Back in Malaysia

I am back in Malaysia for a month to do my research on the sustainability of palm oil biodiesel. Would be flying back to the UK on 31 May. I will not be writing anything about my research here. First of all, I do not want to make premature claims on biofuels even though I could safely tell that the production of our palm oil is one the most sustainable in the world. And secondly, I already have a 15,000-word report to write just on that and I'd like to talk about other things in this blog.

Baby Brendan!!

I'm happy to be home. The first thing I asked for when I touched down was to carry my nephew, Brendan. Brendan was so cute and I nearly chewed him up when I saw his cute little chubby cheek.

Above: Penang Prawn Mee

Above: Enjoying Lok-lok, food on a stick skewer.

Above: Typical Malaysian hawker food stalls

Above: Fish head vermicelli and CheeCheongFun.

Coming back was also about eating and running. Initially sleeping was in the equation but that was until I overcame the severe jet-lag. It took 3 days to recover. I am having an overdose of Japanese buffet. I already had 2 big ones within this week. It started with my family for a tri-celebration; mother's day and birthday and aunt's farewell. The other was a social gathering.

The tri-celebration...

And another round of Japanese buffet at the Jogoya Japanese Restaurant. The social gathering..
Many things happened when I was around, mostly unexpected. Within a week, I have visited the hospital twice; one to visit my ex-colleague who was admitted due to irregular heartbeat and another to deliver her baby.

Kamil, at the Intensive Care Unit for irregular heartbeat. We have worked together since I joined my ex-company 6 years ago

Meeting with friends; Raymond and Irene. Raymond is next year's Malaysian Ironman hopeful

I have also been visiting relatives, friends and ex-colleagues. Most of the visits took place in between meeting people for my research and in the evenings. So, I am really putting time management skills to use, even in Malaysia! I spend the rest of the free time catching up with my running and swimming! No cycling, too bad!

Permaisuri Lake; the area of my running group. Permaisuri Lake is located 6km from the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Talking about sports, the weather had been erratic. It gets really hot in the day and sometimes pour like cats and dogs in the evenings. The reason I am blogging now is because it's pouring like mad out there. Then again, the tropical weather is just great for running. Before my friends in Malaysia stone me for saying that, I just wish to clarify that running in a hotter climate has its benefits too. Let me explain: First of all, I do not need too much effort to sweat like I just came out from a sauna. It takes 12km in Cambridge to sweat like that but only 1km for the same to happen here. Secondly, I do not need to wear too many layers to run; no gloves, no sweater, no track bottom. So much lighter! But I hate it whenever I sweat as soon as I step out of the shower.

I have started running and yesterday did the short distance World Asthma Day run. I would be doing a 15km competitive run next week. Raymond has been enticing me for the Kenyir Triathlon on 27 May but I know I am not ready just yet for a triathlon. Marathon, yes; but not a triathlon, because of the swimming event. I haven't been swimming since arriving into Cambridge. Ironically, I am not worried about cycling and I have Cambridge to thank! Most students in Cambridge have to cycle! I went for a 1500m swim the other day and did terribly bad. I clocked 32 minutes on a lap pool, and it does not augur well for the Kenyir triathlon at all! I used to do 27minutes! If I really want to do Kenyir, I have to start swimming again. How am I to juggle it with my research?? Ultimately, I have to know what my priorities are and the reason I am back!

Malaysian Pasar Malam (night market). "Lin Chee Kang" to cool down the body.

I have also been doing other typical Malaysian stuff like going to a pasar malam (night market) and mamak stalls (a surrogate to the bar culture in England, minus the alcohol) and hanging out in a shopping complex (not particularly for window shopping but to stay away from the hotter outdoors). If there's something I could bring back from Cambridge, it'd be the nice weather at this time of the year!