What do you do when you’re out for the evening and you bump into a chap from work and he’s clearly wearing eyeliner and lipstick? … Go and watch him in his panto, of course! It was my first experience of expat amateur dramatics and there were the usual cheesy jokes, songs and topical references… Continue reading A dilemma …

On a trip to Malacca last week I rekindled my love affair with the Peranakan culture.  The Peranakans were also known as the Straits Chinese, and were the first wave of Chinese immigrants from the 14th Century onwards; wealthy merchants who traded in Malacca and intermarried with the local Malays. They had their own culture,… Continue reading On a foodie tour of Malacca

I’m still getting to grips with Malaysian education.  This week a parent asked me to look at his son’s exam paper, to see why he hadn’t scored particularly highly.  The exam paper contained several language errors – but the boy already knew that if he didn’t repeat the error in his answer, he’d lose marks,… Continue reading Little Bo-Peep and her helicopter sheep

I see in the UK press that Nigella is predicting that the next hip ingredient – essential for every foodie refrigerator and food-related hipster conversation – will be pandan. Well – sorry, Nigella, but I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it … or the photos, at least. Here is Mr Toad… Continue reading Ahead of the curve … yet again

This week I was highly disturbed to discover that, in a long blond wig, I look just like a transvestite – I spent the entire weekend in an itchy, sweaty wig pretending to be some sort of dodgy, senescent version of Goldilocks – and all in the name of Hallowe’en dress-up weekend. Have you ever… Continue reading If you go down to the woods today …

The temperature in Malaysia doesn’t seem to stray far from 32 degrees, with humidity around 70%.  It’s usually sunny in the morning, and there’s often rain later in the day – but this week has been an exception. Last Tuesday we went to the Helilounge to celebrate Julia’s birthday.  It’s a helipad by day and… Continue reading Phew, what a scorcher!

This week one of my pupils asked how old I was when the Vikings invaded Britain. I like to think that this is because my description of the Anglo-Saxons standing on the cliffs watching the long boats heading for the shore was so vivid that she  thought I was actually there myself – rather than… Continue reading The oldest Viking in town

There’s an intriguing sign on the wall in the swanky Royal Selangor Club in KL – Since the club – all mock Tudor and with a waiting list as long as your average Malaysian spitting cobra – is a bastion of male chauvinism, I assumed that the wacky-baccy boudoir would be strictly men only, so… Continue reading The High Life

In first place of all the firsts, I have to announce that I am no longer a durian virgin. I have almost bought durian so many times, and then lost my nerve at the last minute – but Lauren was with me and determined to try it, so this time there was no going back. … Continue reading A week of firsts

I’ve learnt a new word … apostasy.   I felt the need to look it up when it featured in the headlines of all the newspapers recently. With headlines like ‘The Punishment for Apostasy is Death‘,  I felt that I should know what it is, so that I could avoid inadvertantly apostasising in the future.… Continue reading Enriching my vocabulary, and the wrong sort of launderette …

It was student review and reflection time again this week – one of my least favourite times of the term – where pupils reflect on their progress, fill in a form, and then take it home for their parents to sign.  I don’t like it because, in my experience, young children are incapable of reflecting… Continue reading Just before I get the sack …

  Names in Malaysia are an endless source of confusion and/or amusement. Could anyone blame me for constantly confusing the two girls in the same class call Ya Jing and Ja Ying?  Or for not realising that a child with two names is usually known by both of them and not just one?  Do they… Continue reading A boy called no one …

The number of public holidays here is truly insane.  If you’re used to the English system of three Bank Holiday Mondays a year – and be grateful for them – then the Malaysian system is a real eye-opener. For a start, there are three main ethnic groups, so there are holidays for Islamic, Chinese and… Continue reading And the gold medal for public holidays goes to … Malaysia!

After writing my rather smug little blog post yesterday about how easy it is to pick up Bahasa, I noticed that I had received a Facebook message from my local area’s Facebook page.  Glancing at it, I saw the name of my condo – Villa Flora – so I read it more closely. Now, I… Continue reading Hubris

Well, after nearly 8 months in Malaysia, my Bahasa is coming on a treat – and without a single lesson, I’d like to add.  It seems that we talented linguists simply soak up the language effortlessly. So when I came across this fiendishly difficult quiz, I simply had to have a go, and of course… Continue reading Only people with an IQ of 120+ will score 100% in this quiz

Have gone native and been living in the jungle for a few days. Directions to find our particular patch of jungle were along the lines of … turn left at the stream – cross the waterfall – Then turn right at the fourth passionfruit tree – and suddenly we’d arrived. Our hut is just behind… Continue reading Natural Born Killers

Next week is Independence Day in Malaysia, and the flags have been appearing all week. There was an article in the newspaper saying that any business not displaying a flag will not have its licence renewed next year – hence the zealous hoisting of flags all over the country. I was glad to see that… Continue reading Celebrate … or else!