Goodbye Homeland. Hello Motherland.

Well, I've made to Malaysia, staying just out of KL with family. It's big, dirty, crowded, and wonderfully lively. I'm going to sound like some bad romantic oriental lit major when I say this, but the quality of light is so different here, it diffuses through the trees and smog, and looks hazey and warm.

I step off the plane, and am suddenly dripping with sweat like a fat kid at lunchtime detention. Humidity 1. Al, 0.

Now, I know this is documentation of my experiences of the local performance and art scene during my trip, but I can't go too far without talking about all the food I'm consuming.


Dim sum for breakfast. I'm the white-est, most unco looking one in an outdoor eatery packed with hungry Chinese. People yelling stuff in all sorts of different languages. They keep coming up to the table, tray after tray, with loads of dumplings, bao, and deep fried goodies. I think it's because I keep making eye contact with the waiters, curious and eager to know what everything is. I'm discovering that maybe sometimes it's better just to eat and not ask.




We managed to head into KL city last night, and they currently have an outdoor exhibition, "United Buddy Bears", you can read about it here...





Essentially it's about promoting tolerance and understanding. People here are going nuts for it, taking photos and running around trying to find their nation's respective contribution. Which, of course, I did. And here it is...





My cousins, who are from here, helped me point it out, because they recognized the tuatara and the wildlife on the legs from when they visited NZ. And the moko, on the face. I cringe. Let's represent NZ's concept of tolerance and understanding by tentatively painting a poor imitation of some Maori iconography? Oh because of the distinct cultural imagery that makes NZ special and unique! The warning bells are going off. It raises questions of ownership and identity. I genuinley can't work out whether it is exploitative or celebratory. Because it comes down to purpose (and ignorance), it all just feels a bit novel. Oh jeez Peter Hoffman. Well, you decide, according to his statement here...

"I have covered my bear with typical New Zealand motives, mainly flora and fauna. If you feel like counting, you will find sixteen birds, including two flightless kiwis in a white "egg" on the bear's belly. Maori patterns adorn the head and one of the arms. Three prehistoric tuatara lizards crawl up the feet. On the back of the arms you can see the active volcano Ngauruhoe. A group of New Zealanders, old and young, gather behind the two flags: the official New Zealand flag and the flag designed by the artist Hundertwasser."

This shout out goes to A. Paterson, when I asked rhetorically, will he "get a tapu and die"?

Now I will sign out with an obligatory tourist shot of the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. We did a drive by last night. A surreal sight.



I had a lovely conversation with a dutch girl on the monorail, she has just started working at the Shangri La hotel on a 6 month internship. I instantly liked her, she is so away from home here, but is loving the adventure.