What Makes Comfortable Life Possible in the Tropics?

Air Conditioning!!!

I am sure that anyone that lives where the temperature reaches 90 degrees with 90% humidity on a daily basis, as it does in KL, would agree that "air conditioning" is the greatest invention ever!. Accordint to Wikipedia, Willis Carrier invented the first large scale electrical air conditioning system in 1902. Thank you Mr. Carrier!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning


Here is a look at some of the air conditioning systems I see when I walk around PJ.


Looking down from the 16th floor on the industrial strength AC system that cools the mall.


Cooling the jewelry store.




Cooling the bank.


Cooling the parking garage (I am not really sure why the parking garage needs AC!?!)


The most important person in Malaysia, the air conditioner repairman!


The Little Beauties That Keep Me Cool






Other Ways of Staying Cool


Misters only work when the wind is blowing the right way.


Ceiling fans are common in many of the stree-front restaraunts.


The always popular oscilating fans.




This shot of the swimming pool at my apartment complex was taken at 3:00 PM in the afternoon. Obviously, pools are not the preferred cooling strategy among Asians.


Before electricity, we relied on the wind. Here the Selangor flag flutters in the cooling breeze.


Two things that I will not show you photos of.

1) Sleeping people. Not surprisingly, one way to deal with high temperatures in the middle of the day is to do nothing (the old sietsa strategy). This strategy is very popular here. I would guess that at any given time bewteen five and ten percent of the people who are working in the small shops around here are nodding off in the middle of the afternoon. I may have told you this, but my favorite sleeper is the security guard outside of one of the jewelry store who naps with his shotgun in his arms. Many people sleep while locked inside their cars with their windows rolled up! You could easily fill an entire coffee table book with photos of people sleeping in public, but so far I have not felt cruel enough to start taking photos of helpless sleeping people.

2) Sweating people. Sweat is a great adaptation for people living in arid climates, such as Lubbock. However, sweat doesn't do a bit of good in humid regions like Malaysia. Not surprisingly, natural selection, or intelligent design, has molded the physiology of tropical people so that they don't sweat as much. The person that sweats the most around here is ME. Because I know that some of you might be reading this during meals, I will refrain from posting a picture of how I look after I exercise outdoors. You can thank me later.