Details Of Tawau

Lots of good things to stare at in Tawau, those little details that give a place a little identity.

Disco mosque dome.

Way to up-cycle an old chair, nothing a lot of plastic wrap can't accomplish. Eyes need to match the outfit.

Vices evidence in a stairwell.

Hawker stall staples, chicken wings marinated, ready for grilling and a beverage cooler dunk.

Tough town. "Do not take my Singer!"

Time to take a look at the local fishermen. Busy sorting the catch and a portrait.

What did you catch today?

The Big Shop In Tawau

Nothing more central in a Malaysian town than the central market. Tawau has a big one, crammed with all food stuffs, clothing, hawker stalls, home goods, all one needs throughout the day and more.

Keeping watch over one's stall.

Pro tip, use a little plastic wrap to make the cut fruit look super shiny. The specialty in Tawau, dried fish.

Market sign, everywhere you need to go, in pictures.

Shiny pots. The place is customer friendly. Pre-bagged mixes of vegetables that are prepped for juicing.

What do the kids do while the moms are working the stalls? Make their own fun. Ode to Helen Levitt.

The Architecture Of Tawau

Tawau's a typical Malaysian town, heavy on the use of concrete with a sprinkling of mosques around.

City vista, receding to jungle.

Classic government buildings, sprouting from the overgrowth and a funky, curvy library. Nice carports.

Old Tawau, a 1960s concrete jungle.

Busy commercial area. The old Bandar mosque.

Inside the bigger, more modern, Al-Khauthar mosque.

Patina rising, an old apartment building and a ruined house.

Tawau is on the water, with a view of Indonesia in the distance. Stroll the promenade to see it.

Subterranean Hotel Blues

Apologies to Bob Dylan and his masterful song about The Man sticking it to the little guy and also the accompanying video, full of flipping signs.

There's a hotel in Tawau, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia (whew) that could make a poor guest blue. So many signs, so many warnings.

At check-in, the mean rundown. No Seafood! No stinky Durian! No fires, smoking, animals or vaping! What's left?

Add water and your bathroom is lethal. Your problem. You ingest it, you pay for it.

Even the lobby reception area has a mean mom-type of warning. What kind of flop house is this place?

Back in the room, putting a price on smoking. Did someone say price on something? How about everything. Yep, there's a replacement value list for absolutely all items in the room. By all means, take a mattress, maybe a TV or coffee table. You pay.

Back down in the lobby, you gotta separate the riff-raff from the valuable luggage.

Tawau, Sculpture City

Every town needs a gimmick these days, in this Instagram-drenched world. It's doubtful Tawau will suddenly become a hip mecca for self snaps anytime soon. No matter, civic pride is on display with a handful of fun sculptures scattered around the downtown.

Tawau is located on the coast and fishing is big industry. Bring on the seafood sculptures. First up, Mr. Crab in a roundabout.

What's up fish? Moving on land, a big flower for a flower bed.

Uh oh, it's time for a little WWE between species.

Back to the seafood theme, shellfish edition. Lobster and prawn.

Er, um, a fish out of water.

The Haze Destroying Malaysia

Last summer, Sarah and James experienced perhaps the worst part of living in Malaysia, a month of choking haze blanketing the city. We're talking vintage 1970s LA smog level brown mist. Not fun.

The haze is the fallout of burning palm oil plantations and clearing jungle for new plantations, mostly in a few areas of Indonesia. Plantation owners need to clear land and expand their operations and illegally burn everything in their sight. The result, the prevailing winds take the smoke and ash over to both mainland and East (Borneo) Malaysia, making life miserable for everyone there.

Kuching is a city in Sarawak, Borneo and during the height of the haze mess, sometimes had the worst Air Quality Index number in the world. Glad we got to visit to, cough, cough, witness and experience it.

Looking across the river toward the state legislative building. This image and the following images were taken around sunset, what should be a golden hour of beauty.

The view from inside a hotel. Not inviting. Temple and modern building background of haze.

Navigating the mess.

Colorful buildings, failing to shine in the layer of soot.

Back at the river, no view.

The haze doesn't last forever. Once rainy season hits in October and extinguishes the fires, the sky goes blue again. The memory leaves a bad taste in one's mouth (and eyes, throat, car, etc...) and a bitter reminder of the cost of human development.

The Fantastical Variety Of Chinese Temple Offerings

Chinese followers of Buddhism love to burn things at their temples. There's usually a round incinerator at a temple complex and the basic item to burn is yellow prayer paper. For many Chinese, making a burn offering tailored to a loved ancestor is the smallest gesture they can do. The thought is: grandpa needs things in his afterlife and you need to provide them.

Provide what? Anything your ancestor might need and/or have enjoyed. Well, you can't just burn an SUV. What to do? No worries, where there is a market, there are providers. Behold the paper offering store.

That's right, anything you can imagine has been reproduced in paper. Cheaper than the original thing, obviously ripe for burning. Let's start with something basic. Favorite shirt? Heap o' patterns available.

Going bigger. How about a nice bicycle or a whole house? Buy it, burn it!

Sportin' fancy shoes is big, obviously in the afterlife you gotta be looking good strutting around heaven.

More footwear, some blingy sandals for the ladies. And then there are the kits. Think boxes filled with related items. Maybe kitchen supplies. Here you have a gambler's starter kit. Win some godly favors for the family!

No idea is too esoteric. Obviously, after playing hard at the poker table in your white loafers, you slink home and get ready for bed. You need those nice toiletries. Maybe you need teeth. It will be offered. The best detail, the purposely copyright jilting brand name misspellings and alterations.

What a great world, where Chinese holy offerings can have something in common with a trashy American kids diversion from the 1970s: Wacky Packages.