latif and i decided to go shopping in malaysia. the dollar is trading well against malaysian currency - vending machine coke cost $.50 per can, which is the equivalent of 17 cents US.

we took an air conditioned bus to get to johor bahru from singapore - not great air conditioning, though. kind of like a dog panting across an ice cube - wet, smelly, and lukewarm. but it was better than outside - that would be like a dog panting across a hot tub.

i've enclosed a picture of the downtown johor bahur. not an inspiring site for shopping. but we were determined shoppers, and bumbled our way around the city, trying to read the malaysian signs.

we got the idea we could buy malaysian ladies' silk outfits for our wives. what class we have! we ended up in a nice department store, looking at ladies' silk outfits. we had a hard time judging sizes, so we asked two of the clerks to come over and help us figure out what we needed to buy.

these girls were very helpful, but a bit shy. because latif liked BOTH dresses that were on the mannikins, he asked the girls to undress them.

imagine if you will two young Muslim girls, hair and necks covered, undressing these lifelike, anatomically correct dummies. there were pretty embarrassed, which made them giggle, which made us laugh, which attracted a bunch of onlookers.

so of course latif had to buy the dresses. the girls made us turn around as they finished undressing them, then shooed of off to the cash register. i, however, went back with my camera, and after QUITE a bit of persuading, got them to pose with the naked mannikins for the picture. you'll have to imagine what the outfits look like: i don't want to spoil ruby's surprise.

that's all for today! tomorrow i'll focus on singapore.

dennis