Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu: Signal Hill, Sunday Market

My holiday in Kota Kinabalu began on Sunday morning, and I tried to go to the overlook on Signal Hill on a few occasions, but kept getting put off by afternoon rains. Finally, on Wednesday, I made it. It looks like a couple of UFOs perched above the town--well, city. As you can see, KK is a bustling, growing place.


Head toward the southeast side of the city center, and you'll find a sign behind the city gym; as you climb, you'll see flight after flight of stairs as shown below.


But back to Sunday morning. I came into the city center using the hotel shuttle to visit the "Sunday Market" and find a room closer in. I was lucky at my first choice, Rainforest Lodge, where I got an air-con, hot water double for 115 RM. The room was small but adequate, clean and had a balcony. Furthermore, the Lodge is part of a complex that includes some small restaurants and a cool spot called BBs Cafe and BBQ Garden.


The Sunday Market takes place adjacent to the Lodge, and has many items typical to southeast Asian vending tents: food, jewelry, toys, souvenirs, etc.


In addition to tent markets, Malaysia has plenty of other stores, including a 7-Eleven knock-off:


I also saw this store, but no Scaramouche, Galileo or Figaro:


A few minutes walk from the Rainforest Lodge is a very useful pedestrian overpass that goes to the oceanfront market area:



I took about 400 photos on this trip, and I'll share a few dozen more of them over the upcoming posts, which will focus on my trip to the Mari Mari Cultural Village, Lok Kawi zoo, and food and drink.

Ex Libris Tuttle

Off to Malaysia Saturday. Here's some ideas for stuff to read while I'm gone:

• The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers - The Iraq War presented in grimy, poetic clarity; the geopolitics (and peculiarly American politics) are the unacknowledged raison for the day-to-day of a pair of foot-soldiers trying to survive senseless combat missions together. The lyrical quality of the narration exposes the ugly betrayal of the truth even as it appears to hide it. What, after all, did the narrator do to deserve his time in the stockade?
• Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game by Paul Midler - Fascinating expose of the truth behind China's rise to manufacturing (or manufactured) might. The author's account of his long experience as a go-between helping US firms find factories in the Chinese hinterland reveals the cynical tricks, ploys and outright lies Chinese firms use to attract overseas customers. Quality fade, secret substitution and false partners are jusrt some of the methods used by Chinese companies which ultimately lead to the poisoned baby milk, contaminated pet food and dangerous toys, that inhabit today's headlines.
• Out of Time by David LaVigne - A professor of archaeology finds a time travel device in Mikola Tesla's desk-carefully, academically, he travels around in historical time, until he realizes a more cynical time traveler has found a similar device: a Nazi officer who he believes is altering history so the Third Reich can rule the world of the twentieth century. So begins a race though space and time, stretching from ancient Rome to the American Revolution. It took time to warm up to this story, but it became quite a tense and enjoyable read by the end!
• Relics by RD Shaw - You won't realize this book's premise is absurdly impossible until halfway through, by which time you'll be hooked on the lead characters, and the not-quite impossible premises of the secret societies to which they belong or interact with--starting with the Knights Templar. Yeah, them. Still it's quite a good read, with reader-as-detective moments, unexpected plot twists, and a long, action-packed race to the climax.
• The Lost Van Gogh by Al and Jean Zerries - Clay Ryder, manufacturing scion and NYPD major case detective, was at first happy to get the stolen art beat, after his wife's death--until he realized that it only lowered his esteem in the squad room. However, when he is able to link a series of delivery van hold-ups to the recovery of Nazi-era art pilfering and the recovery of a long-lost van Gogh ... well, the intricacies are almost impossible for even his trusted mentor to follow.
• The Expats by Chris Pavone - Katherine, Kat, Kate--no matter what you call her, she is an ex-CIA clandestine officer, married to milquetoast banking IT guy Dexter, who gives up her analyst job when he decides to move their young family to Luxembourg, the lower-profile version of secret-banking-hub Switzerland. They befriend another ex-pat couple, Bill and Claire, but Kate comes to realize she is not the only one keeping secrets--for example, a fifty million Euro hidden bank account. At times a bit samey, with Kate obsessing over how to come clean about her past to her husband, this book still delivers some great twists and turns.

Trash-ee Messages

A couple of weeks ago, not too far in advance of July 1st, a message on a flyer began appearing in my neighborhood, particularly in the vicinity of the "wet trash" bins (that means leftover foods). It was all in Korean, with a not very helpful diagram.

The staff of my poorly-run officetel posted this notice in the elevator, in Korean, knowing that at least half the tenants were foreign English teachers. Gee, thanks.

Today, they made amends, by posting the following:


I snapped this with my fairly admirable iPhone camera, but as it was in a moving elevator, the image is not perfect. Here is a transcription of the translated message in its entirety:

Food waste, pay-per-enforcement
Time line: From July 1,2013
Discharge time: after sunset to 23 pm
Disposal: Remove garbage bite them in trash bags and food bags only the second discharge. feel free to put in a collection container.
If you violate actively naohni We will greatly appreciate the fine.
Trashbags sold in the supermarket or mart haonhi emissions do it.
please purchase directly.

Gee, thanks some more.

Tuttle Update

1) I gathered with friends at 맥주뚜껑, or Maekchu Dduggeong, in Sinjeongnegeori, for a 4th of July celebration, complete with chili dogs, potato salad, chips, salsa, cake and more cake. In addition to the usual suspects, we were joined by my new friend Lynn and her daughter Annie. PS: We missed you, Kevin.


I spent all evening Wednesday in preparation, mainly of the chili. I started at E-Mart, where I found enough proper ingredients to finish there as well--mainly in the "Internation Foods" section they have these days: I got two different cans of chili beans, two different jars of salsa, dried superhot red peppers (they didn't have canned chipotles in sauce, or cumin), and Tabasco. Plus produce (onions and jalapeno peppers), plus fresh ground hanu sirloin--they didn't have any ground pork or ground lamb, which is what I think makes my chili so so fine! Still, it ended up being pretty decent. Here's a pic of simmering chili:


Happy 237th Birthday, America! (Love Annie's shirt!)

2) While traipsing around my neighborhood today in the heat of a July afternoon, I was rewarded by a vendor's stall with a pair of fabulous hats. The first one, I have no idea what it means; the second one, I understand all too well!


3) Either I have to take back some of the unkind things I have thought and said about my Vice-Principal, or I am being set up for an enormous ass-f*cking. Background: I had to change my plans for my summer vacation by a couple of days because the VP, upon reading the contract we (SMOE and I) had previously entered into, realized I had to do five weeks of camp--this is typically three weeks in the winter, two weeks in the summer. I knew I had only done two weeks last winter, but figured the school was just cool that way--rather like my old school, which never even once made me do "desk-warming".

Anyway, when she realized I owed them a week of camp, the VP added a week to my summer obligations, after I had already got my plans "approved"--turned in weeks previous with no comment. Now, I can't--and won't--argue that I don't owe a week of camp, but I will argue that I am owed a week of vacation. And I did.

It goes through a few iterations, but what happens is that the VP suggests or approves (I don't know which, because I'm not in on the discussions) that I can take my five days owed vacation during the last week of spring semester--an actual week of school! When I realize this, I actually decline: I've not missed a single day of classes in the five years I've been in Korea (and for that matter quite a few years before). It seems bizarre to me that it's okay to miss real school, where I teach 100 or so kids a day, in order to meet class with probably ten or twelve kids (the same 10 or 12) for a week of camp. While I think my vacation is quite important, it's not as important as my actual teaching duties.

My main co-teacher insisted that it wasn't an issue, because as I knew, we will finish our book-work the second-last week, and collect up the books until second semester. We are only going to watch a movie in all the classes, she told me: Jack the Giant Killer, as it turns out. It's true that I don't really need to be present for that. Further, the co-teacher of my after school classes also told me I should feel fine to use this week.

4) The upshot is that I will be spending five nights in Kota Kinabalu from July 13 to July 19. This is the part of Malaysia on the island of Borneo, so I plan to soak up Malay culture, eat great food, and spend time communing with wild plants and animals. But we'll see what happens.

How did I pick KK? you ask. Well, I didn't--I trusted Ken at Unique Travel, who found a few reasonably-priced fares for me on short notice, and this was the place I haven't been. The ticket price was W608,800, which translates to about $600. Plus, about that again, top-side, in hotel, activities, food and alcohol. After umpteen years in America busting my ass, could I possibly just shrug and say, "Book it, Dano Ken!" No! I would have to scrimp and save for a year or two before I could imagine splurging $1000 on a foreign trip.

5) And, as noted, I've already got 9 nights booked and paid for in August at my spot in Koh Samui, Thailand, for my regularly planned vacation (the one cut short by the addition of an extra week of summer camp).

So, despite my early difficulties adapting to the elementary school, I seem to have "won over" my main co-teachers, and have even gotten the VP to acknowledge my worth to some extent. I still feel considerable pressure to be awesome (as I did at Youngil as well) but I'm seeing this as a victory. Always bearing in mind, though, that this situation could turn south at any time, and always remembering that the SMOE NSET program is a time-limited phenomenon.

Nashville No More

This past weekend saw the end of an era in Seoul. Many years ago, long before Tuttle ever arrived, the Nashville Pub was a foreigner standard-bearer in Itaewon. My own history with the place goes back to my first weekend in Seoul, after SMOE orientation and Week 1 teaching at Youngil HS.

In those days, I liked it better than Seoul Pub, though it was a few doors further down. I have some fine memories of the place, and the people I met there! One thing that's always true, though, is that things change, and Nashville changed for the worse.


I remembered why I stopped going to Nashville after about five minutes. I paid for a beer, sat next to my buddy, and never got served. Eventually I asked where my beer was. I hadn't bought a beer, it was maintained--even on the last day of business, they were still trying to rip off the customers! It took five minutes, after being told insistently (by the girl who took my money from me) that I hadn't bought a beer, to finally get a beer. Actually, this is why I stopped going to Itaewon ...

The photo above shows me with that first beer (Red Rock) on the last night of Nashville, with my change, given in old-fashioned currency, something they did randomly to/for last-night customers all night long.

The other cool thing they did was a giveaway of old-school mugs--one per customer--until they were all gone. What an appropriate memento of a faded-to-mediocre bar!


I bet you don't have one of those!

I saw a number of old, familiar faces doing the same thing I was doing, had a drink with them, and still left theoretically in time to make the subway. I somehow ended up in Mangwon on line 6 and had to backtrack via taxi--the driver was quite a character, admiring my mug and making sure it left his cab with me safely at the end of the route.

And these are some reasons I love Seoul.

11 Hours in the Big City

I picked up an old friend, Jeremy B. who's now a US Army Captain on a short visit to Seoul as aide-de-camp to a two-star, at noon at Noksapyong. The plan was to return him there between 10 and 11 in the evening, see what we could, and make sure to attend a Korean baseball game. We managed, and with about five minutes to spare.

We started at Tapgol Park, which is renown as home of the 1919 Independence (or Sam-il) Movement, where its leaders planned to read their declaration to the public. Though it actually took place at nearby restaurant, Tapgol Park is a seminal site in modern Korean history. Using my Nikon, I got photos of all the bas-reliefs that tell the story, and include a few below.


Tapgol Park is also home to National Treasure #2, the ten-tiered pagoda from the Wongaksa Temple site. A kind Korean gent instructed Jeremy on exactly how to pose.


Insadong is a must-see, I think, for a first-timer, because of the concentration of traditional art objects, shopping opportunity, street food, and restaurants. We first encountered a traditional marching band, and I got my picture took:


There were knick-knacks to peruse, then time for a late lunch. Samgyupsal, natch. With a bottle of soju. We ate and drank every bit of it.


We made a quick tour through Gwanghwamun Plaza, including the highlights of the underground museums, before traipsing across to Gyeongbokgung. We hit the geunjeongjeon or main throne room, with its irworobongdo screens, meaning, The Sun, the Moon, and the Five Mountains. Then we stopped by the Gyeonghoeru, the Royal Dining Hall, or Party Central, surrounded by a lake.


Next we stopped by the Cheonggyecheon, but nothing seemed to be going on there, so we refreshed ourselves with a quick draft beer and made for Jamsil Sports Complex to catch the Nexen vs. LG game (my Heroes lost 5 - 4, but it was a good game). We dined on dried squid, sundae (blood sausage) and KFC--Jeremy impressed all day with his willingness to give anything a try!--before returning to Noksapyong.

And since we had a few minutes, we strolled down to HBC, sat at Bonny's and a tried a couple of fine foreign lagers before calling it a night. It was great to see an old friend, and also great to see a bit of Seoul through fresh eyes.

How's the Weather?

Today the temperature hit 90 F for the first time this year (and summer is nearly two weeks away); I turned on the AC in my classroom today.

But I've been turning on the AC for two weeks or more, if the heat has made me uncomfortable. Furthermore, last weekend I went to TechnoMart and purchased a small, desktop fan to put in my office. It works really well, and cost 13,000 W, down from 15,000. That's not much of a discount, bargaining-skills-wise, until you consider that it's 13%.

I won't keep you long, but I just want to mention how different my experience of Korea is compared to some others; over on waygook.org, there are a couple of threads about how people are wilting in the heat, students are fainting, and the school won't allow them to turn on the AC until July 1, or July 14 or whatever.

No one has given me any such instructions, and my co-teachers have at most merely commented that it's nice and cool in the classroom (I'm keeping it at 23 C with low fan during class). In fact, last week, some maintenance guy came in to clean the filters and didn't say a word about it. Not to me, at least.

Anyway, it's now the time of loose knits, short sleeves, light chinos, and absorbent handkerchiefs at the ready. And will be until September.

Must Be A Korean Thing

I'm not much of a reblogger, or whatever it is, but I found this amusing, so I thought I'd let it take up some space in the Patch:


Enjoy.

School Samgyupsal Party

Following my "re-contracting interview" yesterday, the principal informed me there would be a samgyupsal party on the school rooftop at 3:30. Here's the view that greets you:


Pandora's Garden, the sign says, the name chosen in a student competition. What it is, is a garden tended by the principal and some volunteers, with boxes specified for the various teachers--they are expected to come up to the roof periodically to harvest Nature's Pandora's bounty. Here's my little piece of Earth with a view:


The occasion for the samgyupsal party was unrelated to my re-contracting interview. It mostly had to do with yesterday being a really nice string day, and the planting boxes starting to bear. The samgyupsal was cooked in regular frying pans instead of griddles that can drain off the oil, so those who cooked needed to soak up grease with paper towels.


Here's a pic of the scene on the rooftop at Yangmyung Cho. That's the VP poking her face in at right.

"Drunken"

Snapped this on Saturday morning, coming home from teaching my Public Speaking class. Cool.


Crazy Korean hat in the wild. I have a couple other blog posts of caps in captivity, look here, here and here.

Recent Reading

• In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith - Yet another wistful visit to the Botswana of Mma Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies Detrctive Agency, and her new husband, Mr JLB Matekoni of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. The story told here continues the arc of the lives of the above-mentioned, with interesting, if non-sinister, twists, such as the usurpation of Mr JLB Matekoni's old home as a speakeasy.
• Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding - A young publicist, spurned by her 'Famous Club" lover, devotes four years of her life to running a refugee camp in a war-torn region of sub-Saharan Africa. An impending crisis magnified by bungled NGO bureaucracies causes her to return to London to ask the celebrities she once for their assistance. At once a piercing indictment of charity "events" and convincing plea for recognition of the troubled political situation that leads again and again to mass starvation in this part of the world.
• Eleven Days by Donald Harstad - Solid police procedural about a gruesome murder spree with Satanic overtones in a sleepy Iowa backwater. Ex-cop's first novel may have some trite elements, but his believable characters--on both sides of the law--suggest this is a name to watch the publisher's lists for.
• Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon by Stephen Leather - Bob Turtledove is an ex-pat who runs an antique shop in the City of Angels--aka, Krung Thep or Bangkok. Some time ago, he set up a website for his shop with a Q&A section; some requests are easy, some are hard. A Mormon youth has gone missing, around the time of a disastrous bar fire in a seedy district of Bangkok, and the boy's parents plead with Bangkok Bob to find their son. Regular visitors to Thailand will recognize many of the names, places and environments described in the story, and probably decide never to become an English teacher there. Fair enough.

• Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm - I never think of a tourist guidebook as a Bible--but if I had, I certainly wouldn't do so after reading this NON-FICTION account of Mr Kohnstamm's sixty-two day stint writing/updating the LP guide for the Brazilian hinterland. A story of drinking, drugs and deceptions, it throws into doubt any single fact you may read in any guidebook ever (except perhaps Arthur Frommer's rather staid tomes). As to the title question, 'Do travel writers go to hell?', I think the answer is that they probably should, but they're so hung over they miss the bus.

School Sports Day 2013

We recently had Sports Day at my school, which in the States would doubtless be called "Field Day". Which is what I told the Principal when he asked me if we had anything like this in America. At The Heritage School, it takes up the better part of a week, and is called "Jubilee". At Oak Mountain Academy, it is organized and run by the senior class as their Last Hurrah. The Greeks did it in the nude. Anyway, at Seoul Yangmyeong Elementary School it begins with calisthenics, as seen above. There were flag-waving cheer groups, as seen below:



Each grade gets a tee-shirt with a specially designed symbol, and classes within the grade compete against each other in one event. By and large, the events were pretty standard. Some classes did a simple foot-race:


Others did a relay race, cheered on by other classes:


The sixth grade did a tug-o-war. First, they were marched by their homeroom teachers to their spots along the rope:


Then they had to pull:


The second grade event was a new one on me. Each class had a barrel full of bean bags. They had a set amount of time to toss as many bean bags as possible into a suspended basket. I think, though, the construction hat is a bit of Health and Safety Gone Mad.


For comparison, check out last year's Young-il Sports Day.