Maxwell Carver

27/01/2024

In Shanghai’s Yangpu District, the sprawling Huangxing Park is home to an array of chaos. With everything from a selection of musical performances to watching ducks while shirtless, there are endless activities to choose from.

Join us on our stroll through the beautiful Huangxing Park.

Filmed November 12, 2023.In Shanghai’s Yangpu District, the sprawling Huangxing Park is home to an array of chaos. With everything from a selection of musica...

13/01/2024

In Shanghai’s city center, there aren’t too many traditional-looking markets.

So, we ventured out to Pudong District to find one.

Filmed November 4th, 2023.In Shanghai’s city center, there aren’t too many traditional-looking markets.So, we ventured out to Pudong District to find one.

01/01/2024

Upon arrival in Shanghai, I was alerted that the Shanghai Natural Wild Insect Kingdom would soon be hosting the organization’s 4th Annual Cricket Fighting Tournament.

Filmed October 15th, 2023.Upon arrival in Shanghai, I was alerted that the Shanghai Natural Wild Insect Kingdom would soon be hosting the organization’s 4th ...

24/12/2023

I have been trying to get a certain visa for a while, and I wasn’t sure where I could get one. After many emails and calls, I learned I could obtain it in Bali.

Coincidently, I’ve also been wanting to spend some time here anyway - two birds, one stone. I spent the first month living at a co-living / co-working space in Seminyak, and the second month living at a family’s house in Seseh Village.

I am very grateful to the people of Bali for a lovely time there - but, all went well with my visa application, so it’s onward to the next destination.

20/12/2023

After Renee’s visit, I flew back to Taipei where I lived for the summer. I spent my time studying, editing, visiting with friends, and exploring the city.

I didn’t film much of anything while I was there, because I still had a bunch of stuff piled up to edit. But, I did take some snaps that I wanted to share with you all from my time there.

Notable Events:
- Attending a baseball game, and fully appreciating the Taiwaneses’ love for the game.
- Taking advantage of the city’s ample YouBike availability.
- Having a coffee at the local Daoist temple on a daily basis.
- A weekend trip to Hualien.
- Eating food.

Thank you to the Taiwanese for another lovely few months on the island - but, it’s onward to the next destination.

14/12/2023

After a couple of weeks in Taiwan, we flew to Japan for a week of exploration before Renee had to return to the U.S.

You can see the fourth episode of Mom’s Visits on YouTube now!

02/12/2023

When my mom came to visit, our first destination was the island of Taiwan - here are some snaps from our time there.

You can see the first episode of Mom’s Visits on YouTube now!

30/11/2023

I spent a month in Kuala Lumpur after the trip through the peninsula. It was good to finally get some rest and not be moving every few days. Thank you again to Malaysia for a wonderful welcome - can’t wait to return!

18/11/2023

The full-length YouTube video from Klang is out now!

Head over to my channel (.carver) to see more about the once-most dangerous city in Southeast Asia - a title it never deserved.

Filmed March 5th, 2023.Formerly (and, in our opinion, mistakenly) dubbed ‘The Most Dangerous City in Southeast Asia,’ Klang lies west of Kuala Lumpur along t...

11/11/2023

Here are some pictures from the beautiful Klang!

The season finale of What's Good | Season 2 will be live on YouTube in two days!

26/10/2023

Here are some images from the beautiful Bentong, in Malaysia's Pahang State!

The full episode from Bentong will be live tomorrow!

12/10/2023

Here are some pictures I snapped while in Yong Peng - can't wait to show you all more of this amazing town in the episode coming tomorrow!

30/09/2023

Thank you to Malacca for an amazing time! Here are some photos I snapped while there.

29/09/2023

Most well-known for being the oldest city in Malaysia, we dove into Malacca’s modern underbelly to understand this dynamic, nuanced community.

Join us for a day of temple karaoke, touring the region’s oldest carpet shop, and a heavy metal concert at the nearby warehouse.

Filmed February 25th, 2023.Most well-known for being the oldest city in Malaysia, we dove into Malacca’s modern underbelly to understand this dynamic, nuance...

13/09/2023

When I told people we were heading to Kampar, people responded with one of the following: (1) “Why are you going there?” (2) “Where is that?” or (3) “Oh, you have to try the Claypot Chicken!”

So, we did - you can see more of the Kampar Food Centre in the upcoming episode from the beautiful Kampar, Malaysia.

12/09/2023

One of the central communal areas of Kampar is the Kampar Food Centre.

Here, you’ll find Hainanese, Hokkien, Guangdong, and Malay cuisine - a perfect way to start the day.

You can see more of the Kampar Food Centre in the upcoming episode from the beautiful Kampar, Malaysia.

12/09/2023

One of the must-visit locations in Kampar is the lively Pasar Awam Kampar - the biggest wet market in town.

If you need some fresh seafood, eggs, produce, flowers, or chicken (like, lots of chicken), you can pay a visit to this mega-market.

12/09/2023

Here are some photos from Kampar, Malaysia - the location of possibly my favorite episode of the season.

I can’t wait to show you more of our day full of window shopping at Kampar’s famous secondhand market, an abbreviated tour of Chop Chi Seng slaughterhouse, and a lovely meal enjoying Kampar’s famous Claypot Chicken.

30/08/2023

The full-length YouTube video from Ipoh is out now!

Head over to my channel (.carver) to see more about our time wandering around one of Malaysia’s largest cities.

Filmed February 19th, 2023.Halfway through our time in the State of Perak, we decided to visit its capital - well, the Old Town of its capital.Join us for a ...

30/08/2023

Here are some photos from our time in Ipoh - the full episode will be up soon!

24/08/2023

The full-length YouTube video from Taiping is out now!

Head over to my channel (.carver) to see more about this lovely city in the state of Perak and its extremely welcoming people.

Filmed February 15th, 2023.Taiping - though known for being the rainiest place in Peninsular Malaysia, we lucked out with great weather to explore this quain...

23/08/2023

Here are some photos from our time in the lovely Taiping. I can’t wait to show you more of this city in the YouTube video coming tomorrow!

16/08/2023

The full-length YouTube video from Kampung Nelayan is out now!

Head over to my channel (.carver) to see more about this small fishing village at the end of the bus line in northern Penang Island.

Filmed February 9th, 2023.We hopped on the public bus in Georgetown and rode it as far as it would go. We ended up in Kampung Nelayan - well, a twenty-minute...

16/08/2023

It was finally time to go a bit deeper into Penang Island - so, we hopped on the bus and rode it until it turned around.

The final stop on the line landed us nearby a village called ‘Kampung Nelayan’ - that term simply means ‘Fisherman Village’ in Malay. From where we were dropped off, it was about a fifteen-minute walk to the center of the village.

Once we got there, we soon realized that there weren’t too many options for accommodation. It appeared that every place with a sign stating ‘guesthouse’ or ‘hotel’ was closed.

Duncan offered to do some searching while I looked after our bags and grabbed a coffee - when he returned, he led the way to Tony’s Guesthouse.

We arrived at Tony’s, and he still had two rooms available for us. It wasn’t the most luxurious accommodation I’ve ever experienced - but I’ve had much rougher. I was given a room with a bed, a desk, a lock on the door, and access to the shared showers and bathrooms - a pretty good set up.

I spent the following days going for a morning bike ride (Tony provided bikes free of charge) before the sun became too strong. When it did, I would return to the guesthouse to hop on the computer and get some work done. I would then go out for an evening bike ride to the coast where I would enjoy the sunset with the residents of Kampung Nelayan.

Every day, I would go to the same restaurant near the center of town called ‘Nasi Kandar Jafran.’ Each day, Jafran would give me a different dish to try - I cycled thru the chicken, beef, and fish. And, on Sunday, they served biriyani.

Along the coast, there was a building nearby all of the fishing boats where the fishermen would hang out after a day on the water. I would bike past each day, and on filming day, we were invited inside to see what they get up to.

There’s also a relatively large jetty next to where all of the fishing boats are stored, and a lot of people from the community will head out there to enjoy the sunset or to catch some fish of their own.

We originally planned to only stay a few nights there, but we ended up extending our stay for a full week. It was a wonderful place to relax and spend time with the community.

But, we eventually had to leave - and that’s when we made our way to Penang’s neighboring state, Perak.

15/08/2023

After spending a week in Butterworth, we decided to go across the water and spend a weekend in Georgetown before venturing deeper into Penang Island.

Most of the weekend was taken up by our participation in Thaipusam, but while we weren’t smashing coconuts and climbing to the top of Waterfall Temple, there was some downtime to roam around and explore one of Malaysia’s most historic cities.

It was still early in my time in Malaysia, so most of my attention was on the multicultural aspect of the city. You have people of Chinese, Malay, and Indian descent all living and coexisting together.

I also focused my attention on some of the nuances of the Chinese communities in Georgetown - there was a street that I stumbled upon (Lebuh Kimberly) that seemed to be the epicenter of the Chinese community in Georgetown. I learned that most of them have ancestors from Fuzhou, Guangdong, and Hainan.

I started to learn some of the small differences in the phrases that they use there, differing from other parts of Greater Chinese. For example, Mandarin is referred to as ‘华语’. 华 is a character with the meaning of China, and 语 means language. Similarly, the Chinese-Malaysians will refer to themselves as 华人. The popular term ‘干嘛’ is also in a different form in Malaysia - you’ll hear 做么 instead, though the meaning/usage is the same.

Though I didn’t have much time to focus on the city, I was grateful for the time I had to spend there wandering its streets. I did have a little time, however, to get some pictures from the sky too.

After the weekend, it was time to venture into Penang Island a little deeper - next stop, Kampung Nelayan.

08/08/2023

On the 5th, at around 8:00 am, we arrived near Penang's Waterfall Temple, and the entire street leading to the entrance was buzzing with people and shops lining the sides.

We had hopped on a public bus, easily recognizing the stop closest to Penang's renowned Waterfall Temple by observing the attire of fellow passengers. We followed the crowd, which led us to this bustling road.

On the way, we encountered a large crowd marching arm in arm, their heads adorned with massive silver jugs of milk - just as I had read about online.

Front and center, we tried to capture as much of the scene as possible: loud, pulsating music filled the air, other cameras documented the day, and devotees carried milk on their heads.

It was here that we also had our first encounter with men performing body piercings as a form of vow. I had seen pictures, but witnessing it in person left me with indescribable feelings - an experience best conveyed through visuals.

Moving with the crowd, we eventually reached the entrance of Waterfall Temple, where for over five decades, devotees have been leaving their shoes as part of their pilgrimage. We joined the barefoot masses, symbolically surrendering to the journey ahead.

As we made our way up, the sheer size of the crowd slowed our progress to about one stair every 30 seconds - do the math; there were 513 steps, according to Wikipedia.

Upon reaching the top, we stepped into Waterfall Temple, where jugs of milk from countless devotees were combined into one large container. Behind it, we could glimpse the milk being poured onto the statue of Lord Murugan, the revered Hindu deity celebrated that day. If one couldn't see it live, the temple's televisions broadcasted the act to all attendees.

Outside, a tent offered refreshments to the devotees, and we approached to see what they were serving. They kindly handed us each a paper cup full of milk. Duncan and I exchanged perplexed glances. Was this the same milk poured on the deity earlier? The milk that the devotees carried up with such devotion?

We asked around and eventually found a man who confirmed that it was indeed the temple milk. A charity organization filtered the milk from the containers and served it to the devotees. Not only was it a refreshing drink on a scorching day in Penang, but it also held a cyclical significance - milk poured on the deity was now consumed by the devotees, believed to bring good health.

We spent the rest of our time atop Waterfall Temple, engaging with friendly devotees like Ganesh, who shared insights into different vows and their significance. What we learned through these interviews was that Hinduism's essence lay not in rigid rules and regulations but in the purity of intention and genuine devotion.

Finally, we descended to the bottom of Waterfall Temple, put our shoes back on, finished filming, and hopped on a bus back to Georgetown. What an extraordinary pair of days we had, exploring the richness of the Tamil community and their remarkable Thaipusam festival.

08/08/2023

The full-length YouTube video from Thaipusam is out now!

Head over to my channel (.carver) to see more this incredible three-day festival thrown by the Tamil community in Georgetown, Penang.

Filmed February 4th & 5th, 2023.While in Georgetown, we learned that Penang’s Tamil community was celebrating one of the year’s biggest festivals, Thaipusam ...

08/08/2023

While in Butterworth, I heard rumors that Penang was preparing for a gigantic festival thrown by the Tamil community - they were expecting over 1,500,000 participants over the 3-day event.

After doing a little preliminary research online, I quickly learned that, if we were to go, we could find smashing of coconuts, women carrying jugs of milk on their heads, and men with limes hanging from hooks punctured into their skin. So, I told Duncan and we put it on our calendar.

We set out on the morning of February 4th in search of the chariots - there was supposed to be a gold chariot and a silver chariot. While locating them, we had our first handful of encounters with the smashing of coconuts.

People were forming large circles, and in the middle of the circles, they were throwing coconuts at the ground with great force, appearing to have the goal of smashing them open. We found a group of Chinese Malaysians also preparing to smash the coconuts, and I inquired with them about the purpose of the smashing. They didn’t seem to know what was going on either, other than saying that it brings good luck. I was invited to smash coconuts with them.

We soon learned that it was only the ‘starting day,’ and that main festivities would begin tomorrow. So, we head back to the hotel to rest up before an early morning the following day.

07/08/2023

Once we arrived in Penang, we took a car across the Penang Bridge to head to our first stop - Butterworth. To prepare for filming Season 2, we decided to get a nice Airbnb for the week to rest up.

However, we didn’t exactly get to rest upon our arrival as expected. I was alerted by the man sitting next to me on the plane that the Daoists were having their most intense celebration of the year, and we of course couldn’t miss that.

After celebrating the Jade Emperor’s Birthday properly, we took a handful of days to fully recover and adjust to life in Malaysia.

Butterworth isn’t the most-visited place in Penang. Across the water, Georgetown is normally the attraction to tourists venturing to Penang. However, we were just looking for a place to live for a week or so - and I found Butterworth to be a better place for that.

I spent the afternoons wandering around the neighborhood behind our apartment complex, getting my first glimpse at a country I was very confused (and curious) about. During these walks, I would see Chinese lanterns, hear the Adhan, and think about our upcoming video with the Tamil community. It’s a level of multiculturalism I had never before witnessed outside of major U.S. cities.

There was one particular restaurant across the road that I frequented - Restoran Nasi Kandar Subaidah. They were open 24 hours, specialized in dishes from southern India, and had a small robot to deliver the aforementioned dishes to the table.

I spent some late evenings there practicing my newly-developed Malay language skills with the staff (a majority from Chennai), who seemed to get a kick out of my poor attempts. I soon decided, after learning a few pleasantries, to stick with my Mandarin for this trip.

I’m very excited to be here in Malaysia. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to get up to here, but I am looking forward to whatever that may be. We are moving onto the island tomorrow so we can be closer to Waterfall Temple, where the Tamil community will be celebrating Thaipusam this upcoming weekend. I have absolutely no clue what to expect, but that's normal.