Kuala Lumpur: She has a great personality.
Current mood: adventurous
Category: Life
I hate to say this, because Kuala Lumpur is lovely in many ways, but it isn't pretty. It's kind of Tijuanaesque, in fact.
The skies are gray (owing to either an impending torrential downpour, or the smoke from forest fires in Borneo, I was never quite sure, but you kind of have to be entranced by a place whose smoke comes from Borneo), and while there are lush landscapes and beautiful modern buildings (such as the Petronas Towers),just around the corner will be a burned out building that has been sitting there rotting for decades. (And I'm sorry - but I didn't really get a lot of shots of the ugly parts, so you'll have to take my word for it.)
No, KL couldn't be called pretty ..... But the people are warm, hospitable and multi-cultural. More so than any place I've ever been.(These women looked exactly the same from the front.)
To me they were like ghosts wandering the streets. Holding hands with their husbands, or shopping at the Chanel cosmetics counter. (I guess when the only thing that shows is your eyelashes, you're willing to spend a bit more on Mascara.)
Everywhere you went there were extremes. Abayah clad Middle Eastern women intermingled with Japanese youths in mini-skirts, and Western women in tanks and short shorts.
The food was as diverse as the people.And with the exception of this "Sausage and Vegetable" thing, was quite appealing. Malay food is much like Thai. But they also had a lot of Chinese and Indian, which I love. Plus, everything had coconut. I wallowed in a carb, peanut butter and dairy frenzy, all of which I've forsaken on American soil. (But seriously, could I pass up Peanut Butter broth for dessert? No.)
One stand at the mall sold "Pizza, Lasagna, Shepard's Pie, and Waffles." Because, you know, nothing says dessert after Pizza like a Waffle.
My "free" day in Malaysia I woke at 4:00AM, so I got an early start. This is the Petronas Towers at dawn.I went to Batu Caves which is basically an ancient limestone cave which is home to the World's Largest Murugan (never heard of him before this) and Hindu temple.I have to tell you, this thing is spectacular. The photo doesn't do it justice. There was something really powerful about it when standing there in front of it. I guess I can't always be sardonic, because I was moved by my whole experience here.
I climbed the steps.A lot of themAnd saw some very cool thingsThis picture gives a great perspective of KL. Natural beauty and a beautiful structure, surrounded by the gray skies and ugly buildings.This one reminds me of my sister.After the main cave, I happened upon another temple. (After I was chased by a big scary dog.) (OK, I wasn't chased, it ran up to me and wagged its tale.) (And it was the size of a chihuahua, but I was still scared. It totally could have been feral.)
It was 8:00AM and apparently time for a morning ceremony. Which for the first 15 minutes was nothing but a drum and some kind of blowy instrument. I stood back, trying to be discreet as I waited for something to happen, not wanting to intrude, but not wanting to miss a once in a lifetime experience.I snuck a quick photo and and stepped further back, and almost ran into this guy.There were monkeys everywhere! I guess I was lucky he didn't grab my camera, because I later heard stories about Monkey's taking things right out of people's hands.
Is that a Pineapple in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?Anybody who's seen my ass knows I love butterflies, so after the Caves, I hit the Butterfly Park.And here's what I learned ....Live butterflies scare the shit out of me. (See above: Chihuahua ) Every time one got anywhere near me, I jumped, quiet screamed and then laughed at myself. Which probably made my fellow tourists a bit discomfited.My fellow tourists. Abayah courtesy of Islamic oppression, shoes by Nike.
And now, a Public Service Announcement:SERIOUSLY. No raping. No raping PERIOD. But, if you have to rape, please, rape the wall, not the children.The Petronas Towers at night.In closing, I felt it important to explain Malaysia butt washing. There is no "bidet" in Malaysia. Toilets come equipped with a hose which I assume shoots water and washes your butt. Public restrooms in Malaysia have these hoses, many of them in lieu of toilet paper, so always travel with tissues. Also, don't be alarmed by the soaking wet floors. It's very likely just the water from a recently used butt washer.I was unable to determine how a recently washed butt dries.
The complete photo album can be seen here (I know, but there really are more, and some of them are really cool.) Hit "view all pictures" and watch in Slide Show mode for your best enjoyment.
Currently
reading
:
My Life as a Fake
By
Peter Carey
Release date: 2005-01-04
fluggeschwindigkeit* (aka, Germany)
Current mood: nostalgic
Category: Travel and Places
So, I'm in Nuremberg and I call down to the front desk and say "Fluggeschwindekiet" and the front desk person says, "what?" and I say, "just kidding" and then laugh my ass off to nothing but silence on the other end. (Ok, I made that part up.)
I really said, 'can you please send an iron to my room?' And the lady says, 'I'm sorry we aren't allowed to to that, but we have an ironing room.' so I said, 'where's that?' and she said, 'room 611.'
So I push the lottery-like elevator button and hope for six, and sure enough ...
(I've travelled a lot, and that is the first I've heard of an ironing room)
Yeah, so - Like many proud Americans, I drive a spectacular German car. Who can resist the legendary German engineering?
Apparently, the elevator people ...
This was the elevator button on every floor. No up, no down. You just pushed THE button and hoped that you were going to the correct floor. It was rare. So you'd get into the elevator at the lobby and then you'd go down to the parking lot, and then the elevator would land back at the lobby (full, by the way) and more people would get in, and then we'd go up. It was very bizarre.
A Very Scary Hairy Tale
Current mood: hairy
Category: hairy Art and Photography
Please enjoy the Music from "Hair" during your excursion through the Nicole Del Sesto hair museum.
For those of you who read my Super Seventies Weekend blog, here are the photos from Baby Day. El Toro High School. 1981 or 1982. (Yeah, I had two senior years, you want to make something of it?)
Writing that blog gave me an idea. I wanted to do a photo blog on all the random hairstyles I've had through the years.
My mom was big on the Pixie.
And as you probably recall, also big on super short dresses.
On occasion she let me have hair
(Mostly I wanted to put this picture in because it's so funny to me)
But by Kindergarden, it was back to the Pixie.
As we transitioned out of the 60's and into the 70's I was lucky enough to have a "Shag"
Little did we know that several years later, Trish would go to the prom with Stan Kubat.... Also, sporting a "Shag"
(We could be twins! Remind me to tell you about the time Stan Kubat's girlfriend called my house and told my dad I was a slut. Oh, and that was after high school.)
Junior High and High School were relatively painless for me hair wise
Not so painless glasses wise
And I too had a date ... once ...
(Think my prom date was gay?)
And then we get to the years where I started really making my own decisions about my hair. Enter the perm:
This is a true story ... In 1983 I worked at TWA for a few months. One day I got a perm.
The perm was so bad, I called in sick to work.
When I went back to work the next day, the supervisor was looking around for me. She looked around, made eye contact with me, looked around some more and stated, "Oh, I guess Nicole's still sick."
After I re-introduced myself to her, she said, "To say that you look different is an understatement."
Makes a girl all warm inside.
(Incidentally, this is that perm several months later.)
Next came my assymentrical permed hair.
I need to caution you.
I was a fashion abortion.
"You must be my lucky star ... "
The early 90's saw me in short hair
Spikey (rhymes with...?)
And PE Teacher hair.
I grew that monstrosity out, and was again "normal" for a bit.
But it got boring.
So I asked the hairdresser to cut my hair.
I took a photo of PE Teacher hair with me, and I said, "I do NOT want this haircut."
I got the PE Teacher hair cut.
I went back and demanded he fix my hair.
I call this next cut ... the "Revenge cut"
(That's not hair in the background, it's leaves)
The Adult Pixie
This was the period of my life where everybody told me I look like Demi Moore.
But what they really meant was, I looked like GI Jane
And so I grew my hair out. And this one time, in Vegas ... It looked really cute:
But apparently, even hair that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and it never looked that good again.
Which brings me to my current hair style.
I'm going to bring this blog to my hairdresser next time I go.
That way, she'll understand ...
Why I've had the same hair for the last six years.
Got any bad hair photos? Post them in the comments. Just be careful of the size, I'll have to delete them if they muck up the aesthetic.
And don't miss your opportunity to win a $50.00 Amazon gift card, and a signed copy of All Encompassing Trip. Details here
(I have to tell you, that normally I would put my own book in the Currently Reading section, because I'm a pimp that way, but Black Swan Green was so stellar, I had to put it there. If you haven't read it, you should!)
The death of Kurt Vonnegut feels like the end of something really magical.
I saw him on John Stewart a few months ago. He was so cute (I know that's such a girly thing to say.) A complete rascal. John was in awe. I love that about John. He still has awe.
WHEN: Entries will be accepted from today through noon Pacific on May 1, 2007 (which is incidentally the date that Jen Lancaster's hilarious Bright Lights, Big Ass comes out.)
WHERE: The internet is your Oyster, baby
WHY: YOU can win a $50.00 Amazon gift certificate, and a signed copy of All Encompassing Trip. If you already have a copy of Trip and don't want a second one (and seriously, thanks for your support!) you can choose either a different title from Afterbirth Books OR an Army of the 12 Nikki's t-shirt. (available in Men's sizes only S, M, L, XL)
As an author with an Indie press, it's up to me to get the word out about my book. There are lots of different ways to do that ... Like getting reviews:
"...."All Encompassing Trip" is one of the most delightful Bizarro books I have read in years. The characters are original and well drawn and the story underneath all the strange behaviors and occurrences well crafted. Perhaps what appeals to me so much is its similarity to some of my more memorable dreams."
But mostly, it's word of mouth. So that's where I'm asking for your help and that is how you can be entered to WIN.
The easiest entry is to just plug All Encompassing Trip into your blog, like I have done below in the "currently reading" section. Come back here, post a link to your blog and that's an entry. (plus, you might even get new people to look at your blog!)
If you never blog, you can put an image of the book cover into your books section.
(That's a link to the image. Sorry I don't know how to create one of those little box thingies.)
Write an Amazon review (if you've read it and are so inclined.)
Put it on an Amazon Listmania list or two.
Promote this contest in any appropriate MySpace groups you belong to (like Blog groups, or book groups - IF it's OK with the group moderator. I don't want this to turn into SPAM.)
Whatever you do, come back here and post a link to it in the blog comments.
That's it.
Get creative. The internet is your oyster.
I will draw the winner from the blog comments and the winner will be announced at 7:00PM Pacific time,Wednesday May 2 on The Rant on MusicPlusTV which is a super fun interactive show.
(The Rant is hosted by Trista The Happy Commuter every Wednesday at 7:00PM Pacific. Check her out! - Her profile is currently set to private due to SPAM issues, but if you send her a note, I'm sure she'd be delighted to add you.)
I appreciate your help.
Have fun!
There may be bonus prizes.
Actually, there will be bonus prizes.
Random.
Somebody might get a treat from Disneyland.
The rules:
Open to US residents only (sorry!) and you must be 18 to receive the prize. I don't want to get in trouble with anybody's parents!
Up to 5 entries per person can be earned. After that, you can still promote my book, but you will only earn my undying gratitude.
All Encompassing Trip by Nicole Del Sesto can be purchased at:
adventurous
ditzy
nostalgic
bullied
breezy
melancholy
optimistic
