Melaka: Shades of Cochin

We have landed in Malaysia and moved from the big smoke to the slightly more relaxed smoke of Melaka. The guest house we chanced upon (or rather booked over a month ago...they were quite taken aback that we might want to book a room 4 weeks in advance) is called the Samudra Inn and is nice, clean and, above all, quiet. Somu and Marcia run the joint and have won Jonah over with a combination of pet birds (Jonah gets to tuck them in with a super-quiet "Good night quack-quack") and a ready supply of crackers.

We've been here almost a week and, although it is a relatively quiet town, we are still finding things which delight at least one of us (and frequently two or three!).

There are, of course 2 self-proclaimed Megamalls within strolling distance of our room. Much to our disgust, we have somehow managed to feel compelled to enter them at least once a day (KatiaQuote: "...but supermarkets have practically everything you could ever need!). Needless to say Jonah loves the escalators and gets really worked up when it is time to take a "BIG STEP!"

Megamalls aside, Melaka had Katia and I both reminiscing about Cochin. It is partly the richly confusing smells of 'little india', but I think it has a lot to do with the sense of serendipity we've felt as we chase Jonah into shops, alleys and playgrounds. We have met some wonderful people who create some very wonderful things.

Charles Cham is an artist from Melaka who has intrigued us with both his designs and his conversation. We've been drawn back to his shopfront by the classically smoky blues which waft for blocks if you've got your ears tuned right.

Mr. Yee and his wife Susan (he has refused, point blank, to tell me his first name) have been wonderfully welcoming, taking us out to dinner and breakfast as well as teaching us about the joys of tea. Mr. Yee also showed us how to cook some malay and chinese dishes (recipes in the next post). We found Mr. Yee through couchsurfing.com and contacted him before we arrived but have been bowled over by their enthusiasm and warmth.

They have been amazing with Jonah, entertaining him with toys, painting, songs and general silliness. Mr. Yee takes particular glee in Jonah's habit of rearranging his tea shop (like moving 5 litre bottles of methylated spirits from corner to corner). Mr. Yee's child-rearing philosophy goes something like this:
Children should be respected. If a child asks for something that will not immediately lead to their death or disfigurement, you should give it to them. The child will then learn from his/her experiences and will not feel limited by your fear.

Thanks to Mr. Yee, Jonah has tried whisky, given himself a pepper facial, indulged in some front seat driving and is currently coming down from a 2-day caffeine bender. As you can imagine, they are the best of friends.

Jonah has also been regularly accosted by locals who feel that it is their inalienable right to pinch his cheeks and upper arms. He now says a very loud "No!" whenever anyone approaches with their pincers at the ready.

Jonah's Diction: Mini-Pocket Guide

For all the Jonah fans out there (and I know a you're out there)...

The mini-pocket guide to Jonah's strings of meaning

The bold letters are the one's he actually says, the rest is conjecture and inspired detective work.

I want to eat a samosa/roti! (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Nona is a boy. Mama is a girl. Aba is a big boy. (Melaka, Malaysia)
I was so mad! (Melaka, Malaysia)
[When he wakes up and we ask him what he dreamt about, about 3/4 of the time, he answers...] Buddha
I want to go in Anna's car (Melaka, Malaysia)

For the diehard fans, I will try to record him soon.

He is, of course, spreading the joy wherever he goes.

Juggling work and work

This is not about work/life balance.
This is not about justifying my work in terms of my life.
It is certainly not about justifying my life in terms of my work.

This is about ambidextrous moving meditation.

I've been very lucky to work in a position with the freedom to listen, develop, implement, promote and evaluate a whole bunch of innovative programs.

Basically I've been juggling like mad. Since giving notice 5 weeks ago (by email...how very very rude!) I've had to stop throwing them up and start catching them. The last few weeks in particular have involved

• Running around like crazy to get participants to finalise their editing, hosting and planning for the RYMedia Project
  
• Negotiating immediate priorities with the young people with whom I work
• Writing up various reports and work plans; and
  
• Getting everything neat and tidy for my soon-to-be-interviewed replacement
  

and of course (*I am a little social worker for breakfast, lunch and tea*) documenting everything exhaustively.

The single most important lesson I've learned from quitting my first proper-adult job is this: no one else is working to your timetable. I guess this is true all of the time, but it only becomes critical when the countdown has commenced.

The crypt is dead, long live the crypt!

Those of you lucky enough to enter our formerly humble abode sometime over the last 2 years will have heard us grumbling under our breath about our flat on The Avenue (generally referred to as the crypt, including once to our real estate agent).
I'm not sure why, but way back in 2005 we weren't tipped off by the
complete lack of natural light or the smoker's courtyard.

Since this is the only house that Jonah has ever lived in we've been worried that he might be feeling a little anxious.

As gung-ho, never leave a stone unturned type parental units, Katia and I felt that a proactive approach would be best. We've been talking to him about getting on the plane [jonahspeak: byeeee] and going away with only Imma and Abba.

In the end, we decided against covering his paws in butter...he may be a kitten but I don't think he'd ever forgive or forget.

We also figured that it was important for Jonah to be a productive member of the moving crew, so he helped us to pack, measure, tie-up and carry our other-worldy possessions. Jonah and I have also been helping various people out in their gardens; he is a little earthmover and loves to compare little cuts afterwards.
Jonah may be a little clingy from the permament state of sleep-over, but no more than Katia or I. He's been the very definition of Louche: insisting on extra servings of crackers, stories and hugs from everyone. His Louche-ious ways have even scored him a second mama (Kimba) and a very friendly lady friend next-door (Enya).

In any case, the crypt is dead, long live the crypt! We've packed up and moved sideways to Chez Grimba and the crash course in Loucheology has commenced.