The Moonsoon Latitudes

 Last Leg, From London to Kuala Lumpur

Sight unseen, Malaysia calls up thoughts of what is so iconically British Colonial:  potted palms, ceiling fans, handcrafted tropical wood furniture, a life of quiet gentility in steaming jungles.

 First Glimpse of Malaysia From the Air

If that idyllic life ever existed, if indeed it could have existed given the extreme heat and isolation from one’s own society, either of which might drive men and women mad, it does no more, of course.

Some of the Hundreds of Millions of Palm Oil Trees in Malaysia

Skyscrapers and shopping malls are the trademarks of Southeast Asia today.  Conspicuous consumption marks those who have arrived in this part of the world.

On the taxi ride from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, our driver proudly points to the Petronas Towers, for a short time in the 90s the tallest towers in the world.

Malaysia aims to be a first world country by 2020.  Having the tallest, the biggest, the most modern seems to be the approach Malaysia has taken to achieve this goal.

We try to take it all in on the drive to Subang Jaya, the suburb where our hosts live.  But we are numbed by two days of flying, jammed into narrow seats.  

We enter a gated community and follow a quiet street to our address, which turns out to be a pretty white condominium-type apartment with an enclosed, also gated, courtyard.

Even before we knock we’re certain we are at the right house.  Inside a baby is crying – Jaden, of course.

He’s an attentive little charmer who smiles sweetly.  Tired as I am, I cannot resist holding him and playing on the floor with him.

Damon’s tending to their last-minute preparations for the trip home alone, since Shannon is at Immigration, still sorting things out.  Travelling is much easier as a tourist than as an expat working in a foreign country.

She arrives mid-afternoon with everything in order and a box of pasties from the bakery.  We polish off most of the treats.

On My Way to Shopping Center

Subang Parade Mall

I refuse to slow down even though I know everyone can see through my cheery I’m-just-fine façade.  I even surprise myself by walking the three miles to the shopping center where there are a couple of full-service grocery stores with Shannon, Damon, and Jaden in his stroller near sundown when the air begins to cool down.  

Bernie has crashed on our bed.  He did not get even those ten-minute naps I was able to grab during the previous thirty hours.  It would be torture to try to keep him up any longer.

We are less than two degrees latitude above the equator.  Day and night are equally divided at this latitude.  Sunrise, year-round, is at 7:00 a.m.; sunset is at 7:00 p.m.

Now that I know where the grocery is located (as well as the Seven Eleven, just two blocks from the entrance to our neighborhood), and we’re provisioned with coffee and cereal for breakfast, I can go to sleep at last.