Let's Party!

It has been another busy month around here and I can't believe I leave for the States in 25 days. For Hari Raya(Muslim celebration for the end of Ramadan) we went to the beach with five other families, three of which are Shell people. We flew to Palua Redang which is a small island off of the north east coast of Malaysia in the South China Sea. It was spectacular to say the least. We could wade right into the cove that our hotel was on and see so many reef fish. There were also beautiful coral formations and of course, anemones with clown fish. We had a very relaxing time. Did get some bites and no one is sure if they are sand flies or sea lice but I still have them and they itch. Won't keep me from going straight back the next opportunity I get, though. The pictures are on the web album page so click on the link on the right side of this page to go there.

Al and I were invited to the Marine Ball last Saturday since some friends got sick and could not go. We dumped our closets out everywhere and found something passable to wear and said yes. It was so much fun! We have a small group of Marines here to protect the Embassy and they were all there in dress uniforms! Our ambassador was also there, and read a letter from Condalisa Rice. The music and presenting of the colors was very moving. We danced until 1:00am.(I think the Marines probably danced all night!)

This week is another holiday week in KL. The Hindu's are celebrating Deepavali. It is one of their most important holidays. One of the pictures I will try to put on this page is rice artwork. Kari and I were at the mall this week and this guy was just starting his picture. He comes with all colors of dyed rice and a picture in his head of what he wants to do. This guy filled the entire circle. I was back there a few days later but forgot my camera. I will post the completed picture later but it was beautiful. Many people go out of town for a vacation every time there's a holiday, but we are using this one to visit more spots around KL. Crowds should be down with expats on vacation and Hindu's out of town to their family kampungs.(these are like the little villages they are originally from) Next week Al and I are going with the American Association to the elephant sanctuary. Should be fun.

I am trying to get my thoughts together for my trip back home. What to bring from here, lists of what I need to buy there, people to see, Dr. visits, wow I think I need a nap. I fly in December 1st and Al comes on the 15th. We both leave Dec. 28th. Like I said, between Christmas shopping, shopping for the stuff I need to bring back here, visiting, and doctoring the time will go very quickly. I would love to meet for lunch out in Katy with anyone who can, and might need two dates to see everyone. Y'all either post a comment here or email me with some dates. My only dates that are bad are Dec. 4-9 when I go to see my Mom. I can't believe time has gone so fast. Already it's Christmas coming and before you know it, it will be March and Hillary will be on her way here! By the way, she takes her veterinary national board exams on November 21st at 8:00am. Please pray peace and calmness for her.

Must go pick Al up from work so until I see you in December--Patti

It's a good cause

It appears there's always something going on here.

All of the holidays lead from one into the next and, of course there was the big 50 year Merdeka celebration, and now it's the Myanmar protests. I'm including a picture and hopefully a video so you can see what I see and hear. The video was actually taken today (Oct. 4th) looking out of guest bedroom window. Quality is not as good as I would have liked so you cannot see the protesters, but they are in red and have many placards this time. The sound is good. The Myanmar Embassy is in back of our apartment and about once a week or maybe two there is a protest in the street in front of the embassy. It started outfairly small and they were just in plain clothes. but now that the violence is increasing in Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi (their imprisoned democratic leader) is still imprisoned ten years later, they are wearing red and the crowds are thousands, not hundreds as they started out. Last week I was watching from the bedroom window and decided, "this is crazy, just go get a good picture" so I put on my red shirt and walked over. They are very peaceful. They sing their national song, chant stuff, hold placards demanding the release of Suu Kyi, demand democracy, and then they leave. It all takes about 20 minutes.It does clog up our streets. It's a great cause, and with a little help they could certainly be the democracy that the majority of the people want. OK off my soapbox.

Next week is another holiday here. It's Hari Raya and everyone will be off and everything will be closed. We are going with the other two Shell families in the apartment to a little island in the South China Sea. It's called Redang Island and it looks like fairly good clear water. We have a snorkeling trip planned for one of the days. There will be seven kids from 8-11 so it should be fun. Sorry to be so long getting the Bali pictures up. Having to do a little research to finish labeling the temples and palaces that I've forgotten so I've been delayed. Till next time--

Beautiful Bali

We are back from Bali and all rested and tan. Despite the 8.4 earthquake and 7.9 and 7.6 aftershocks we were able to go. It seems Singapore felt a good "shake" but Bali is significantly east of Sumatra and they didn't even know much of anything was happening. What a beautiful place. The water is nearly as turquoise as the Caribbean. We took two tours by private taxi so we could really ask tons of questions and learn about their culture. Bali is a Hindu island while the rest of Indonesia is basically Muslim. It is astounding the conditions people live in and think it's typical. They mostly live in housing "compounds". You enter a gateway to immediately face a wall. This wall is to confuse and stop evil spirits or the devil. Once past this wall are small buildings left and right that fit 1-2 twin beds. No telling how many actually sleep there. All dining and living areas are outside but do have thatched roofs. Most have a well to draw water from and then they must boil it. There is no refrigeration and, of course, no air conditioning. I could not stand straight up in the kitchen area. Laundry is a stone slab and a bucket behind a concrete or stone wall. Each compound has it's own temple and it takes up a fair amount of the compound. They actually had electric wires hung from compound to compound so there was at least minimal light at night. They are such a mild, happy, easy going people. It reminded us of Jamaica a lot. You can learn a little more from the picture captions on the photo link. Should have those up shortly.

Back to reality. I am into my Malay classes. Was sick this week so now I'm behind. Also studying "The Purpose Driven Life" with a group of ladies from church. Al works, Al plays with Tucker, then Al works.

By birthday was great (even though I was a little under the weather). Started my day by talking to both of my precious children and also to Barbara. The neighbors here brought flowers and a cake. It was a great day.

Our internet has still been acting up so don't be discouraged when you can't get an email through or skype call. It cuts in and out but eventually it does work. Till later---

Patience is truly a virtue here!

Hey, sorry to be so long in entering a new blog. We have not been doing much but not doing much takes forever here. You pick one thing to attempt in a day. Notice I said "attempt." Almost never can we accomplish what we set out to do in less than 2-3 trips and each trip is never shorter than 3-4 hours. Last weekend after we picked up Al's race numbers (I'm writing this after the race, he took 12th out of 313 in his age category and ran 7 minute miles!) we went to look at a furniture store and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes sitting in line just to get out of the parking garage! Two days before, I caught a bus down to the huge shopping mall right by his office to grab some groceries. I timed this so that I would finish at about 5:00 and could go home with him if he left on time. He did leave on time and we got home (20 minute walk) in 2 hours and 45 minutes! It has been crazy. It's always bad at certain times of the day but is worse now because of the Merdeka celebration. They are celebrating 50 years of nationhood. It will be this Friday (Aug 31st) and it will be wild. They have been "practicing" all week. The helicopters fly by with flags dangling, lights up and down the streets are tested all various times, they even "practice" closing the streets. I thought we should go out of town but Al thinks the roads will be to "jammed" as they call it. So we'll probably just watch from our windows. It really is festive, they have their flag up EVERYWHERE and it has long read and white stripes so it's very pleasing to an American's eye.

I went to coffee last week (and drove there!) at the American Association. It's not really all Americans that join since you can join by being sponsored by Americans, but everyone is nice and there for the same reason. It was informative. They had various people like Peter Fong, our car procurer, beauticians, gym trainers, and people that will come cook authentic foods in your home. They also had cards to pick up on cultural activities, restaurants and taxi drivers. My favorite was the shoe guy. He draws your foot on a piece of paper and then takes a few measurements. You pick a style from the 30 or so actual shoes he brought or the two big photo albums, pick a color of leather and $35US and two weeks later he delivers shoes to your door that are made custom to fit your feet! Yeah! Now this is for me. I got two pair and we'll see if this is the way to go. I will start Bahasa Malaysian language classes at the association in September. I took a one time Malaysian cooking class this past Monday and it was fun. Learned a few of the vegetables here and their version of BBQ pork and what they call chicken/rice. Yesterday was our required (by Shell) defensive driving class. I managed it but since I have only driven twice it was pretty nerve wracking. Thank goodness Kari and Peter (our apartment floor neighbors) were there to give me some confidence.

The picture at the top of the blog is from the house across the street. I get to watch a lot of curious stuff out of my kitchen and dining room windows. They are Chinese and have altars everywhere. This month is their celebration of the seventh lunar month or something and a few days ago was the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts. Al walked over and got a partial scoop. They were VERY busy getting their stuff out but told him that on that very night the gates of hell would be thrown open and the spirits would come out. They will pass by and if they eat until satisfied they will return to where they came from. These people had hundred of dollars of food out there. Look at the bags of rice. There had to be 8-10 fifty pound bags. They just ordered everything by the case. They also cooked food for them and you can see there is a whole pig and legs of something. What you can't see are all the pots that surround the bottom of the table to the side there is a separate table with all kinds of fresh fruit on it. They had candle tapers all the way up both sides of the sidewalk to lead the way. They did not dress up but it sounds and looks a lot like Halloween. They said they will donate the stuff the ghosts don't eat to charity. Of course, that was everything they put out there! It is pretty amusing here. Hope to have the next set of pictures up in a day or two. Better go wash Tucker Beauregard!

Unpacking is FUN!

Greetings!

THE SEA SHIPMENT CAME!!! Now we have been unpacking like crazy. No major movers errors except one corning dish and a cheap computer table (which Al fixed). No, the problem was with Macy's. Since we had not ever had a nice bedroom set, only the $300(new!) plasticy one we bought when we married, we decided to buy one and ship it. Since you save all sales tax if you deliver straight to the shipper we thought it was a great idea. Not! They did not check it and there's a big scratch/chip in the armoire and worse than that the footboard is to another bed. Oh, it's similar but the mouldings at the bottom don't match up. Urrrr. Will try to get Macy's to send a new one but I think I shouldn't hold my breath. The apartment looks so much better with furniture in it and it will be fun adding a few rugs to make a little less sterile.

Before all this excitement happened, we had our little trip to Tokyo with Tyler. Wow was it fun. There are certainly a lot of people there! There are 12 million people. but it's 30 million if you count the suburbs. We did a half day tour which hit the city highlights. One stop was Tokyo Tower which is a red Eiffel Tower. It is exactly the same except 30 meters higher (so they could boast, I'm sure). We went up to the observation level and from there we were able to see Mt. Fuji. It is truly magnificent. I looked and looked but could not see it and finally the guide had to came show me where it was. What I thought were clouds was the mountain! It is soooo high. We were extremely lucky since you can only see Mt. Fuji approximately 71 days a year and we were there in monsoon season. When I get the Tokyo pictures on the albums site you have to sit back from you computer screen to see it, but if you do it will come into focus and you will be amazed like me. We also took in some temples and they were very beautiful. Of course we made more than one trip to Electric City, which is several streets that are dedicated to electronics only. Unfortunately for us Japan is on the same current as America, but good for Ty. He got several games and Nintendo DS supplies. We also did Disneyland and DisneySea. They were fun but it really loses something when you don't get to hear the build up of the story before each ride. One more Disney park (Hong Kong) and we'll be done! It won't be in English either!

OK, here are some kid updates. Tyler left us and flew to Indiana to buy and read the last Harry Potter book with his friend Brett and now is up at his best friend Tyler's cottage on a lake there. Hopefully he can fit school into his schedule by the end of August! Hillary broke her operating hand last week when she tripped over one of her dogs. It is mild and not displaced so she is in a soft cast. It should not affect her externship so she is on her way to University of Florida at Gainsville now to work and study for 3-4 weeks. If you log onto the blog there now is a link to the photo albums so you don't have to log onto both. You still cannot go the other direction and start at the photo albums as they are public and the blog is unlisted-- so go to the blog first!

Al has a weeks worth of meetings in Johor Bahru and Singapore next week so I'm tagging along. Till next time. Love, Patti

Time goes by so quickly

The Singapore pictures are up on the web album site. Tyler could not figure out how to get the blog and the photos together so for now, I'm sorry, but anyone interested will have to go to both sites. We had a great time having Tyler here and traveling with him. I think he had a good time, too. It's just amazing time goes so fast. We thought we'd be bored and run out of things to do and he actually left with tons of stuff we have yet to do. Well that's what the next visit is for!

I'm not driving yet (I think I'd get lost going around the block!) so I'm having a little cabin fever. Oh yes, I could take the bus, but I'd be drenched by the time I walked to it. Tyler and I tried to take a taxi from the apartment last week and it took one guard waiving down 3 cabs that went by without stopping, 2 phone calls to cab companies that said "no" and finally one of the guards got on his motor bike and went down to the main street and hailed one down and then led him back here. Don't think I'll try that again and I think I owe the guards some cookies!

Speaking of cooking, I am having to "make my own" of many things. Last week I was trying to make a recipe my mom makes that is just terrific. It is a cranberry raspberry chipotle chicken. I brought the raspberry chipotle sauce in my suitcase, never thinking that it would be the Catalina dressing that would be the "no show". I found a recipe online, got all the stuff to make the dressing and, of course, the next time we went to the grocery they had gotten some in. Ugh!! Oh well, the chicken was great. Tonight Al is stopping to get six jars of spices so I can make Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice mix. I've attempted two desserts, both disasters. No wonder all they eat is fruit and jello for dessert.

I touched a little on the Singapore trip in the last entry but forgot to tell you that it is possibly the cleanest city on earth. We saw many historical buildings and a few temples. You can read about the places on the web album sit under the pictures. We got lucky in Tokyo, It's monsoon season there and it was raining the night we got in and then for 5 full days we had sun or at least lightly overcast skies. After we left, they had a typhoon hit, a 6.8 earthquake, and a tsunami! Good timing. Will close for now and update you more on Tokyo next time. Also, sea shipment is still in customs but shipper is expecting to deliver this week. Til next time.

Getting Settled

The flight was uneventful and now have been settling in for the last month. Tyler is here until the middle of July. The sea shipment is scheduled to come July 10th so hopefully I'll be very busy unpacking all that stuff and won't miss him so much. We have been on the run since we arrived. Al had his monthly meeting in Jahor Bahru three days after we got here so since JB is only 15 minutes from Singapore Tyler and I decided to tag along. We stayed at the hotel in JB and enjoyed the pool for Thursday and Friday while Al worked and Friday afternoon we all headed into Singapore. It was a ton of fun. We saw lots of their history and did a night safari at their zoo. In one enclosure, bats and flying squirrels were flying all over the place, zooming inches from our heads and landing for food right at our feet. It was exciting although rushed since we were on a tour and could not stay until the park closed. I can't wait to go back. Last weekend we decided we needed a beach fix so we headed off to the South China Sea. There are beaches a little closer on the west side of Malaysia but we were told the water was more beautiful on the east so off we went. It was straight through huge mountains and if we had found the proper "short cut" that the ClubMed people gave us it would have been a three hour drive. Perfect. But we missed it and did a 1 1/2 hour tour through Pahang's capital city of Kuantan. It still was interesting and the state mosque is there and was beautiful but we were READY for the beach. We made it with still enough daylight to have some fun that day. We had Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday until 2:30. We relaxed by the pool, at the beach, and ate like crazy! Al ran, of course, every morning and on Saturday morning after his run he hung his clothes on the clothesline they string on your patio for you. While walking to breakfast the monkey population had moved from the dining areas to the room areas and we looked up and saw a couple of monkeys stealing Al's shoe liners, shoes, and tugging at the clothes on the line. You know this was NOT funny to Al and he ran up and was able to snatch the stuff in. I rescued an insole by calling at the critter and he dropped it down to the ground. The monkeys were everywhere, and a few large lizards also. The resorts are situated of course at the shore but where the sand ends, the rain forest begins, it's the craziest thing and very different from gulf coast beaches. We are off to Tokyo in 5 days to do Disney for me and electronics for Tyler!

I've thrown a lot into this blog and I will try to shorten them up and just enter more often. I am also utilizing a web album site and if you care to look at pictures you can access it by clicking on the link at the top right side of this page. You can hold the cursor over each picture and see the explanation of the picture or you can double click and the picture will enlarge and the explanation will be at the bottom. Some are short videos. Hoping to get Singapore and beach album up in a week or so. Oh and also, just because you can keep up with us on this site doesn't mean you can stop emailing me! Bye for now.