Tom Pepinsky

Author: tompepinsky

  • Visas, Movies

    We are happy to report that we have, after being in the country for two months plus a week, received our visas.  They are good until the end of September, which is a very nice bonus.  It seems that things have worked out, and they did so far more smoothly than was the case in Indonesia.  For example, we will not have to return to the immigration office every 28 days to reapply for an extended stay.  (Knock on wood.)

    Actually, the process, while rather long, was not very time-consuming.  It required only one of us (me, TP) going down the UKM, the university south of town where I am officially based for my research, a couple of times to fill out paperwork and drop off pictures.  The only mildly sketchy part was that we had to leave our visas with the university for two weeks while they processed them.  In Indonesia, you will recall, we were pretty much terrified of leaving our passports at the immigration office overnight, but we did it anyway.  It speaks volumes about our trust of the Malaysian government’s efficiency and competence that we willing to carry around an "endorsed photocopy" of our passport for two weeks without complaining.

    This is totally unrelated, but it is something that we both have been musing about lately.  It’s fascinating how our popular culture consumption patterns changed based on the price of movie tickets.  In the US, when we left Connecticut, it cost $8.50 to go see a movie, and forget about student discounts.  Add in a box of popcorn for 3 bucks, and you are already at $20 for two people to go out to a movie for the evening.  Now, it’s not like we’re poor or anything.  We can afford to see movies whenever we want.  But really, at $8.50 a pop, we certainly expect to see a good movie.  We expect to get our money’s worth, and are normally rather pissed off when we spend all that cash on a movie that isn’t very good.  Knowing this to be the case, we don’t go out to movies very often unless we are sure that we will like them.  For $20, after all, we can go get two nice beers each at a fancy bar and be sure that we’ll have a nice time.

    Here, an evening movie costs RM 11.  That translates to about $2.90.  That totally changes our outlook on movie viewing.  For the equivalent of $8, we can get a nice bag of caramel corn, two sodas, and two tickets.  For that price, we are willing to see just about anything.  We can see movies that we aren’t sure about, we can see movies that some critics loved and some hated, and we can take a chance on a silly movie when we’re bored.  Last night, for example, we watched Sahara.  We would never have seen that in the theaters in the US.  We were near the movie theater, though, and didn’t have plans.  We think that Matthew McConaughey is funny, and we saw that the NY Times (which has fairly high standards) kinda liked it.  So we took a chance, knowing that it wouldn’t be great, but that it would probably be OK.  And you know, it wasn’t so bad.  It was a fun enough movie to watch, nothing too special, good for some cheap laughs.

    The difference is, we got about what we expected here, and would have been mad had we spent $20 in the US.  Maybe this is a convoluted way of saying that when we return to the US in late August of this year, we will be ready to not be graduate students anymore.

  • Dhal, Malaysian Style

    Here’s a recipe for dhal, Indian-style lentil stew.  It’s a bit different than then North Indian dhals, which are the kinds that you find in the States.  For one thing, it’s thinner.  Also, this has a bit of a Malaysian twist to it due to the presence of coconut milk and tamarind.  It’s excellent, and is the traditional accompaniment for roti chanai.

    Dhal, Malaysian Style
    1/2 cup lentils
    3 1/4 cups water
    1/2 tsp. turmeric
    1 red onion, chopped
    1 carrot, sliced into thin rounds
    1 small eggplant, cubed
    1 tomato, chopped
    2 chilies, thinly sliced (optional)
    1/2 cup tamarind water
    1/2 cup coconut milk
    1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
    1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
    1/2 tsp. chili powder
    5 curry leaves (optional)
    3 shallots, minced
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    oil
    salt

    Rinse the lentils, then place in a pot with the water and turmeric and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add onion, eggplant, tomato, and carrot and cook for 20 minutes more.  Add chilies, and cook for five more minutes.

    While the lentils are cooking, combine coconut milk with a pince of salt and the tamarind water.  Place in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.  In a small skillet, heat a bit of oil over mediam heat.  Add the cumin and mustard seeds and fry for 30 seconds, then add chili powder, shallots, garlic, and curry leaves and saute until golden.  Add to the tamarind/coconut mixture.

    When lentils have finished cooking, mix in the coconut milk with the spices.  Add salt to taste. Serve with roti chanai or spoon over rice.  A picture will be forthcoming.