Saturday Outing

David and I decided to go to Central Market and China Town on Saturday.  Some friends of ours had found a shop in Central Market that has beautiful paintings.  We were looking for a traditional Malaysian village with maybe some boats and/or water.  We were very pleased with what we found but unfortunately I can't figure out how to get the picture from my phone to the blog.

 Then we took a stroll down the streets of China Town.  David had never been and I think he decided he will not need to go again.  You can see all the people with trucks and motorcycles going down the middle of the street.  You can find knock off brands of anything.  We did see a man roasting chestnuts in a fire and of course had to purchase a bag. 

Christmas Decorations at Pavilion Mall

Rowan Office

Rowan Malaysia has grown so much that they had to have new office space.  They moved to the 11th floor from the 5th floor about a month ago. Here are just a few photos of the new space.

The reception area when you walk in the office.

The kitchen area

David's office (he got the best office)

He was completely ignoring me.

David's view

Conference Room

Holidays

There are two holidays this week.  I have decided that the Malaysians have more holidays then the State of Alabama employees.  

The holiday today (Nov. 13) is Deepavali.  It marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year.  Translated it means "row of lights".  It celebrates the victory of Goodness over Evil and Light over Darkness.  It is a five day festival where people are cleaning their houses and wearing new clothes.  On the first day of the festival people pray and have a special breakfast of many different foods.

The holiday on Thursday is Awal Muharram.  Awal Muharram celebrates the beginning of the Islamic New Year and is also the beginning of ten days of rememberance for the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, Prophet Mohammed's grandson, who was killed in the battle of Karbalaon the tenth day of Muharram.   Muharram, derived from the word haram which means sinful, is a month considered most sacred of all besides the month of Ramadan.  During this time, Muslims are forbidden to fight, hence a time of mourning and peace.   It is considered a time for self-evaluation and a starting point for change. 

I thought it was interesting that the US Embassy observes the Deepavali holiday but not the Awal Muharram holiday.

These are some pictures taken in the mall and in front of our apartment building.

This is colored rice.

Malaysian Wedding Feast

I went to a wedding feast today and it was wonderful.  Do you remember our driver Zam?  Well his nephew got married last week and the family of the groom was having their wedding feast.  The Malaysian way is for the couple to get married with just the family members present and then the bride's family will have a feast and then the groom's family will have one.  They were expecting 1,000 people at this feast. It was outside under a tent at Zam's nephew's home.  It is catered just like our wedding receptions with typical malaysian food.  Needless to say I only had a small snack.   It was interesting that a color of clothing is worn by all family members and the bride's family picks this color.  They were all wearing peach in this wedding.  We were treated like VIP's.  We had a table in front of where the bride and groom were sitting.  After the bride and groom arrive you give them a blessing with rice, flowers and some kind of liquid(never did find out what it was) that you place in their hands.  It was very interesting and then because we were "special guests" we had our picture made with the bride and groom.   The family did not even have this done so we did feel like VIP's.   I am sure there was a few people wondering who we were and why we were there.  Zam was thrilled that we came so I am glad we made the effort to go.  It was Tommy and Martha, Michael (Pamela was in US) and myself (David was in Indonesia).  Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Zam

Where the bride and groom sit to receive their blessings.

Where they sit to have their meal.

Zam's 17 year old daughter.

Zam's wife

Family members handing out thank you gift's.

The bride's parents

This is a coconut drink

Zam's 13 year old son

The outfits were beautiful

Bride and Groom walking down the street

Bride's family following them.

We were given this rose and boiled egg after we gave them a blessing.

No one seemed to know  the significance of the egg, just said it was tradition.