Black Mold!

Where I'm from, black mold is anathema. It's forbidden. It's dangerous and unhealthy and just plain not allowed. I think the building inspectors won't allow you to sell your home if it has this dreaded infection in it.

Am I right, Canadians? (I'll look it up later, but I believe you certainly are not allowed to rent to people if there is black mold in your house because it's such a health risk.)

So, here I am, living with black mold all around me. Yike.

It's rainy season. It was rainy season when I moved in. I guess I didn't think anything of it. Mind you, it did feel a bit damp. But, as time went on, I started to find mold in unexpected places.

I opened my suitcase and found an old leather pouch that was just hairy with greyish-black mold. It's like when a peach gets moldy. You know what that looks like?

Then, I started to see it growing other places, like on shelves. It was growing on a shelving unit I had cleaned only a couple of weeks ago. So, it seemed like this stuff was growing super fast! Like, what IS that, anyway?

I started feeling like I was in the middle of an epidemic like in that movie starring Dustin Hofman, "Outbreak". It started seeming to me that this fungus growth was just multiplying faster and faster beyond all normal expectations.

It's everywhere! It's everywhere!

I went into the spare room and it was growing in patches on the back of the wardrobe. The wardrobe had been sitting there for less than two weeks, after I'd given it the once-over. But, the back, having been close to the wall must have gotten to just the right temperature and conditions for the mold to prosper.

I climbed up the ladder to clean the fans in the livingroom and discovered there was more black dirt and mold up there than was suspected. Could it be that the fans literally distribute the spores?

Heck, if mold were a plant, I'd have a green thumb. My house must be providing all the right conditions for it.

At first, I'd just look down and see dirt. "Oh, my, is that ever dirty! Look at that black d-- THAT'S not dirt!"

The bathroom tiles are rife with it. In that situation (white tiles with black mold growing between them) it's obvious. But, in the rest of the house, it can disguise itself as dirt.

When I first moved in, I filled a squirt bottle with bleach water. Then later, I made a Dettol squirt bottle. NOW, I added Grape Seed Extract to up the power. But, a friend of mine went out and bought a bottle of stuff at Cosway especially for mildew and mold. (It smells a lot like ammonia to me.) My friend has a mold problem in her shoe cupboard.

The thing is that, Malaysians don't seem to be worried about it at all.

It really is everywhere here.

Today, I spent an hour cleaning one wooden chair. There are three more chairs to clean. Then the rest of the furniture. Then, by the time I'm finished, I'll have to start all over again. Like how they continue painting the San Francisco Bridge! ... The never-ending story...

But, I, for one, refuse to co-exist with it.

Prices in Malaysia

Is it me or have the prices sky-rocketed in Malaysia?

Last year, (or was it six months ago?) I bought a tiny bottle of TeaTree Oil for 15 RM. Now, the same sized bottle costs 30RM! In many cases, chocolate bar prices have also doubled. I haven't checked out all the prices on all the items at Jusco, but I'm beginning to think it will be a similar story.

I went into the DVD shop to see if I could find those cheapo 10 ringgit movies. You used to be able to find DVD movies for 9.99RM. Not any more. They start at 19.99 and go up. Yes, you can get "Buy One Free One" for 19.99 if you look hard in the sale box. But, most older movies cost 49.99RM! Phew.

Looks like I'm cutting down on chocolate and movies. I guess that can't be bad. So, I have the economy hike to thank for something.

Somebody tell me: "Where can I shop that's cheap?"

Maybe I'll check out the night market (Pasar Malam) and see what their prices are like.

On the bright side, I found a cheap book on sale today. Since the book is 994 pages, I asked the attendant if it was the correct price on the back. It said 13.90. He said,

"No, that's the pre-twenty percent-off price."

"Oh, so it's cheaper?"

"Yes."

"I'll take it."

It actually worked out to be about a penny a page. (And I mean Malaysian cents, ha.) Not a bad price for a complete and unabridged copy of "War and Peace". It even has a colour copy of "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" by Jaques Louis Davide on the front cover!

If you haven't read "War and Peace" yet, you can pick up a copy upstairs in Jusco at the MPH sale!