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I climbed 312 steps to the Batu Cave and the main temple area in the center of the chamber and except for a few stop to catch my breaths, it was an exhilarating climb that left me soaking wet.
The sweat beats on my forehead soaked the front of my blouse. It was a humbling climb.
There were monkeys, iguanas, pigeons and people all over the place. Many visitors took their time climbing and aside from the stairs. If you aren't Hindu there wasn't much to the caves except its history, the annual pilgrimage and the climb itself. |
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I visited a pewter factory, (yes.. spent lots of money there,) but the cost of pewter is the same all over Malay that buying from the factory was no deal. Merchants don't compete with each other in selling the product and the factory does not compete with them. |
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Visited a Malay house that is over a hundred years old (which reminded me of how the homes on Guam were built). This house sits on concrete stilts on a concrete foundation. Nothing is stored under the house. We were encouraged to sign a guest book and contribute to the donation pot. A member of the family -- an elder man --made sure each visitor knew he could donate. |
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Watched a demonstration of how rubber (as they guide stated, is used for plane tire and condom production among other things) is extracted and gathered from the trees. The tool in the guide's hand is what is used to strike the tree to release the precious sap. It comes out white and later turns yellow when dries. |
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Visited Central Market, much like the Chamorro Village but larger and enclosed and open daily. |
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Of course I spent a lot of time and Bob's money at the city's second largest shopping center located just sixteen feet from the Mandarin Hotel's North exit. It's a two-winged building with a center section. Its six sides are stacked six stories high with specialty shops, restaurants & food courts, beauty & massages parlors, theaters, department stores, audio, video, furniture and antique stores that I just could not help myself. Anita and I signed up for the reflexology foot massage and the next day had a facial and manicure (hand and feet).
I think Bob may be considering it's cheaper for me to stay home. ") But I justified my purchases with the POWER of the US dollar. The exchange rate in Malay is 3.7 Rinnget to $1US. |
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Throwing a little controversy into the report, we stayed next to the tallest twin towers in the world, the Patronas Towers. There are 88 floors in the tower but from bottom to tip, it's taller than the one in Chicago. Malay's Oral History states that one side was built by the Japanese, the other by the Koreans. You must be next to them to tell which is which. And, the French were big enough to bridge the two countries when they built the bridge to unite the towers.
No, I didn't get to play golf since the day that I was booked to play with the International Olympic Committee President's wife was Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and I was booked for departure on China Airlines at 1:30 p.m. It meant I had to leave the hotel at 11 a.m. and we could not get a round in and me back to the hotel in time to get to the airport which is 40 minutes away. |
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Bummed about that but grateful for everything else and happy to be back safely.
Oh, I almost forgot... Coconuts are plentiful in Malay. The hugger is JD (Sir John N. Dawanincura, Kt OBE) from New Guinea and the hugged is Vidi Lakhan from Fiji (the last of the Great Gentlemen.) |
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Bob Steffy (Guam), JD (New Guinea), Anita Blas (Guam), Atma Maharaj & Vidhya Lakhan (Fiji). |