On Friday night, we saw Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Esplanade. It was quite good and the venue is fantastic.

The Esplanade houses two concert halls and is affectionately called the Durian because of its bulbous, spiky design 'standing out as a breath of creativity in a safely designed city'.

The durian is a fruit from Malaysia that smells so bad that you can get a ticket if you transport it in the subway, bus or in a taxi. Some people (probably Malaysians) say 'it smells like hell and it tastes like heaven' but I don't think I am going to try it because of the smell.

I did make a very cool silver bracelet that I have been wearing nonstop since Friday:

I don't know why the image flips when I import it... But at least you get the idea.

We visited the historic town of Melaka on Malaysia’s west coast on Sunday. The town was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and British largely because of its strategic location on the Strait of Melacca and the trading of gold, silk, tea, opium, tobacco, perfumes, and spices. Each regime left its mark on the city which is evidenced by the architecture and culture today.

It was very hot but we enjoyed strolling through the town center and Chinatown, which is full of little shops filled with trinkets and antiques. We had a great lunch at a juice bar, which was like a modern oasis in the middle of history. The shopping was really good, especially in the art galleries.

The tourist mode of transportation is via bicycle-rickshaw, we turned down many offers for a ride because we prefer to walk, but it looked like fun. The rickshaws were all decorated differently and were driven by men of all ages. I felt sorry for them when their passengers were a largish couple and they had to go pedal uphill in the heat...

Next time we visit, we will explore some more of the city, especially Little India and the Portuguese section.

This morning I joined several other ladies and we visited the KK (Kandang Kerbau) Market. It is one of several ‘wet markets’ called wet because the floors are wet from the washed down meat and fish stalls. We started out in the fresh vegetables and fruits and worked our way up to the smellier, bloodier meat and fish area. I am a bit squeamish, I admit, and managed to look away from the poultry guys who were chopping off the chicken heads; there were decapitated chickens (you could look at their chopped off neck) and piles of heads next to them. I do plan to buy boneless, skinless chicken at the market as I have heard many glowing reports on how good, how fresh, they are from the market. I just don’t want to know every detail about how it’s done! I ended up buying some fresh red snapper which I had filleted, some beautiful cherries, a ‘fragrant pear’, and some seedless mandarin oranges (don’t think they are Clementines, but they taste quite good).

From there we walked through Little India and I split off from the group to visit a jewelry supply shop in Chinatown before heading off for Wednesday bridge. I managed to buy a metal mandrel for rings, a keychain with metal ring sizes, a wooden bracelet mandrel as well as a nylon headed hammer. The prices were less than in the USA and from what I saw, they pretty much carried all the tools and equipment you need.

These are giant fruit, I thought they called them 'Jimmy' fruit but a search on Google didn't turn up anything....so maybe I got it wrong.

Today I noticed a rather large bug scurrying across the marble floor in the dining room. It was getting late, so I couldn't really tell what it was until it entered the kitchen. It was a baby, I mean mini-mini, lizard. I couldn't bear to stomp out his little life, so I tried to scoot him towards the back door with a fly swatter and managed to get him outside and then he stopped moving. I think I gave him a heart attack with my fly swatter. Luckily, later on, he wasn't there anymore so he must have recovered enough to hightail it out of there.
On a more upbeat note, I made my first ever rings today. I found a tutorial in an old Step-by-Step Wire magazine and I think they turned out very promising. Now I need to find a jewelry supply store to buy a steel mandrel as I whacked the heck out of my wooden mandrel and it isn't really round anymore... can't wait to make some more rings once I get a new mandrel!

July 7 & 8

Friday was a good day. I went to play duplicate bridge at the Dutch Club from 9am until after noon. My partner (bridge) dropped me off at home, where I quickly checked my email and then left for another bridge game at a neighbor’s house. She was throwing a going away luncheon/bridge party for someone who is moving to Beijing. It was a lovely meal in a beautiful setting. She lives on the 23^rd floor and the views are breathtaking. The apartment is decorated, as expats do, with lots of Asian artwork they have accumulated on their travels. In the evening, we were invited to a Whist party at a friend’s home. She has a beautiful home right across from the Botanical Gardens in a lovely neighborhood. There were a total of 16 people playing at four tables. We had a great time and didn’t get home until the wee hours.

Yesterday I took two necklaces down to the pool area and tried to get some good photos using the decorative boulders as a background and take advantage of the midday sun. It’s hard to photograph jewelry so I am quite pleased with the results.

After lunch, we went to Arab Street which is a very cool area. I had already visited this area with a friend several weeks ago and was eager to visit the carpet shops again. We bought a couple of pieces of furniture (two leather couches, a couch table, a console and a matching leather bench) which were delivered on Friday afternoon. It was time for some carpets! After quite a bit of deliberation, we decided on two 9x6 silk carpets from Kashmir. I haven’t been this excited about a purchase in years! They are beautiful and feel wonderful on your bare feet.