Mari Makan

The Japanese table at Mari Makan.

The past few weeks have been jammed packed. The weekends have been so busy that going back to work has provided a bit of a rest.
The weekend after spring break brought the MKIS Road Rally. Part of the requirements of the theme was to dress like a rock band and so we joined up with Chris, Cindy and Laura and roared all over our section of KL in garb to represent the 'Beach Toys'. We had to find various business locations and then either perform some sort of weird task or gather a bit of obscure information. We ended up at a pasta/pasta restaurant for a great meal. Chris is quite a good singer/songwriter and our team got extra points for our song 'Durian' (a la Barbaran). Durian is a fruit that is sold on the streets. The Malaysians see it as a delicacy but the rest of the world can't take the smell of it. It literally turns stomachs.

Oh Durian, my Durian
You got me belchin' and a retchin'

You get the drift, I'm sure.

Last weekend we kept busy on both Friday and Saturday. Friday night we went to a wine tasting event put on by one of the Australian importers and organized by someone from our school. For a small fee we got to try a number of Australian wines and eat their appies. After a while at this event we grabbed a cab downtown to a fundraising event at one of the clubs. Steve's band, the husband of the drama teacher at our school, has hosted a 'Rockin for the Environment' night for the last 4 years. So we thought we would support them and the orangutans. His band, Benchmarks, (educators can easily guess where that name comes from) opened with some classic cover tunes as well as some good original numbers. The feature act that played later was some sort rap/heavy metal combination that quickly drove us old folks home.
A parent of one of Maureen's basketball players had been after us to join the Canadian Association of Malaysia for some time. We did and last Saturday was the group's AGM. It was fancy kind of affair held at the Canadian High Commissioner's house. We went and managed to avoid getting roped in for any kind of post but did take advantage of the refreshments after. It was nice meeting fellow Canadians. Most are Calgarians who work for oil companies but there were a smattering of others either working for mining companies or Bombardier or other Canadian manufacturers placed in Malaysia in various support roles.
This weekend we were also busy with activities. The highlight of the past few weeks occurred this past Friday at the school. It was called Mari Makan (literally translated as sit eat). Each country, with a sizable representation, set up a table with food from their country for a mega-pot-luck meal. The displays and food were incredible. The Canadians set up a table and served up pancakes with real whip cream, blueberries, strawberries, and maple sryup. It was simple faire compared to what most others were serving but was well recieved judging from the line up. Maureen and I had a turn at flipping pancakes and serving up the food. After the meal the party got into full swing. The Latin American contingent got the dancing going with their salsas and other latino dances. The moment they let things slow down a bit the Indians got the Bollywood dancing going. It seemed like each group had a go at leading for a bit. The New Zealand group got the prize for longevity as they managed to outlast everyone else and stayed around long enough to see the sunrise.
Yesterday we played in a slo-pitch game against the Americans. Bad choice, they think the game is a real sport. All in all it was a lot of fun even though the heat was almost overwhelming and the score was rather one sided. It hasn't rained for a few days and the heat has started to build as a result. We were totally drenched in sweat playing and consumed copious amounts of water. They had managed to find a sponsor for the event, so uniforms and water bottles and other things were all supplied. After the game we went to a restaurant (after we showered for the 4th time that day) which had offered to sponsor a dinner for the Canadians. Who could turn down such an offer? The food and company were great.
Tomorrow we are both heading off on an overnight trip with all the Grade 5 students from our school. There are 80 of them. I'll let you know how we made out in our next posting.
This was the Chinese table at Mari Makan. Altogther there were 15 different tables set up.





Mari Makan Bollywood dancing.