Heading Off

We're outta here!

A few things at home I’m excited for:

• My bed
• Crosswalks / General acknowledgment of pedestrian rights
• A long hot shower
• My toaster oven
• An Italian sausage with peppers and onions (random craving!)
• Seeing some awesome movies
• Roads on which a driver picks a lane and sticks to it rather than driftng side to side sporadically. Drivers who look behind them and to the side at times.
• Happy to take a break from the motorbikes. Also happy to take a break from the tiny ants that march around our condo like they own the place.
• Our backyard
• A great burger
• Sleeping without the pounding of feet in the apartment above us at 1:00 am
• A reliably speedy Internet connection
• The annual girlfriends' Christmas lunch at Va Bene
• A facial
• My family, especially the nieces and nephews!
• A prosciutto and cheese platter
• The contents of our wine fridge
• Cooler weather / Not sweating
• NPR
• The Whole Foods salad bar!!!!

As you can see from the below pix, the Christmas spirit is alive and well in Penang.

Peace out, everyone! Happy holidays to my fellow citizens of the world.

In the lobby of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel.

Outside the G Hotel on Gurney Drive (down the street from where we live) - they usually put a hat on the "G" sign for every major holiday. With four religions going here, that's a lot of hats - Hari Raya Aidilfitri (end of Ramadan), Deepavali (big day for Hindus), Chinese New Year, etc.

Jo's Christmas lunch extravaganza - this New Zealander can seriously cook

The great Penang Santa Hunt 2008

Below - out on the hunt with our teammates, Chad and Jessica, (also Intel expats). One task was to have a teammate pedal the rest of us on a trishaw.

Merry Merry!

The USA beckons

Returning soon for Christmas and some time back home. It’s been almost 7 months since I left US soil. That’s definitely long enough to get me wondering what kind of reverse “culture shock” I may encounter.

Similar to many expats, I experienced the initial thrill of arrival and discovery in the cool place that is Penang. Then I dipped down to the bottom of the “V.” A lot of things began to chafe – things that were not bad or worse, just different, and dealing with the differences was tiring me out and leaving me cranky.

Then, for the month of November, I toured more of Malaysia than ever before, and it reinvigorated me. My love of Penang is now more present than ever. I will fly back to US leaving a place I admire and enjoy.

Dreading the flight by the way. I’m excited for a dose home though.

Here’s what two friends of mine said they've noticed when they return to the US (they’ve both lived in Asia over 4 years).

Ramona from Florida

• Cravings for random foods – she doesn’t really like deli meat, yet she craves a big ol’ pastrami on rye whenever she goes home. It’s the access to previously unavailable foods that gets you all excited
  
• The road rage – people in Penang can drive like maniacs, but not many people get really angry on the road. In the US, they do.
  

Sue from Ohio

• Everything seems big – from the roads to the cars to the stores to the people.
  
  
• Not all flight attendants are petite, gorgeous and incredibly helpful. (Traveling via Malaysia Air and Singapore Air leaves you way spoiled.)



• People seem to be talking really loud.
  

We’ll see what my reactions are!

On a serious note: I won’t lie to you – the attacks in Mumbai shook me. But not enough to pull the plug and move home. What I can vouch for after living abroad for almost 7 months is this: the vast majority of the people in this world don't carry an intense grudge and wish people no harm. It will be the test of our time that that the tiny percentage of people who think otherwise can wreak such havoc.


As I prep to go, I'm realizing how much I will miss my friends here. A few are pictured below.

Ruchi Bhargava - she and her husband are expats with Intel as well, originally from India, though they'd lived in the US for years prior to moving here

My tennis coach Albert Cheah (here with Ton) - a Penang native




My pal Z (short for Tze) -
originally from Singapore, though she's lived in Penang most her adult life

Gillian and her daughter Naomi - Gillian and her hubby are from Scotland, but came here by way of Hong Kong. Both their kids were born abroad.

I went to Naomi's first birthday party this weekend.

Marsha in Malaysia, Part 3

After a month in Malaysia, Marsha departed last Tuesday. We explored Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca as well as relaxed on the island of Langkawi. The day she left, she said "I could easily live in Penang." She's hooked.

Below are some photos from our various outings.

Ancestral tablets in a temple in Malacca. These commemorate loved ones who have passed away.

At night, the famed Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur sparkle like an ice sculpture.

A Dutch gravestone in Malacca from the 1600s. The Portugese, Dutch and British all had control over Malacca during different periods. It was a key center for the spice trade.

Above are two pix from the Kek Lok Si temple in Penang - the largest Budhhist temple in SouthEast Asia, it's set into a hillside on the edge of town (really it's a complex of multiple temples and dormitories for monks). They are adding on to it and, as a fundraiser, ceiling tiles are for sale. You pay for a tile, write a message on it and give it back. It will then be placed on the roof with thousands of other tiles once the new building is complete. Mom and I had a woman write our names in Chinese. People from all over the world are represented on the tiles.

The other picture is in one of the oldest sections of the temple - these are prayer stools on a floor tiled with the design of lotus flowers.

At this altar, we noticed that someone had left a massive bag of rice as an offering. Now that's a statement!

Marsha at Penang's Botanical Garden. Note the monkey on the path!