The Legend of Gunung Raya

I just wanted to say thank you to all who have taken the time to read and/or shared your personal experiences with me on the previous post. It's very heartwarming to hear that we are not alone in the battle against sexism, boys and girls and everyone in between, whether you're in Australia, Mexico, Asia or anywhere in the world. I will try my best to address your comments one by one over the coming days.

In the meantime, here's a photo taken during my holidays. Louis and I were climbing down a steep, abandoned staircase at the side of a mountain in Langkawi (Malaysia) that led to goodness knows where. I'll be back with more holiday photos.

"Local lore has it that Langkawi was once home to a band of Giants. Mat Raya and Mat Cincang were two Giants who were the best of friends. The son of Mat Cincang and the daughter of Mat Raya were both in love with each other and the two Giants gleefully agreed to the the union of their two children.

During the wedding ceremony, Mat Raya became angry when he noticed the bridegroom making eyes at someone else other than his daughter. As a result of his rage, the two Giants eventually became involved in a furious argument. Violence ensued and pots and pans became thrown at each other. The spot where a broken pot fell became known as the village of Belanga Pecah (broken pot), where the gravy fell, became the town of Kuah (gravy) and where the hot water fell became Air Hangat (hot water), where the present day hot springs are, and finally where the wedding ring fell became known as Tanjung Cincin (Cape of the Ring).

As the two Giants fought, a third giant Mat Sawar, tried to intervene between the two and separate them. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens and as the giants looked up they turned to stone. Mat Cincang became Gunung Mat Cincang, which is now the second tallest peak on Langkawi (and infamously now home to the cable-car ride). Mat Raya bacame Gunung Raya, the tallest peak in Langkawi. And finally Mat Sawar became Bukit Sawar, a small hill in-between Gunung Mat Cincang and Mat Raya, still valiantly trying to separate the two."