Home Thoughts From Abroad

Although Steve is technically on break as the college is closed for the holiday season, the university is still going strong and the project doesn’t move forward unless Steve is there, so we have been staying close to home. However, this past weekend Steve had a work based commitment down in the south outside of Johor Bahru.  Since it is a four to five hour drive we decided to make the trip count by spending the weekend there.

We stayed at the Pulia Springs Resort which is a little down at the heels but has some lovely architecture and is located on a gorgeous golf course. It was nice to walk in the quiet, coolness of the evening and spend some time with a book in hand enjoying the greenery and sound of the birds. Subang Jaya is noisy all the time and you forget how restful the quietness is.

On Saturday we drove about forty kilometers out to Ulu Tiram to connect with a potential partner for the university. Kampung Temasek, The School Of Doing, aims to provide experiences that allow people to experience the kampung days of their youth.  The curriculum is geared at equipping future leaders “with the 5Cs of Courage, Curiosity, Creativity, Compassion and Collaboration,” as they explore nature and sustainable technologies. They have a great ten acre site, adjacent to the river Sungei Tiram. Groups are encouraged to go there to work with local facilitators and experiment on any sustainable project from gardening to renewable energy.

After a very nice home grown lunch and some stimulating conversation with Singaporean, Professor Tay Kheng Soon and members of the Buckminister Fuller Club, we headed out to the east coast for the afternoon. It being monsoon season the winds were high and the waves, pretty wild but we relaxed in a hammock, with our books on our laps and watched the waves crash on the shore.

We broke up our drive home on Sunday with a short side trip to the west coast town of Muar. Grabbed lunch at the Elephant Café and stocked up on a couple of kilograms of our favourite Malaysian Elephant coffee. Still beat the rush hour traffic and got home in time for Steve to set up a three time zone, Wise Boys, Red Alert 2 online game with Jon, Ben and Dave. Steve is not much for online games but when your grandson turns seven it is time to learn so you can play with him.

Happy Birthday, Ben