Oh man I just returned from paradise. I spent 9 days in Malaysia visiting SL – aka Cupcake Armbar. It was absolutely the best vacation I’ve been on.
Here’s the fabulous SL herself, in front of the fantastic Chinese New Year feast she cooked:
Crazy amazing cook!
Here’s the view from her family’s house, where I stayed:
Seriously paradise.
I did some interesting things, including painting batik:
My first time painting batik, a national craft of Malaysia.
Going to the School of Hard Knocks:
Knocking out a pewter bowl.
I also had the opportunity to go to a “Magical” Ray Elbe seminar (which I briefly refer to here). Even though I couldn’t participate I had such an excellent time watching. Ray was a very personable guy with a huge personality and the mouth to match ;). I am writing a seminar review, which should go up soon.
Definitely a crack up.
I got to visit the Batu Caves, which is where a totally over the top Hindu festival takes place every year (nope, didn’t see the festival – it was the following week):
Seriously insanely huge
Did I mention there are millions of stairs? Okay, only 272. SL was not pleased:
I entitled this photos "Terrified Chinese woman climbing the Batu Cave steps"
I ate a TON of food and gained literally about 10 lbs.
Playing with my food
I tried the infamous DURIAN fruit!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA2f5ePzShk]
I also took an intro Muay Thai class,
Getting my hands wrapped. PUNCHING! Something not in BJJ.
— which totally kicked my ass.
Yeah - I was completely done.
Unfortunately, usually either SL or I were behind the camera, so we have precious few photos of us together.
Out to eat - basically ANY day during that vacation 🙂
So I wanted to share some things I learned during my stay in Malaysia.
10 things I learned about Malaysia:
1. Where it is 🙂 Yeah – I was really ignorant. I had no idea it bordered both Thailand AND Indonesia, OR that it is split in half.
2. It is super westernized. I heard SO MUCH ENGLISH while I was there. SL and her family/friends all speak English together, there were so many more western amenities available at supermarkets. Amazing.
3. There are 3 predominant cultures/religions there. Malay, which reminded me of Hawaiian people; Indian, and Chinese. Malay people are Muslim and there were a crap ton of Muslims in Malaysia. Everywhere I looked I saw women wearing head scarves – and most completely covered their hair. There were also many many Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists.
4. They says “la” a lot. At the end of a sentence they add “la” like – “okay-la” or “I know-la.” hehe
5. Malaysia is where that really big, scary Hindu festival takes place. You know, the one where they stick hooks in their bodies or whip themselves – and it’s always featured on the Discovery channel? Yeah – that one: Thaipusam.
6. The first Survivor was filmed there. I had no idea Borneo was in Malaysia, let alone Survivor. 😛
7. They drive on the left-hand side of the street. Hadn’t known that.
8. Getting around sucks. They don’t have good public transportation.
9. Thievery is everywhere! They even have signs about it! (see below)
10. Heat rashes suck. Yeah, I thought I had a terrible allergic reaction to something, or thought that I had a sunburn – nope, an awful heat rash. Skin felt dry and like I’d rolled in one of those cactuses with extremely fine, hair-like prickles. Touching my back caused sharp pains, just like I had been jabbed with a cactus, and I had red bumps all over me 🙁
11. I want to retire there! Seriously – paradise, despite rashes and purse thievery.
Purse snatchery warning!
10 things I learned about SL
1. She REALLY loves pink. No, really. I mean LOVES pink. From her pink ankle guards, to her pink car, and even this awesome pink shirt:
She wore this for 24 hours. Just kidding.
2. She drives like an Asian female. Her words not mine. hehehe. She drove crazily enough that we were able to get from point A to point B like a maniac! Thankfully no accidents, though!
3. Her boyfriend is super awesome. He’s kind and wonderful and supportive. Plus, how awesome to have a BJJ boyfriend?
4. Her accent completely changes all the time. She has times where her accent is so clear, while other times I couldn’t tell if she was speaking English. heh. Mostly when she was speaking to me it was clear unless she was really tired.
5. She is afraid of heights. Yet, she went up to the top of Batu Caves LIKE A BOSS! 🙂
6. She is a FREAKING AMAZING COOK!!! I asked if we could get Kung-pao chicken and she whipped it right up!! Plus, her banoffee pie? SL – marry me!
Deeeeelicious! No wonder I gained 10 lbs!
7. She is totally addicted to video games. While I was there she finished Arkham City and started playing Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Thankfully this coincided nicely with my Internet addiction, and most nights were spent in my bedroom, with her playing games and me tinkering on the Interwebs.
8. She has a super bubbly personality. SL is so positive and kind. It really does match her blog. She’s a ton of fun to be around and not even once did I wish I had more alone time.
9. She’s accident prone. Okay, maybe more like an accident magnet. While there I saw someone else sprain her ankle AND give her a microtear in her butt muscle/groin thanks to a banana split. Yeowch!
10. Her name is misleading. I saw neither cupcakes NOR armbars while I was there. I’ve officially redubbed her Kung-pao Injury. ^_^
5 things I learned about BJJ in Malaysia (as of January 2012)
1. There are only 9 women who do BJJ in Malaysia
2. BJJ is still new – there are no Malaysian originated black belts
3. Most people in Malaysia are blue/white belts
4. SL’s coach, Marcos Escobar, is the only black belt teaching BJJ in Malaysia.
5. Classes are taught in English at SL’s school.
So there you have it – a breakdown of my visit to Malaysia to visit SL. This never would have happened without Jiu Jitsu. Thank you, Jiu Jitsu! And a huge thank you to SL for taking a week off work and hanging out with me and cooking for me and being awesome!
I miss you too, SL!
If you were able to visit ONE BJJ blogger on your next vacation, who would you choose? I think my next choice would be Jonna, aka PinkJiuJitsu, partly because she has super awesome cats, she seems very friendly, she lives in a country I’ve never been, and it’s relatively cheap to get to the Philippines from Korea.
You can visit SL’s tumbler here, and you can see my Malaysian photo set here (though as of 2/1/12 I’ve not finished uploading–I’ll update you guys when it’s completely finished).
Well, we have ONE Malaysian born Black Belt, Adam Kayoom. He is a BB under the legendary Ricardo Liborio, and currently teaches at Q23 in Bangkok.
We miss you! Come back soon
Malaysia born, but not trained/promoted entirely in Malaysia – isn’t that right?
Julia,
Spot on!
Great post. Other than disgusting, what did the durian actually taste like?
hmmmmm the texture of durian is squishy and creamy. Some people have described it as nature’s ice cream.
The smell on the other hand is a whole different story. It’s really hard to describe the smell of durian. Unlike say Kim Chee or Smelly Tofu (Chou Tau Foo) which you could describe as pungent and smells like a garbage truck, durian doesn’t smell like that. In fact people find it difficult to describe durian. Personally I think it smells awful when I’m not ‘prepared’ for it.
As for the taste there are 2 types, the strong type which is bitter and sweet and the mild type which is sweet and creamy. I personally prefer the sweet type.
Why on earth did you guys have it in your freezer?
Hahaha my favorite part is when you said “ewww I got durian on my hand” or something like that. I would describe durian as smelling “nasty.” Yep, nasty. Maybe like an animal ate a ton of mangos and then pooped them out. Yes – like poop fruit. Froop. 🙂 hahahaha
Wow!
Malasya is split by half? Didn’t know that either.
And Kung Pao Chicken is my favorite food… even tough I just ate the brazilian version…
Yup! It’s divided by a big expanse of water and there are many small islands.
I <3 Kung Pao chicken as well. SL's was amazing!
I only get to pick one blogger? That’s tough: soooo many cool people I’ve met online that I’d love to meet and train with in person (e.g., you, Megan, Shark Girl, the McClishes etc). I guess if I absolutely had to pick just one, I’d probably go with Georgette, as I think she’s the blogger I’ve interacted with the longest (except maybe Seymour, but then I’ve met him plenty of times already ;p).
Hahahaha yeah – though you COULD meet two bloggers if they HAPPENED to live near one another – like the McClishes. 🙂
Yeah – I’d love to meet Georgette as well – she’s the only blogger I’ve ever chatted with on the phone (before meeting SL). 🙂 Plus – she’s an awesome cook as well. Hmmm–maybe I should only visit BJJ bloggers who are excellent cooks. hahahaha
OK…now I want to stop on my way home and buy some durian. Is it really that bad?
I have a confession to make…. I set Julia to fail this Durian test. No really I did. I hate the ‘strong durian’ (which is the one I gave her) and actually quite like the mild durian (which she could eat).
I personally think mild durian isn’t that bad and Julia actually enjoyed durian ice cream. Since you live in the US, getting the ‘strong durian’ is quite slim since the taste will fade over time. Try it! 😀
Hahahaha eeeevil you are! 🙂 Yeah – I think I took a second bite of the mild durian, which showed that it wasn’t THAT terrible.
Definitely the worst part was burping up durian later that night. BLECH. It’s like farting in your mouth.
I would certainly not go out of my way to buy it, but I might consider having other durian flavored things – like ABC with durian or more durian ice cream.
Hi Julia. I just had to comment on the ‘post Muay Thai’ photo. That one picture perfectly encapsulates my entire BJJ journey up to this point…
Malaysia is a wonderful place to visit and live. I spent just over 6 months there in the early 90s right out of school and went back for vacation two years ago. During my time there I grew to enjoy durian very much, but only after it had ‘aged’ a bit. Very fresh durian is incredibly pungent and flavorful (and not in a good way to me), and is definitely an acquired taste. The two or three times a year I can find it at my local farmer’s market it has sufficiently ripened into a creamy, sweet indulgence.
As far as which BJJ blogger I’d most like to meet? That’s hard to say as I’ve only recently begun blogging myself and haven’t really explored the who and what thats out there. Still settling in on some regular reads. But if I had to choose, it would be a 3-way tie between Christian Graugart, Slidey, and the guy who writes The Jiu Jitsu Laboratory. I can point to all three and say each has helped my game in some way.
Hey – welcome! I see you have a fairly extensive blog – how long have you been blogging? How long have you been doing BJJ? Still a white belt? I take it you’re a ginger – the art on your blog looks similar – do you draw it?
I’m not familiar with Christian Graugart – which website does he run?
Very cool.
I dream of moving to Malaysia now. Sigh. I would also do the Fear Factor thing and laugh at tourists trying it. I wish I could get some friend to try silkworms. Seriously – they sell them everywhere. No way I’m touching that shit. In Ukraine I would have them try salo, which really isn’t that bad – it’s just pure pig fat.
Thanks for the welcome! Been blogging maybe six months, training for a little less than nine months. 3-stripe white with the 3rd added just last week. Most of the art comes from public domain. But if I can’t find anything that relates I’ll doodle something up real quick. And yes, ginger to the core.
Christian was behind the BJJ Globetrotter site and still writes at his original blog, Shogun HQ, I believe he calls it.
Never tried silkworms. However, I have tried Mish, which is a Sudanese drink made from fermented cow’s blood, urine and milk. Well, “drink” is relative, it’s more like yogurt. I did three years in the Peace Corps right out of school. Tried everything from BBQ’d scorpion to salted Caiman liver. I don’t recommend either…
Ryan – where were you “stationed” in Peace Corps? I was in Ukraine from 2007-2009. I have no desire to try silkworms. I’m usually okay trying things, but certain things are just hard to get over.
So you extended in the same country? Or did you do your +1 year in a different country?
There’s an interview with the Jiu Jitsu Labs guy (who also posts in various places as Tango_MF), here.
Julia – My time in the Peace Corps can only be described as atypical at best. I volunteered in late ’89 with my initial assignment being in Bukayu, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) doing the environmental sustainment thing. The Rwandan Geonocide was just beginning and starting to spill over the border, the political climate was less than conducive to what we were trying to accomplish, ans the Corps abruptly closed the program in ’91. We actually had to find our own way out, crossing into the Sudan and hooking up with a UN contingent in Juba. Most of us then hopped flights to HQ in Morocco or just got the hell out all together.
I stayed in Rabat, Morocco for two months doing clerical stuff while my contract ran out. During that time I applied for, and was hired, by the Inspector General’s Office, working for the Global Operations: Europe, Mediterranean and Asia Group. Did that for just over two years travelling from place to place as an evaluator. I was the guy who came in and showed you what you were doing wrong and doing right, and then showed you how to do it all better. This was all at the management and program operations level and rarely at the field level, primarily dealing with environmental sustainment ops, civil engineering projects, etc (I now specialize in Environmental Law). Travelled all over, initially stationed out of Phuket, but eventually split my time between Kuala Lumpur and Manila. Spent a lot of time in Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga, Micronesia, etc.
The thing was, while I really enjoyed the travel and all that entailed, I absolutely hated the job. It wasnt what I signed up for, you know? I came back to my place in Manila and all my mail and what not was addressed to the equivalent of “occupant”. I resigned a week later and tramped my way back to the States.
In all actuality, I did a little over four years in the Peace Corps, both as volunteer and employee. I say three because the last 10 months in Zaire I just want to forget. We were basically cut off by Mobutu’s gangsters and actually got word to bug out through an envoy from the British Embassy. Basically, when the US no longer considered Zaire a friend, and said so on the UN floor, Mobutu took his dogs off the leash and looked the other way. Plus, I still have a hard time with some of the things I saw in the name of “ethnic cleaning”.
But overall, I wouldnt trade the experience for anything. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but it’s incredibly enriching. Don’t you agree?
OMG Julia come to the Philippines! I don’t/can’t/won’t cook, but I can bring you to my team’s favorite hole-in-the-wall places 🙂 Oh, and I’m sure my cats will be all over you when you come over! I just hope my small apartment has been renovated by the time you’re here. Here’s what’s more awesome: my apartment is in the same building where our BJJ dojo is! Yay! 🙂
And I’m so jealous of your KL vacation! I just wish I already knew Su Ling when I visited Malaysia in 2010. I would love to have a taste of her banoffee pie, too!
[…] attended “Magical” Ray Elbe’s seminar while I was in Malaysia visiting SL. The seminar was held at Sparta Muay Thai in Kuala Lumpur. The seminar was held […]
[…] – beaches, SCUBA diving, BJJ – what’s not to love? I had the chance to meet and stay with Cupcake Armbar in Malaysia, I have had the opportunity to write for Jiu Jitsu Style magazine, review gis, and […]