while (lack of caffeine?) but now they are gone and that also seems to be the case with my caffeine dependency too (not that i was that dependent). so how about that? a blog called meia de leite (café latte) written by someone who doesn’t drink coffee anymore! :P