Wednesday was an early start for both of us feeding the needy at 7.30 in the morning at the Cathedral. When we arrived to set up there was already a crowd of 60 or 70 people waiting for their food - when the Cathedral bell chimed at 8 we went out bags of food in hand - by this time there was over 100 people - and I've never seen food so gratefully received and consumed so quickly! It was a humble reminder of how often we take simple things for granted.
The next couple of days were very relaxed with the two of us planning for talks and bible studies we had been assigned. The first of these was my talk on the Lost Son at a youth treasure hunt on Saturday afternoon and then JJ was leading a bible study on Ruth 2 on Sunday morning. It was a humbling experience having to learn the passages and apply then to our own lives before going and telling others but there weren't any blatant screw ups so praise be to God!
And now for more cultural musings I must hand you over to JJ (please excuse any spelling and grammatical errors - I didn't have the time to change them all)
Absorbing culture is something that we've made a purposeful decision to do. I think it's important to all who venture away from the safety net of mother's washing, to learn the way of life where they find themselves residing. To those who haven't travelled and are, like I was not that long ago, naive, I will explain to the land locked brain what that has looked like for us. We've made absolutely sure we are aware of the difference between Malaysian food and British food.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the Malaysian BigMac, the bread is not spongey, the sauce is not saucey, and the Muslim friendly meat, is Muslim friendly, this all combines to make a burger that is not palatable in comparison.
Joking aside, (even though the previous assessment of the Malaysian Big Mac was not a joke) - the food here is certainly different, and is also delicious!
We have been fortunate enough to experience consuming food in a place (of which I am unaware of the name) where membership is necessary. A club if you wish. There has been an establishment between this club and the cathedral that two memberships be granted to the cathedral free of charge (#WhyNotWorkForJesus). Andrew, the head of the Cathedral very kindly took us here, as he is one of the two workers who has adopted the membership and treated us to a Malasyian style meal called banana leaf. The reason it's called banana leaf is because you literally consume your food from a banana leaf, instead of a plate, pretty cool right. Culture also dictates that you consume the food with your hands, even cooler. Those who have visited one of the finest venues available to man (nandos) with yours truly, will be fully aware of my "gremlin like" nature as I consume with my hands, making as much mess as the chicken requires. Unfortunately, not from any fault of Mr Nando, in England occasionally people's eyes can drift onto my appearance and pull faces that look like what I can only describe as, unimpressed. This however, does not happen when eating banana leaf! I felt accepted as I proceeded to bury the delicious meal in front of me with my paws.
Initially you receive rice, with three different types of vegetables, of which I can only remember some green type of paste which was nice, however the other vegetable I remember (potatoes) were superior, they were what I can only describe as a Malaysian version of potato salad. Then you received mutton, chicken and fish, all in different spicy sauces, for me the chicken and mutton were my favourites. Bertie loved the fried fish. Also available was yoghurt and bits of chilli (JJ originally spelt this chilly - I (Bertie) just thought this needed to be shared with everyone) and other such condiments all in separate pots, meaning that you could turn yourself into Jamie Oliver and experiment with a 'bit a this an a bit a that', to make the whole experience even more uplifting and fulfilling, it was truly incredible!
Thankfully, at this point in time I was already aware of a quite important piece of information that is necessary when consuming Malaysian chicken which I was not aware of when I proceeded to eat our first meal.
Bertie and I had just arrived, in Malaysia. My mind was, as explained in the previous post, unfortunately captured by the smell. Once I had broken free from its stronghold, with a stronghold on my nostrils, smell was replaced with hunger. We proceeded to explore. Bertie had been informed that there was a 'nice little deli' down the road. We curiously explored for the destination. It takes Malayages to walk places due to the necessary pace one has to adopt with the humidity and heat found in Kuala Lumpur. After strolling for 15 minutes or so we arrived, just down the road, at what we thought was this 'nice little deli'.
The destination was to the untrained eye an innocent, honest looking shack. I chose an interesting looking curry. As I looked at the food in front of me, I was happy that I had, as usual, picked a superior meal. The food was basically free, hindsight has helped me to see why.
It was clearly an indirect attempt at my throat, as I naively slotted a mouthful of what I thought was a perfectly good and delicious mouthful of curried chicken and rice...how wrong I was!!!! These jokers made an attempt at the J-dogg's life by leaving all the bones in the chicken and therefore as I proceeded to consume this mouthful wholeheartedly, I nearly unintentionally ended myself and my windpipe.
So friends, be warned, when eating curry in Malaysia, there are bones in the chicken.
Apparently it's a Sunday night tradition for motorbikes to race around the city - the police don't really seem to care. The noise is epic!
After church on Sunday we took Avean (the person who has let us invade his flat and his office as well as putting up with our banter) out for some drinks and also so that he could show us the KL night life
JJ has some incredible moves - this is an 80s classic
Goliath, Ghandi and Gollum take to the streets - there should definitely be a film
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