Happy Chinese New Year

With the holidays, Reed has a couple of days off so we went to visit a couple of sites. We went to the Snake Temple first which has a snake farm within the grounds. We had the opportunity to touch a python, King cobra, Water Dragon, and an excited monkey.

Our next stop was the Burmese and Thai Buddhist Temples. Ms A was entranced by the turtles swimming in the pond. When one climbed out she was so pleased to hold it. I thought how much my sister, Rachel, would love that opportunity, so the video is dedicated to her.

Hurray for the Internet!!

The other night Ms A and I were out visiting a friend when Reed came home. He was hungry, so he decided to have some frozen pizza. Malaysia doesn't have ovens like the states. It's more like a glorified toaster oven. Unfortunately, halfway through cooking the pizza the power went out. We found out later that Reed had blown the power because of all the AC and other devices we were using. In the process, we lost the internet as well.

It was a VERY SAD 36 HOURS until Reed and the internet people discovered the culprit. I was so homesick since I couldn't check my email or read family and friends blogs. I was a bit of a grouch. I had to apologize to Reed for being so ornery yesterday. I guess I didn't realize how much I'd miss everyone without access to the 'net'.

Everything is up and working and we will watch out for overloading the system next time.

Our own water park

Reed came home from work yesterday and very excitedly asked Ms A if she wanted to go swimming. They quickly donned their swimsuits and ran outside (the water slide turns off around 7pm). They went down a few times and had a great time until Ms A got a mouthful of water. :) Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Ms A talked about the slide throughout dinner. Apparently, she enjoyed herself.

You can click on the pic to get a bigger view.

Rain is Falling All Around!

Reed and I had some new friends over for dinner tonight. Since food is so inexpensive, Shannon and I went to the mall to get take out. All week long it has been getting more and more humid and I kept waiting for the rain I had heard about. The sky was clear when we went in, but as we went to the exit we saw a crowd of people. I didn't think anything of it since it's almost Chinese New Year so the mall was packed like the states on Christmas Eve.

Suddenly, we felt a gust of wind enter the mall and on the wind came a fine mist. As we turned the corner to leave, we saw the downpour of rain! I see where the saying of raining cats and dogs came. The rain could drench you in less than five minutes. Shannon and I decided to purchase an umbrella since hers was in the car and she is seven months pregnant. We went to several stores and asked, received a quizzical look, motioned to make an umbrella shape over our hands, they would ask another employee and they'd send us upstairs or downstairs, we'd look find nothing, ask for help again only to repeat the same cycle. Finally we gave up. Shannon gave me her food and phone and she braved the rain.

It was magnificent watching the powerful rain come down and then the sky would light up with lightning. Oh, how I miss lightning storms! Finally after two hours of us leaving we arrived back home. (Our new home is a 5 minute drive/ 15 minute walk from the mall.) The traffic was so frustrating, at one point we had several cars cut in. Shannon looked at me with a smile and said "Welcome to Malaysia!" We both had a chuckle. It actually was quite fun minus the fact that we had three hungry toddlers and two husbands waiting for us.

Our New Digs

Here are a couple of views of our new home. This is a view of the play area. Gold Coast Condos have won awards for the outstanding landscaping. I can see why! The front pool is a children's pool with turtles and sea stars along the border of the pool. There is also a 'pirate' ship for the kiddies to climb on. Ms A wanted to touch the fountains on the walls. The taller structure separating the two pools is a water slide that empties into the children's pool. We will have to figure out how to turn it on or if it is on an automatic timer. To the right of the pools is a BBQ area and play structure. The play structure is surrounded by beautiful greenery. To the left of the pool is the checkerboard landscaping and a fun swirly path.

This is a view of the other side of our apartment. I was so surprised to see so many high rise apartment complexes. Our is 16 stories.

The island is a mass of one way streets and they drive on the left side of the road. I was told you have to know two routes to get any where on the island. One for the way there and another for the way back. What Fun!

Reed ventured out yesterday for his first driving experience. He purchased some adapters, while we were being introduced to the island by the relocation people. Unfortunately, one fell out of the bag in the store, so Reed went to find it. He drove for a couple of hours getting totally lost, had finally given up and decided to try a store that looked like they would carry the item. When he parked, he discovered it was the store he was looking for the whole time! Heavenly Father watches over us even with little things like an adapter. :)

We Made It!

After a visa issue, a delayed flight, missing a flight, and going through security countless times, we finally arrived in Penang, Malaysia on Tuesday at 5:00pm (Malaysia time)!!!!! We were so excited to fall exhaustedly into our beds. We are safe and happy to finally be here.

Our new home is on the 9th floor overlooking the amazing landscaped grounds (with 2 pools, BBQ pits and a couple of play structures). Ms A and Reed tried out the pool last night, while I relaxed reading a book. We will post pictures of our new place later.

Ms A loves her "new home" and asks if she can go "downstairs" (the living room) when she wakes up. I guess we need to teach her that you have to go down the stairs to be on a different level. She is very excited to make new friends and we have already been invited to join a play group with some other ex-pats families. :)