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| One of the main draws of Malaysia: the food. Rose and I couldn't be eating any better. The first two pics are from a bah kuh teh mission. That claypot is full of steaming herbs, pork bones, and pork innards. It's rich, herbal, garlicky, and super good for you. It's also delicious. So good. |
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| Obviously staged. Not sure why. But, with the safety regulations I've seen in place in Malaysia, it may have been a recreation as much as a creation. |
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| More work from my students. This is from a Year 7 student. The assignment was a picture of your favorite food. Done, and done. Nailed it. |
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| Classic Asian mentality. This is reading program time. DEAR: Drop Everything And Read. I love the idea, but I find the execution fascinating, the way they line the kids up in precise military rows like this. |
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| Shrek shower. Only the best for this guy. Still the best bike I've ever had. He deserves it. |
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| It's not just Shrek; we're finally settling into our new digs. First few pieces of furniture. And the gas canister, which was a Homeric task to procure, another story for another time. |
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| A classic Malaysia scene for us: Rose all dressed up, going for a ride on Stewie. She is the best motorcycle partner in the world, riding the best scooter around. |
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| Biking buddies M'sian style. Great group of guys. |
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| There is tremendous beauty in Johor. You just have to look on a smaller scale. No sweeping Montana panoramas here. Just little glimpses of ancient jungle paradise. |
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| Typical Malaysian style: tremendous, breathtaking beauty, in the form of a sapphire tinged freshwater lake, with natural beaches, ensconced in a a granite cove. However, it's surrounded by a poorly managed sprawling quarry. Right on the edge of town. One part beauty, one part destruction. Both sides of the coin can always be seen at once here. |
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| Three high school riding buddies. Some great riding potential. Unfortunately, the kid on the right took a few falls during the day. He was having trouble getting out of his pedals. Then, at the end of the day, he took a really nasty tumble. I had to ride like a bat out of hell to go get him some ice, because I was worried about his concussion. He's OK now, but he did spend some time in the hospital. Hope to see him out there again soon. |
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| Local kids on the right, Singaporean visitors on the left. It was a really cool mix this ride. |
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| Classic M'sian doubletrack. |
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| Ken, the owner of the local bike shop. He's a great guy, and the center of this group of riders. Without him, I never would have found these trails and friends. |
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| Got to speak some French out there. After being surrounded by Chinese conversation, always left out in the conversational cold, it was great to be able to return the favor, and leave the locals in the dark for a bit. Two French guys and an Italian joined us. |
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| Jungle Singletrack. Gotta love it. |
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| Post ride meal, Malay style. Best of both worlds. |
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| Negotiating with SRAM a couple years ago, I was constantly shot down on any hints of reliability concerns. They kept saying it wasn't even on their radar. Lighter, faster, with stronger clicks and feedback. These were always their priorities. Never more reliable. They swore there were no reliability issues with SRAM. So it was with a bit of joy that I watched this derailleur explode in front of me on the trail, it was only some mad riding skills that saved the rider from a nasty spill. He did, however, have to push his bike about 8 km or so out of the jungle. |