Grand Hopes

Ahh, surprise! I wanted to blog daily, and I haven't been on since July. Sad, but true.

Good thing no one reads this blog. Of course, if anyone did I might actually feel pressure to post!

It's been a busy few months, mostly cooking baby, but a few road trips, a renaissance festival as vikings, a few parades, and more cooking baby.

Big news is we've applied for (and looks like we'll be receiving a call) to be Missionaries for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. What does this have to do with anything Malaysian? Well, originally we thought they might send us to SE Asia, since we do have much more Asian experience. We are, it looks like, however, going to Nairobi Kenya.

I am terribly excited about this. My AFS connections extend to Nairobi and I'm looking forward to learning much about Africa! And, Africa is closer to Malaysia than here! Also closer to India.

Right now, with baby coming any day, I'm nesting a lot, and I find myself constantly trying to decide what to toss, what to save in storage for some day in the distant future and what to bring with, possibly, and what to bring with, definitely!

I found out today that our weight allowance will be 5,600lbs. I knew we weren't taking furniture with us. But we're definitely NOT taking furniture with us at that weight limit. Now the real test becomes how many books can we bring for that weight limit. Clothes are easy. Toys are easy. But books and kitchen stuff... That will be a test!

And the big thing is we have no idea how long we'll be in Kenya, or overseas. We've applied for Career missionary and we are perfectly willing to be there long term. But what stuff do you store for 20 years? 30 years? What's the point in storing it for that long? Will we even come back?

A friend of mine said, when I told her we were going, that she didn't think we'd ever come back permanently. She might just be right. Who knows.

In order to get the kids excited about Africa (I had them excited about SE Asia because Nenek lives there), we watched Out of Africa (they are SO excited about the animals). I keep thinking of Karen Blixen and her limoges. Of course I don't bring my Wedgewood. But what if we end up retiring in Africa at the end? Why keep it? Sigh....

A friend said I shouldn't bring anything of value to me in case we have to leave quickly sometime and leave it behind. But, what's the point of having things, I don't have actually valuable anything, just some pretties (ok, a LOT), if you just keep them in storage. I think there are some that will end up getting packed and brought with me.

Now I am extremely thankful that I bought a scale that goes to 550lbs because I can easily weigh boxes and piles to know how much things will weigh! I can get a really really good idea of how much things weigh.

To do this, Mr Top Gun will, of course, be retiring from the Air Force next summer. I wonder if they'd do our final move to Africa? Probably not... But hey, the US military will pay to move our stuff one last time, and they'll move 18,000lbs.... Maybe I'll look into that! Definitely wouldn't have 18,000 lbs of stuff to move, but then we wouldn't have to decide about quite so much! ;) Of course, where to store it in the interim would be tricky.... But right now it's just conjecture because we have to be offered the call first.

In the meantime, I'm looking at recipes for Kenyan food, and starting to expose everyone to Swahili and thinking about what clothes we absolutely won't need there.

Packing up after Christmas will be extremely interesting! So much to throw away!

Hari Raya

Hari Raya is the Malaysian common terminology for Eid, the month after Ramadan. In Malaysia, and throughout the Muslim world it's a pretty big party. I'm not Muslim so I really don't know all the reasoning for the holiness of this. BUT, I do know the food! Especially in Malaysia. Oh the food! And new clothes, and going to friends houses, and relatives, and.... so much fun!

Anyway, It's coming on Monday. My host mom in KL is getting ready to go to my "little" brother's house, my aunt has arrived in in KL to spend time with the family there. I'm sure they've made all the biscuits, and are getting ready to make all the ketupat
 

and rendang
 

and all the other incredibly yummy foods for Hari Raya.



I wish I was there. Well, sort of, I can't eat sugar or carbs right now,

 

so I don't want to be there and not be able to eat all the raya yummies. But I miss the family. So, here's a Hari Raya card image for everyone!

Asam Laksa (or Laksa Penang)

I've been craving this for quite a while. It's got a GREAT blend of sour and spicy. And it's noodle soup, and gets my weekly fish requirement in. So, yesterday, with a bit of tweaking the ingredients I couldn't find, I managed to make Laksa.

It was delish, probably not sour enough, but it works for a first go! I really liked the fish, and most of the work of making this is in the work of chopping all the ingredients. The great thing was I had fish to simmer while I chopped. It's a very easy soup to make. The crucial ingredient is the tamarind (I used paste) and the mint. I gave up trying to find the Vietnamese mint, and just used our mint. It worked great. Really doesn't work in the crockpot as it takes too long to heat the fish broth that way, but if you needed to not have a fire going, it's a good way to make broth all day.

To serve, you just put all the garnishes on the table, with the noodles and fish broth, and everyone puts what they want in the soup.

Poor #1 Son didn't realize just what I meant when I told him the sambal was HOT. He put a good 2 Tbsp on top of his soup, then stirred it all in.  Poor thing couldn't handle eating it. Ahh, well, next time.

So, here's to a nice easy tangy soup! And I made it myself!

Masala Life

First off - appologies to the internet for not posting daily. Most days I get easily sidetracked and I forget to post. If anyone actually read this, and I got comments, I might remember better.

Masala - What's that? Some Indian spice right? Yes, and no. Masala is a mixture of spices, but it's also used to define a mixture of anything else, referencing spicy mixtures. It's not a Malay word, but remember, This blog may say Malaysian on the inside but it's a Masala blog, cause I'm a Masala Lady. I'm not sure I'd say Garam Masala (hot, spicy mix), but definitely all mixed up!

So, Masala life. We currently live in Vegas. It's been over 100 degrees for a month, I'm from Alaska, I like it in the 50's and 60's. So, I hide in summer. But, kids and husband gotta eat. And they aren't happy with yogurt and fruit for dinner (what is their problem). Husband wants meat, and lots of it. He wants cooked food (I can get away with gaspacho like once a month, and God forbid I try and have salad for dinner!). But, cooking in Vegas in the summer is a misery. So, this summer I've been trying to really utilize my slow cookers. But I'm craving Malaysian and Indian food and really can't bring myself to get in the car, or spend the money (gas costs too!). So I've been limping along with what I think of as bland food, crockpot lasagne, chile, stew....

Today I'm menu planning - YAY! I love reading recipes.

But yesterday I shared a bunch of curry recipes with some friends who asked for them. So, today I'm wishing I could eat curry, but I don't want to slave over the hot stove anymore than heat the house with an oven.

Here's where I am. I read a FANTASTIC recipe for beef stew over at A Year of Slow Cooking, but I desperately want Penang Laksa for dinner (still - didn't manage to get all the ingredients I need together...). 

Here's where the Masala comes in. Two weeks ago I made Doro Wett in my crockpot (it was divine). I'm now trying to visualize how I'd make Crockpot Laksa.... Wish me luck... Oh and next? Going to try and make curry puffs in the crockpot (I learned how to make baked potatoes and coffee cake in there, so I ought to be able to figure out curry puffs!). Here's the Laksa recipe I'm going to try and modify. I doubt I can find ginger flowers with out a bunch of work, will have to skip those, and I know I can't find Daun Kesum, will just have to use regular mint. But it's the tamarind that makes this dish, and I have lots!

Sad Day for Malaysia

Today a Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down near the Russia/Ukraine border. Not much more information about that, except that all 295 souls on board were lost.

I don't think I know anyone on board, but I might. I know quite a few people who had friends on board though. And I grieve with the country over this, the second downed MAS flight this year.

I have many American friends who are commenting about not flying MAS (this appears random and not MAS related), or not going to Malaysia. Others who are commenting about it being political between Russia and Ukrain, and Malaysia is just an innocent bystander. I don't know.

What I know is 295 people are dead, and most of them were Malaysian. And my heart breaks for their families.

I'd like to think that I'd be equally sad if it was a predominance of other nationalities, simply because the loss of human life is sad. But, I also know that I always react more strongly to news from Malaysia because I feel like it's home.

I will be praying for all the families and friends of those who died today in that crash.

Long Distance - Or, Thank God for the Internet!

When I came back to the states from Malaysia, I had one option for keeping in touch with my family and friends back there. It was early 1989 and letters were it. Phone calls were unbelievably expensive so letters it was. I wrote letters to the other exchange students in their home countries, I wrote letters to my friends at school, I wrote letters to my host family. And all of these letters were two weeks there and two weeks back (minimum). Mostly I wrote letters. Every once in a very long while I would hear back from someone. It was very hard, and excessively frustrating.
Then along came e-mail! While I still didn't hear from people very often, I did hear more. I even got a couple of e-mails from my host family!  Of course, as time passed and I didn't hear from people, I quit writing too. But there was a core of friends that I managed to stay in touch with. It helped that I was able to go back a couple of times while I was at University, and a couple friends came through California so I got to see them too.

Finally, years after I'd given up writing letters to people. Years after I got many e-mails, all of a sudden AFS friends and family started popping up on facebook! What a wonderful beautiful thing! I know people complain about facebook and the internet in general all the time. But I love it. I love that my friends are out there. I send them messages, I write on their walls, they write on mine. I've had a chance to renew old friendships I thought were lost and I just love it.

Next up? Skype. Gotta get a bunch of my family on Skype on a regular basis. ;) Oh, wait, that's me. I'm the one that always forgets to turn it on.... Working on that.

Sounds that feel like home

Here's a strange one for you. I love hearing the call to prayer. I'm not Muslim, never have been, never will be, never even considered it. I'm not saying that hearing the call to prayer makes me feel closer to God, or further from God. In fact, for me, this sound has nothing to do with religion. I was basically non-religious when I lived there (I was Lutheran, but not practicing, and didn't understand it). Our house was a block away from the Masjid when I first moved to KL and when we moved to my family's new house, they were building a masjid right next door. Literally the speakers went straight into my bedroom for 3 months.

Here's a youtube video someone took at the National Mosque in KL, It's very long, and by all means, don't listen to the whole thing, but after the first few seconds of silence (waiting for it to start), you'll hear the beginning of the call. It's the one I think of when I think of the call to prayer. 

I really don't know much about the Arabic or the Islam behind the call. It doesn't matter that's not the point. The point is the sound. It's like many other sounds from living in Malaysia. It's a sound that makes me smile.

Now to any of my Confessional Lutheran friends who might read this, I'm not saying I find comfort in the actual call to prayer. I'm saying the sound reminds me of home and that brings comfort.

So, other sounds? Fellow exchange student Jo from NZ yelling "Hey Mat Saleh" out the bus at exchange student Chris from Oz. Yes, 26 years later I can still her her. :)

Chris will hate me for this, but every time I get "Oh Gagah perkasa" stuck in my head I laugh like I crazy person. This was a dikir barat written for the 30th anniversary of AFS Malaysia (ABM in Malay). We practiced it A LOT in preparation of the gala.

Also, I get tied up when I hear the Malaysian National Anthem, again, not out of any serious feelings of fealty to a nation, but because it reminds me of home - that and I had to stand at attention and sing it every single Friday at school (outside, in the sun, in the heat, in the sweat).

Oh, and at the time, Rasa Sayang was all over. I think the reason some of these songs stick with me is cause I used so many of them to learn the language.

Now, one of the coolest things I got to do while in KL was to play with the Orkestra Symfoni Muda - Mustika. It was the rock band of the National Youth Symphony (Youth meant pretty much anyone). We played back ground symphony for all the big Malaysian Pop stars of the time.

This is one of my favorites. I have a picture somewhere of me with Jay Jay and Dayang Ku Intan after our concert. Francisca Peter was another one we played background music for. Loved this song too.

Last one. Ramlah Ram. I played this song over and over and over on my tape deck. And learned LOTS of Malay while I was at it. ;)

Finally, (have I tortured you enough with Malaysian 80's bands yet?) Gersang. We never got to play for them while I was in Malaysia, (they're a band, not a solo or duet) but I listened to them on the radio a LOT and it was this song was the first one I sat down and wrote out, getting translations for each word into English.

Ok, maybe I'm getting old. ;)

They Say You Can't Go Back...

You know the cliché, "you can't go back." It's supposed to mean that things change and what was, can't be the same if you return. I suppose it is true enough. I've moved back into areas after having left for a time, things might be similar, but they're never the same.

But there's something special about returning to your host country, and host family. I will never again be the 17 yr old girl that lived with Mama and Papa and their family. Heck, I'll never be that skinny again. But I have gone home. Many times, three with my children. And it always felt like coming home. I'm sure that part of it is my wonderful Malaysian family. They have always loved me and always welcomed me. But part of it is because I really am Malaysian on the inside. Every time I get off the plane in KL I feel like I'm home. Ok, the couple times I've gotten to fly back on MAS as soon as I got on the plane and heard all the announcements in Malay I felt like I was home too.

There are things about KL that have changed drastically. The rivers have been put into large culverts to help with flooding, they built a sort of a subway/monorail system to help with traffic. The KLCC and Petronas Towers are now sort of the center of town, and they didn't exist when I lived there. The Bas Minis are all gone, I miss those. Even the trash in the longkan is less than it used to be, the sewer smell mostly gone. Malaysians are always shocked that I speak Malay, and I haven't run across many from KL who don't speak fluent English in years.

But it is still KL, the smells of food from the stalls are still the same, the durian is still amazing, the pasar malam still operate, and people still hang their clothes to dry in their yards.

I haven't been back in 7 years now, and I don't know when I'll get an opportunity to return (buying tickets for six is substantially more expensive than it was for one). But I know that it will always be my second home, calling to me and as long as Mama or my siblings are around I have a home to visit and amazing food in the kitchen.

Food - Again

I remember when I first arrived in Malaysia. It was the late '80's and I'd tried Sushi and lots of different Chinese dishes (my mom took a bunch of community courses when we lived in Hawaii and my dad Loved Sushi) but I'd never had curry or other spicy foods before. Our arrival orientation was at the University of Malaysia, and we stayed in dorms with UM students and ate in the UM cafeteria. Talk about being thrown in the deep end! One of the first meals we had was a yummy, but very strange looking to our Western eyes, Fish Head curry.


Some of us were daring enough to look past the eyes staring up at us and try the curry. I think growing up on the ocean made the fish more appealing for me. I'd seen them fresh out of the sea, before we chopped them up, so it wasn't so hard to deal with (I still avoided the eyes).

Anyway, sometimes the food was just too different for us. Some of the boys went for a walk one afternoon during our free time and discovered a kedai just down the hill from our dorms. It was love at first sight.

This is not our kedai, but it gives you an idea of what ours was like, pretty much all outside, ours had an indoor kitchen in the back, but where we sat was all like this, under cover, but outside.

A kedai is a little cafe that serves some food, and coffee and tea and juices and sodas. At some point during our week at the campus we all wandered down the hill to the kedai. They served beef burgers. Not a hamburger we were all used to, but a Malaysian version that sufficed for us all (to be honest, I miss them, little bit of Maggie hot sauce, slightly different taste, yum).

The true gem we found at that little kedai was roti canai. At least for me it was. I think some of the others really loved the burgers. Roti canai is a bread. First you make the dough into little balls and slather it with ghee (let them sit over night). Then you start flattening it out





You can just see the balls ready to be made in the plastic tub on the right side of this picture
 
Then you start throwing it, almost like pizza dough, but with Oh So Much More finesse.


There's a trick to the flick of the wrist to make this that I never could master.
 
Then you fry it on a dry griddle



And serve hot with a little bowl of chicken curry to dip it in.


Mmmm mmmm Heaven!

You can pretty much find Roti canai anywhere in Malaysia and Singapore. My favorite was my Host Mom's and my Host Aunt's, but I've been to many a stall or kedai and ordered "Teh Tarik Satu, roti canai satu" (teh tarik is like thai iced tea, only hot and Satu is Malay for one).

Thankfully for me, Roti canai can easily be found in Indian grocers in the states, In the groceries they sell it as paratha (sometimes you can find brands that say "Malaysian style."  All my children live for the days I pull these out of the freezer and fry them up!

I did pretty much try everything put in front of me, not only that year, but every time I've gone back for a visit (still haven't eaten a fish eye), but roti canai holds a special place in my heart. It's something that I'd never had, but was instantly a comfort food for me.

When I eat it, I think of Home.

Food

I am pregnant with my 5th kid. This isn't common knowledge yet, but since no one actually reads this blog, I guess it doesn't much matter.

I find myself, in this pregnancy, obsessing about food, specifically Malaysian food. I am always hungry, and sweets make me nauseous (tragedy! I know!). My husband baked scones for breakfast the other day. I managed a bite, it tasted like cardboard. I tried to have a Starbucks drink last week. It took me three (THREE!) hours to drink a grande. And I was not happy with it, too sweet.

However, spicy, sour, tangy, salty, OH MAN HOW I LOVE THEE! I just can't get enough. In fact just typing this I'm dreaming about salty olives, feta cheese, sunny side up eggs and HOT sauce.

This is a good thing for me, cause the foods I love the most come from countries that excel in those taste combinations. Next week we're having Asam Laksa for dinner. I had it a week and a half ago at my favorite Vegas restaurant (Island Malaysian Cuisine), and I've been dreaming about it ever since. I'm even thinking about driving around town in the heat to go shopping for proper laksa noodles, rather than faking it with similar ones (but I won't, I hate this heat here). But not to be exclusive to Malaysia (although the temptation is strong), I also have Korean Japchae on the menu, and two cans of Foul ready to cook up for lunch with some cheese. And we made Doro Wett and Dhall the other night for dinner.

The beauty of the diversity in this world is I can eat what I love, and Never Ever eat a Jello salad again. There are so many lovely things to eat out there, why waste time on hot dish?

Although, I'm thinking about putting lasagne on the menu for the week after next... won't be very traditional, I like it with kale in it, but Hey, Lasagne is all about the cheese anyway right?

Going Home

My students from this past year just went home last week. We did their final orientation at my house, and spent the week-end talking about re-adjusting to life at "home" when it's not totally home anymore.

The night before they arrived I had an epiphany.

If you've ever watched the first and second Narnia movies (or read the books) this will make more sense, but I'll give a quick (really quick, just to get my idea) synopsis.

The Four Pevensie siblings go through a wardrobe from England to Narnia and after a battle with the White Witch (and a whole lotta book) become Kings and Queens of Narnia. They reign for many many years until one day they follow a stag and stumble back out of the wardrobe, just the way they went in, about 10 seconds after they left. The second movie starts with the Pevensies waiting for the train to take them to school, later that year. They are perfectly normal British children during WWII, they got sent off to the countryside for protection during the Blitzkreig, and now they're going back to school.  BUT, they just spent a lifetime as not ordinary people, but as Kings and Queens. They all struggle with adapting back to English life, but Peter, the oldest, finds it especially difficult to adapt. He was the High King of Narnia, and now he's just another teenager in high school, treated like a kid again.

What I realized is that as exchange students we're usually (sometimes this doesn't happen, but usually it does) very special in our host community. I was able to play violin with the National Youth Symphony in KL and between playing with them and AFS I ended up in the newspapers on a regular basis. People wanted to talk to me, be my friend, do things with me, I was almost popular (not that I didn't have friends back home, but I was VERY much more special in Malaysia). There were times when I had conflicts with my host family, but it was just never the same as conflict in the US, we wanted to make it work, we made it special. In our biological families there isn't a time limit, so we tend to be almost too accustomed to each other, and we sometimes just don't try as hard.

So, I went from being well known and liked anywhere I went, to being just another kid at school, with probably a fair few people who were jealous of what I'd been able to do. When I watch the beginning of the second Narnia movie I know EXACTLY how Peter and Lucy especially feel. Peter wants to prove he's still special. Lucy is constantly looking for a way back.

The Pevensies got to go back right away. We exchange students have to learn to live with being part of two cultures, and often never getting to return to our "2nd home."

I feel blessed that I've been able to return to Malaysia as many times as I have. And now, since last year, I'm feeling an extreme need to go back to Egypt and experience more.

I think pretty much anyone who has gone on vacation can relate to this feeling in a way. It's just oh so much stronger when you live the life for a longer period of time.

Something I learned this week (yes, it took me 25 years to figure this out) is that being Peter needing to fight for being something more than he was, isn't a bad thing. It's good to stand up for who you've become (although I don't recommend a fist fight to do it).

AFS

Before I went to Malaysia I was just a normal Alaskan kid. It was the 80's, I wasn't part of the popular crowd, but I was comfortable. I had friends and I enjoyed school (not that I'd EVER repeat high school, I think people who want to are missing marbles), I was interested in the world. I made friends with the exchange students, or they made friends with me (not sure which, not sure it matters). In my sophomore year I made friends with an AFS student from Italy who told me I should be an exchange student too. So I signed (took a little cajoling of my parents, but we made it happen). Originally I wanted to go to Switzerland because it would be closer to where my Italian friend lived, but still French speaking, I was in French I after all. Unfortunately for Switzerland, but fortunately for me AFS lost my application for a northern hemisphere country and they suggested I reapply for a winter departure. So I put Malaysia at the top of my list of choices because I'd been introduced to another AFS student from Malaysia, and thought it sounded fun.

When I was 13 I went on a trip with my 8th grade Social Studies teacher and 30 other 8th-11th graders from our area to Europe. Just under three weeks, all over western Europe (except the Iberian Penninsula), no parents. It was an incredible experience. And for me, it was only minimally about all the sights and museums that I saw. It was about growing in independence.

Becoming an exchange student just seemed like a natural extension of that trip. Before I left for Malaysia I got a letter with photos of my new host family from AFS Malaysia. I also got a little booklet that gave me pointers on major cultural differences and a little bit of information about their language (literally they gave us the words for Yes and No).

As an adult I know so many people who have never left their home town, or if they have, they've always gone back. I know so many people who see things that are different from they way they do them as weird or even wrong (not that I don't believe in rights and wrongs).

It never occurred to me to see all the cultural differences I encountered as weird, and certainly not wrong. Everything was just different, and I just adapted and enjoyed myself. It was another time of growing.

Now, years later I am an AFS volunteer, I've been a liaison many times, my husband and I have hosted, and I've worked as a general volunteer. Last week was the final orientation for our students from this past year, before returning to their home countries. The orientations often ask questions about growth and change. What I find interesting, is in explaining the questions to the students, I often try to draw from my own experience. I never seem to be able to pinpoint where I grew. I'm sure that those around me could offer suggestions. I remember thinking I was more patient coming back than before because of all the time spent waiting for buses. But I can't really pin much down. I just know I'm different.

I guess that's ok too, it helps me to realize it's ok if the students don't always know what to say to those questions. I don't either.

Clothes

If you look over to the left, you'll see the About Me block. Yup, that's my husband and I at a formal event for his work a few years back. As you can tell I'm not very skinny. This is unfortunate for many reasons, and I'm working on it, but the biggest reason is I love clothes. And so many lovely things just look silly on me, unless I'm careful (ok, it might be possible to argue that everything looks silly, but we won't go there). When I was in Egypt last summer, I noted that the ladies wear some lovely shirts. I even bought a couple. They of course don't fit, but thankfully I know my way around a sewing machine well enough to make it work, and I wear them frequently now.

Egyptian women mostly dress "western" but they have these lovely shirts that remind me of a Salwar Kameez from India or even the top of a baju kurung from Malaysia. Long simple shirts, with lots of embroidery, like this:




Mine don't have quite so much embroidery, but they're lovely too.

I have a few variations on Malaysian clothes, Baju Kurung, Baju Kedah. I even have a Baju Kebaya, but I can't fit it now. So, this evening I was goofing off looking around on Pinterest and saw this lovely tunic

Yup, practically a floral Egyptian shirt, with buttons. I'm now feeling an extreme need to go play in my stash and see if I can't make some for myself.... If I do, I'll post a picture, maybe.

Malaysian, Korean, Egyptian, Indian... I'm all mixed up!

THIS is who I am.

26 years ago I left the US and went to Malaysia to live with a Malay family for a year. I was an AFS Exchange student, and I have NEVER been the same.
 This is a picture of the neighborhood where my host family lives. The Masjid in the background is right next door to our house, it was built the year I lived here.

Oddly enough, my American family moved from my home, Anchorage, to the high Sierras of Northern California while I was gone, so not only did I come home different I've also never really been home, which might be why some days I feel more Malaysian than American. Today I was craving Asam Laksa and in googling recipes and checking if I could get laksa noodles on Amazon Subscribe and Save, I found a blog called Rasa Malaysia. Mostly it's a blog for recipes, but her pinterest page has pictures from Malaysia. This is what got me thinking. I decided I need a place to be Malaysian, where I can't always in my daily life in the US, a place to feed my "homesickness" for places I can't be right now.

11 years ago my husband and I moved to South Korea for a year (he's in the military). It was an amazing year, and I love Korea almost as much as Malaysia (only less because I don't have any "family" in Korea).  This blog will scratch that itch too.


This is a picture of Songtan where the base is, the multiple, tall, white apartment buildings in the back right of the picture were our home for the year.


At University I studied Sanskrit and all things India, living in Malaysia taught me a love for Indian food, and Bollywood, studying the history, culture, and ancient language of India taught me the rest. Someday I WILL go to India and live. My husband and I hosted an AFS "son" from Pakistan two years ago, and I got close to him and another exchange student from South India. This blog will be an outlet for my love of things Indian as well.

Finally, last year, I had the amazing opportunity to be hosted in Cairo Egypt by a wonderful AFS host family there. I was only there for 10 days (we were in the middle of yet another move here in the states), but it was quite the experience, that I would like to repeat (only longer). I loved everything about Cairo, and I want to learn more. This blog will help me love Egypt even more.
This is Cairo Tower. This picture could have almost been taken from where my Egyptian Host family lives, just round the corner (can't see through the buildings to the tower though).


Whenever I get to know Malaysians wherever I live, I usually hear from them that I'm very "Malaysian" even though I don't look it. I joke that I'm Malaysian on the inside. There's a large bit of my second home inside me, and a bit of Korea, India, and Egypt in there too. This blog is about all these facets of my personality (probably going to end up throwing in some good old fashioned Norwegian too - My mother is half Norwegian half Swede - we'll see where the wind takes me).

So, to start things off, here's the Laksa recipes that started this blog!
Asam Laksa is a tangy fish broth based noodle soup that Penang is famous for. It's a bit of a love hate thing, I LOVE it.  However, if you're not into spicy sour fish soup, there's also Curry Laksa (better known outside Penang and in Singapore - also called Curry Mee which is how I know it), and Bee over at Rasa Malaysia also posted an "American Friendly Laksa" recipe. Let me know what you think. I've got Asam Laksa on the menu this week. I'm on the hunt for proper Laksa noodles (which is hard to do in Vegas when you're trying to avoid going out in the 105+ weather).