Home Thoughts From Abroad

Cultural dissonance is what you get when cultures collide or overlap with each other. The result can be humorous, insightful or ironic. Hot Link is the cell phone network. The shrine is the Hindu or Buddhist prayer site; their link to heaven. Interesting clash here.

Speaking of prayer, we would ask that you pray for the start of Pam’s ministry. Now that we are online, she is eager to get underway. Please pray for a smooth entry into her new position. We ask also for our sons and daughter as they are all facing job decisions, that they would be mindful of the Lord, and look to Him to open doors or keep them closed. Finally for Steve’s prep, as he has just been handed another English course, 4C, to prepare for the upcoming term.

We have as yet seen no sign of a contract or a work permit, which is another reason to pray. We figure the Lord is growing our faith, and for the most part we’re good with that. But we do have our little panic attacks from time to time! Who is your hotlink connected to?

Don’t just visit. Leave us a comment, so we know you were here.

Our local grocery store is Carrefour and it is a great resource in that it stocks most anything you need at very reasonable prices. However, during my first few visits there, I had serious concerns about the smell in the produce department and avoided that area at all costs. It smelled for all the world like rotting meat and I was considering becoming a vegetarian.

Little did I know, that we just happened to arrive in Malaysia during Durian season, apparently a highlight of the growing seasons for most Malaysians. I guess it was somewhat of a relief when someone told me that this “heavenly” smell was durian fruit.

That is all well and good but our friends in our cell group are all excited about the opportunity to introduce us to this delicacy and insist we must try it. They have promised to bring it on Wednesday and we are going to have to eat it. Our only hope is that we did find some durian filled chocolates at the Central Market, which we purchased in the hope that we may convince people we are in fact, tasting durian. I figure I should be a able to swallow most anything if it is covered in chocolate.

On the other hand, you really must find a Dragon Fruit  and taste that.  It is to die for.

Today we decided to take a bit of a break and explore a little more of Kuala Lumpur and it really is beautiful.  We visited the Central Market:

and Chinatown:

The sights and sounds are incredible. The city is very accessible and a vast mix of many cultures.

Sorry to have been so long in getting more pictures to you. The Lord has been teaching us much about patience! However, along with His gentle training in this most Asian of virtues, He has also been reminding us of His gracious and generous hand in giving to us over and above what we asked or thought possible. Here are some more views of His wonderful provision of our new home.

We are just rejoicing in the fact that we have been given a wonderful oasis – a sanctuary from the heat and business of life in Malaysia.  It is new, clean and safe with a wonderful pool and we love it here. 

It even has a guest room with an ensuite bathroom if anyone would care to visit.

Who could forget that silly little video game from those innocent early days of computers. Frogger was such a hoot. And no I don’t think I ever learned to get the little guy further than four or five lanes before he was road kill. (Our kids of course could get him all the way across on several levels) Who would have thought this would become our daily routine?

I walk to work every day, and Pam walks out for groceries and water. In order to get anywhere we have to cross this intersection. Four lanes of traffic come in but there is no pedestrian right-of-way or crossing. Everyone drives here and everyone thinks we are nuts for walking. Hence there is zero respect or even tolerance for pedestrians.

So in order to get across this road – which is also under construction with a huge new bypass – we have to pick a break in the traffic and ‘hop’ across a couple of lanes to the median. Then we wait and ‘hop’ again to the next section. The expats call it Frogger, and it is most appropriate. We are waiting for the day when we end up like the central character from that long-ago game. I wonder how many new lives we get!

What a tremendous relief!  After just five visits from a very helpful technician and multiple purchases and trials of hardware and software, we finally have internet access in the privacy of our own home.  Not only does this mean that we can utilize all the planned methods of staying connected to family and friends and post photos, it also means we now have access to bank accounts and can even pay our bills; maybe even book a trip and get away for a few days.  This also means that I am now able to make contact with the TWR office in Singapore and beginning planning for my work with them.

Still confined to the internet cafes, and darn! I forgot my earplugs again. This is a young culture of rabid gamers – Dave you would feel right at home – and they all like their games LOUD!

Still no internet connection at home. It has been two weeks since we ordered the phone line so we could get online, and still no success. Our apologies to all those who would like to see pictures, but we can’t load anything in the cafes (no access) or at work (Secure server. Locke’s staff will understand).

Other than that we are having a blast, and feel truly blessed to be in this beautiful country serving God and making new friends. I have been hard at work preparing lessons for the July intake and Pam’s been working on getting her office set up at home so she can make contact with the Trans World Radio office in Singapore. We are both out tonight with church activities. I have a men’s supper and prayer meeting, Pam has a ladies’ night out. We are not starved for activity, but we miss the regular contact that the internet allows. Hopefully tomorrow!

Last Monday we applied to have a phone line installed. Not that we need a phone, but we do need the internet connection which is only available through the phone lines in Malaysia. A week ago that was installed and we immediately began getting calls to install the internet service that we had ordered. We were a little suspicious since we had been told that it would take a few days for our phone line to be ‘activated’, whatever that meant. It certainly didn’t mean activated, since the phone worked just fine. But apparently this didn’t mean it was ‘activated.’ There are moments here in Malaysia when you think that you have just followed Alice down a rabbit hole.

Since we couldn’t understand the people on the phone line wanting to install the internet, we were force to trek back out to Telecom Malaysia (the owners of the other huge tower in KL) to find out what was going on. They told us our phone wasn’t ‘activated’ yet. So we waited, and dealt with the telemarketers as best as we could, never know if it was the real installers that we were dissuading.

Yesterday I got an email from TM, which gave me written access to someone at TM so I could get some real info. I found out the name and phone number of the installer and today he came to install the service. I hope. I am still at work so I don’t know for sure, but we will keep you posted.

It has been a few days since we have been able to post.  Having moved to the condo and needing to wait for Telekom Malaysia to get a land line in place, we are limited to internet cafes.  Not a bad option as they are clean and cool, if a little loud. We continue to be delighted by the ethnic and culinary variety of this amazing country. The level of cleanliness and personal safety are issues, but fortunately the Lord provided a place that is both clean and safe, and we have met a number of good Christian friends who are watching out for us. We are looking forward to the day when we can be a blessing in return. We will post a picture when that option become available again. Our new address is T1-L3-A Boulevard, Jalan SS12/1 Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia