October 26, 2026
Michelle Yeoh, and the Ipoh she came from
The Oscar winner is from Ipoh. The town is still a limestone city of coffee shops, not a film set, which is why it is worth the trip.
A small blog
A later life in Malaysia, without a luxury budget
Malaysia comes up when people want a warm country, serious hospitals, and a monthly cost that can sit below Singapore, Australia, or a large Western city. This site is a plain introduction: where people actually settle, what eats the money, and what you have to check before you stay.
Stories
October 24, 2026
Ronny Chieng, from Johor Bahru to the Daily Show
The Daily Show correspondent was born in Johor Bahru. His jokes travel. The city is still a hot, practical place across the water from Singapore.
October 22, 2026
Shophouses after four, when the street turns kind
George Town's prewar shophouses are the picture people mean by a pretty Malaysian street. The hour after the worst heat is when they feel livable.
October 21, 2026
When the street becomes the dining room
Night markets and hawker streets are the sociable room of Malaysian life. Plastic stools, serious food, and a city that eats outside.
October 18, 2026
The five-foot way is the city's living room
The covered sidewalk in front of a shophouse was a colonial rule and became the place Malaysian streets actually live.
October 12, 2026
Henry Golding, Sarawak on an American poster
Crazy Rich Asians made Henry Golding familiar across the United States. He was born in Sarawak, to an English father and an Iban mother.
October 7, 2026
Staying legally, without a brochure
Malaysia My Second Home is a long-stay pass with rules that have changed before. Read this year's rules before you move any money.
September 30, 2026
James Wan, the Kuching boy behind the dark
The director of Saw, The Conjuring, and Aquaman was born in Kuching. Sarawak's riverfront is a long way from a Hollywood soundstage.
September 20, 2026
Houses painted like jewelry
Peranakan shophouses in George Town are some of the most decorated houses in the country. The ornament is the point, and so is the upkeep.
September 8, 2026
Yuna, a Malaysian voice in Los Angeles
The singer Yuna built an American career without taking off her hijab. The songs travel. The climate she writes from is still Malaysian.