Missing Minnesota

We have now been in Malaysia for 8 weeks, which means we are one third of the way done with our trip!  We've really enjoyed our time here so far, but I definitely got struck with a bit of homesickness this past week.  I don't know if it's because Laura and I have explored most of the main tourist attractions on the island, or if I miss the beaches of Thailand, or if it's the hot weather (what can I say, I need my change in seasons).  We treated ourselves to a few dinners at TGIF, McDonalds, and KFC and that made me feel a little better.  Another one of Glenn's coworkers is coming over in a few weeks and has promised to bring some Kraft Mac 'n Cheese (one of the few items I can't find in the grocery stores here) for us.  I have a feeling everything will be back to 'normal' once Evie and I get to enjoy one of our favorite lunches again.

Apparently we arrived at a very busy time for local festivities.  So far, we have been able to witness Muslims observing Ramadan, the Malaysian Independence Day, and Chinese Ghost Month celebrations.  Last week was the conclusion to the Chinese Mooncake Festival, also known as the Harvest Moon Festival.  Both Glenn and Zach (Laura's husband) had coworkers telling them that on the last day of the Mooncake Festival, children would parade around the local parks with these really intricate hand-made lanterns.  So we bought each kid a lantern and decided to join in the festivities.  Not sure what happened, but I'm pretty sure we were the only people with lanterns at the park.  Needless to say, we lit the candles and proudly watched Evelyn and the boys (okay, Glenn and Zach) walk around with their lanterns.  A few people walking in the park paused to watch our mini-procession, but no one joined in.  Who knows, maybe we started a new tradition - watching white people make fools of themselves (at least the kids were cute)!

On Saturday we decided to head up to the North part of the island to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe and partake in some more shopping at the night market.  The hamburgers were amazing and afterward I had to stop by the gift shop and buy a HRC-Penang t-shirt.  I now have HRC shirts from four continents, only Australia, Africa, and Antarctica to go!  We didn't get too much at the night markets.  Evelyn found some sunglasses and a bubble gun, and I got some more DVDs (Season 1 of Glee and Season 6 of The Office).  Glenn spent a lot of time looking at some toy ships, but the smallest one he wanted was 18" long and 12" tall and I don't know where he'd put it (okay, I know where he would want to put it, but I don't want it in my house).  This won't be the last time we go to the night markets, so I know it won't be the last time I hear about these ships.

The Gopher football team is 1-3 and unfortunately Glenn has been able to watch every game.  He's been taking it much better than I would expect, but it would be nice if they won more games so he can stop moping around the apartment.  Maybe they'll fire Brewster and that will really make him happy.

Not that anyone is counting or anything, but only 130 days until we fly home!

Thailand

As we mentioned a few times, Seagate was shut down for a few days last week and we took advantage of the time off to travel to Thailand.  After much research, we decided to visit Phuket, a popular tourist destination ~1 hour away from Penang.  The hotel we stayed at was right on the beach and the water, waves, and sand were absolutely beautiful.  We had such a great time and find it very hard to return to life in Penang.

Unlike past vacations, I got to be in charge of the agenda, which meant plenty of R&R!  The typical day started with breakfast and a dip in the hotel pool.  After Evelyn woke up from her morning nap, it was time for lunch and a dip in the ocean before Evelyn went down for her afternoon nap.  Then we would find a place for dinner, do a little shopping, and head back to hotel to tuck Evie in for the night.  Once in a while we would mix things up by reading beside the pool or playing in the sand (Glenn would spend all this time building elaborate sand castles and then Evelyn would destroy his work in a matter of seconds).  Needless to say, it was wonderful!

The food definitely deserves its own paragraph.  Not only did we try tons of Thai food (pad thai, curry soup, fried chicken with cashews, etc), but we had our choice of Indian, Italian, and Western food.  We even found one bar/restaurant that had American football on the TV; needless to say Glenn made us stop and watch for a while.  Glenn took a Thai cooking class at the hotel and has promised to continue cooking food for me when we get back to Minnesota (now I just have to get him to learn how to make naan and I am set).

We are already making plans to go back when Glenn's family comes to visit in December.  Next time, I think we are going to have to take advantage of some of the other things Thailand has to offer.  Gary, Glenn's co-worker, took one of the speedboat tours of the surrounding islands and came back raving about how wonderful the snorkeling and sights were.  There were also tour packages for Elephant rides and snake and monkey shows.  We also will have to take advantage of the massages (~$10 for 1 hour), something we didn't get around to on this trip.

I'll wrap this entry up by telling a quick story about Evelyn and an elephant.  Every night a Thai couple brought their pet elephant and set up shop at a restaurant near our hotel.  For 20 Baht (~70 cents) you could get some bananas and cucumbers and feed the elephant.  Evelyn loved pointing and looking at the elephant for a distance, but got very scared as soon as we got next to him.  We tried getting her to feed the animal on 3 different nights, but didn't have any success.  We would try to get her psyched up to feed the elephant during the day, but no matter how excited she was, the end result was always the same.  Who know, maybe she'll change her mind in a few months.

As hard as it was to leave, we are excited to get back to the apartment and return to a 'normal' schedule.  That being said, I can't wait to plan the next trip!

Off to Thailand!

So, this week turned out to be pretty non-eventful. It is the start of the rainy season here. It's not too bad- it usually just rains for an hour or two a day. We didn't do much this week because Laura and I kept looking for a good day to go back to Georgetown to play at the park with the kids. We didn't venture out Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday because the weather outside our windows looked threatening. Some days it really did rain and some days we had nothing but dark clouds. By Thursday, we were so sick of staying indoors that we decided to chance it. It turned out to be a great day to go to the park, with a nice little breeze to keep things cool. This week we met a little girl at the park. She was probably about 7 or 8 years old, and had a lot of fun following the kids around. We weren't sure she understood any English because she kept trying to pick up the kids (even the 4 year old) and we had to keep telling her to put them down. Towards the end, Evelyn was getting so upset that she started crying whenever the girl came near her.

Glenn mentioned that there was a good Indian restaurant nearby in Georgetown called Kashmir. We thought we'd be smart and Google map it before we left the apartment so we could easily find the place (Indian food is quickly becoming my new favorite cuisine on the island). After driving around Georgetown for at least 20 minutes (with very hungry kids in the car) we came to the realization that either this restaurant is impossible to find or Glenn made the whole thing up just to drive me crazy! We found a little "cafe" instead and were pleasently surprised to find sesame chicken on the menu (which just happens to be my favorite dish to order in Minnesota)! I've been looking for sesame chicken since we got here and hadn't had any luck. Glenn even asked some of his coworkers and they didn't know where to find any. Now our only problem is going to be seeing if we can ever find our way back to the "cafe" again!

On the way back to the apartment, I looked back in the car and saw a very cute sight. Evelyn (whose car seat is in the middle seat) was very sweetly holding hands with Nash (the 1 year old). They held hands for most of the ride back, and seemed very content just to sit there. Laura and I thought it was very cute, but Glenn wasn't so thrilled (surprise, surprise) when I told him about it. I think he's going to have a few questions for Nash the next time he sees him!

Tomorrow we are off to Thailand for the week. Glenn gets a few days off, so we're heading to Phuket, a tourist hot-spot on the beach. We're very excited for a few days of rest and relaxation on the beach. Although I'm loving the warm weather, I'm definitely missing the cool fall weather you are all experiencing now. What I wouldn't give to see some leaves changing color!

Evil Monkeys

Hi everyone! We've been staying pretty busy lately, so I'm sorry I'm not posting new blogs too often. We had a really fun week, and we stayed very busy. Evelyn and I went with our neighbors Laura, Maddox, and Nash to a new park and then to a part of the island known as Little India. We got a lot of stares at the park (as we always do) and I was even asked to pose with two random women and their kids in a group picture.  We got a little turned around in Little India, but eventually found a nice, quite place to eat lunch. I've started to love this food called naan (a flat bread usually served with butter and garlic) - so good!

On Saturday we went to the Botanical Gardens. We heard that you can see monkeys there, but we weren't sure if we'd actually be able to see any, or if they'd be hidden in the trees. Boy were we wrong! As soon as we walked into the garden, we saw monkeys everywhere! They were climbing trees, and running through the grass, playing with each other and sleeping. They must have been pretty used to seeing people around, because they let us get about 3 feet away from them. Evelyn loved seeing the monkeys, as long as they were far away from her. At one point one monkey took a few steps toward her, and she got pretty scared after that.  Towards the end of our trip to the park, Evelyn started to get hungry and we gave her a pretzel.  All of a sudden we were surrounded by 5 monkeys who suddenly seemed very interested in what Evelyn had.  They were getting a little too close for my comfort, so I tried to scare them away.  Have you ever been chased by angry monkeys?  If so, then you know they don't scare easily.  If they lived any closer, or climbed the walls in my kitchen, you'd better believe they'd be on my list!

Thanks to one of Glenn's Minnesota co-workers, he was able to watch the Gopher football game Friday night.  Their victory meant that Glenn was in a great mood the rest of the weekend (until he remembered the State Fair was ending, and then he sulked around the apartment).  Glenn has a few days off work next week (thanks to random Malaysian holidays) and we are taking the opportunity to try out the beaches of Thailand.  I'm looking forward to playing in the sand with Glenn and Evie (keeping one eye out for jellyfish).  I just hope Glenn doesn't try to schedule tons of side-trips!

Last Friday was our one month anniversary of being in Malaysia. I finally feel somewhat comfortable here, and it's nice to know I've got one month down. Only 5 more to go!