Tag Archives: Books

Malaysia

Afternoon in Kuala Lumpur

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Yesterday afternoon along with two friends, Mitch and I took the train from Seremban to KL Sentral, the main train station in Kuala Lumpur. From there we transferred to the subway and headed to KL City Centre (KLCC), the main shopping and entertainment district of KL. We wandered around the massive mall, visited a few stores, tried and failed to get tickets to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) because none of us knew there was a pretty strict dress code, wandered through a lovely park, and had an excellent meal with our Scottish friends in an Irish bar. Some highlights are below. Enjoy!

So many books!
So many books!

The store in which we spent the longest was a two-story Japanese bookstore with zillions of titles in English. It was very exciting. Both interestingly and frustratingly, the books were wrapped in plastic so patrons couldn’t flip through them. To me, that almost defeats the purpose of a bookstore; I don’t like buying books electronically because I can’t look through them. Same story here. I was very glad, however, to find a section of Jewish history books and a section on Judaism in general.

Books about Judaism - note that "science and religion" are together in this section
Books about Judaism – note that “science and religion” are together in this section

This bookstore was inside a huge mall that was inside and underneath the Petronas Towers. We didn’t go up to the skybridge, but we did gaze up at them from the park outside.

The Petronas Towers are actually the same size. I guess I took the picture from a strange angle.
The Petronas Towers are actually the same size. I guess I took the picture from a strange angle.

The towers were cool but I thought the park was cooler.

Fountains
Nifty fountains
KL is pretty cool - it has dolphins that magically jump out of shallow water!
KL is pretty cool – it has dolphins that magically jump out of shallow water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were also some awesome trees in this park in the center of KL. The mere fact that there is a park in the center of KL is pretty cool, too. It also has a 1300m track!

Very cool treeIt was a really fun afternoon and the Irish bar for dinner was great. It was nice to recognize every item on the menu for a change. The Gaelic football game that was on in the bar was enjoyable to watch, as well. We’ll definitely be back in KL. I want to explore Chinatown and see the MPO for sure!

On My Mind

I wish I went to Hogwarts

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As you might remember from being a student (or maybe you are a student), the school year goes in cycles. There are a couple weeks in which nothing is due and then a couple weeks in which everything is due. Newsflash: It works the same way for teachers. When I assign work for my students, I often forget that it all eventually rolls back to me, which is why my 26 seventh graders turned in projects on Monday, 76 ninth graders turned in essays yesterday, and 24 eleventh graders will turn in essays tomorrow. Oops. Being a teacher means that I take work home, and I take work home often. Mitch and I (Have you noticed that I’ve been using real names? Maybe it’s because I’m beginning to trust you, oh ye nameless, faceless other worldly beings readers.) argue about that fairly regularly, or at least every couple weeks when I do this to myself. Do teachers bring more work home than the average worker? I say yes, he says no. Regardless, I still want to be done with my essays, which brings me to an Exciting Event that happened today:

I ordered a new phone case a couple weeks ago and it finally came! Amazon told me that the estimated delivery time was March 19-April 4, and here we are on March 19. Magic. (Wait for it, magic is a theme here.) It came from Hong Kong, which was a surprise, but does explain why I ordered it February 23 and just got it, why the order was not trackable, and why it took so long. Definitely worth the wait, though.

Old phone case (hand-me-down from my mum embellished with a sticker from my large collection of stickers, which dwindles every time I assign essays):

Old Phone Case

New phone case (that truly expresses who I want to be when I grow up):

New Phone Case

It’s the little things in life, right? Not bad for $8 on Amazon. So, the moral of the story is that I really wish I went to Hogwarts. I’d love to be a witch when I grow up. Hermione and I could be best friends. (One of my students told me I looked like her when I chaperoned our Winter Formal last Saturday. I was delighted!) I have a thing for Dumbledore. Who doesn’t love eccentric older gentlemen? Castles have to do with history and therefore are awesome. I bought a pack of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans once and tried every flavor. Yes, one tasted like earwax. I have a Hogwarts hoodie. And a Gryffindor scarf. And now a Marauder’s Map phone case. When I need something far away I routinely think Accio! I’m a nerd. Or a wannabe. But I’m proud enough to own it.

Hopefully you still read/like my blog now that I’ve admitted all that.

New York

Food Makes Me Happy

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There, I said it. Food is good!

And what makes me even happier is cooking, especially cooking for others. Maybe that’s because I’m Jewish and grew up in a household in which food was at the center of everything, always. (And yes, my mum’s matzah balls and hamataschen are better than your mum’s matzah balls and hamataschen.)

For Chanukah this year I received a wonderful new cookbook devoted entirely to vegetables. This is an amazing thing. While I’m not a vegetarian, I don’t eat red meat and only rarely eat poultry, so a whole cookbook devoted to things I eat was very exciting. Even better, this cookbook is by a British chef raised in Israel, so his food takes me back to my favorite place on Earth.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty turns vegetables into works of art, has encouraged me to use spices I’ve never heard of, and makes it incredibly easy to make delicious, restaurant-caliber food at home.

I know I sound like I’m advertising . . . sorry about that. I just happen to be eating dinner, which features a saffron cauliflower dish from Plenty. You can take a look at the cookbook here. Happy cooking, and happy eating!