Green Stalker

This chick from Aruba keeps following us around the world.

She really needs to get a life!

Freedom Ride

Dinner with Jim and Shelley, sitting on the sand with the ocean waves crashing into shore behind us.

I rode that moped for hours around the island of Langkawi, I even hit the beach. What an awesome feeling of freedom!

We tried to go swimming at the local pool but it was closed due to possible lightning storms.

Double click on the picture to read the sign.

Stingray

No, that's not me when I wake up in the morning, I'm uglier than that. 

This is the sweet underside of a Stingray. 

We looked up as it passed over our heads.

Cute eh?

Sharks and Tatoos

We went to the Aquarium near the PETRONAS

Towers. It was awesome! I saw that shark that I tussled with in Langkawi.

I got a "wanna be" tatoo while I was there.

Needles not included!

Amy almost lost a finger to "Pikey",

thank God he couldn't shut his mouth.

I kissed a fish and I liked Iiiiiiit!

There's that shark I tussled with in Langkawi. 

As soon as he saw me, he booked it.

He knew I was tough when he say my tatoo.

I'd pick Amy over that ugly mug any day.

That fish was HUGE!

Trees and Monkeys

A Night in KL

We had a nice date in Kuala Lumpur.

Sitting in the restaurant on the 33rd floor of Traders Hotel, we had a phenomenal view of the PETRONAS Twin Towers in the background.

The Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, when Taipei 101 took over the title. There are 88 stories, and 32,000 windows. They cost US $1.2 billion to build and the sky-bridge is at the 41st and 42nd level, it is 58.4m (192ft) long and weighs 750 tons. The height of the Towers is 451.9m (1483ft), from street level. The Twins were designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli.

In August 2009, French climber Alain Robert, was fined $2000 ringgit (660 CAD) by a Malaysian court for successfully scaling the nation's tallest building. He completed the climb with his bare hands in less than two hours. A video of the climb is available on Youtube.

River Queen

This is Winnie and Amy.

We had a surprise birthday party for Winnie before we left for Malaysia.  She is such a sweetie.

We played poker every Friday night in Wasaga Beach and Winnie was a regular. We called her the River Queen because she always got her hand on the "River", ouch!

Tammie was another regular.

Yes, they look alike because they are mother and daughter.

We miss them and we look forward to a good game of 'Holdem"

which we haven't played since we arrived in Malaysia.

Our Condo

Our Condo!

My Shark Hunt

This is not a big fish story.
I had em!

Another three days and I would've hauled that 20 foot beast to shore for lunch.

He scampered, what a wuss!

Peace

Being here has really given me plenty of reflection time. The pace of life is slower. People are not in a rush to live their lives. Maybe it's the heat, who knows, but it's quite different from Canada. I feel such peace with my life at this point. I love my job, it's warm, the people are friendly, I can travel, the food is good, no need to shovel heat or rearrange my closet for the winter season, and I just feel good. There is so much more about this experience that I can't describe. It's quite unique for me!

Heart to Serve

I am consistently amazed by the goodwill of the Malaysian people. They love to be helpful. At first I thought it was about the "TIP", you know gratuity. But that’s not the case. I receive the same helpful service no matter what I am doing and no matter where I go. I was walking around the grocery store the other day, with stuff dangling from every finger, loaded to my chin, arms full and too stupid to get a cart. Just when I was about to grab another item and place it on my head, a young store clerk, walked up to me, wearing a humble smile, he offers me a plastic carry basket and stands there as I drop my things into the basket. Then, he smiled and walked away, happy. He never said one word to me. His actions spoke volumes.

This happens all the time here. We took a limo to the airport the other day. When the driver realized that we may have been at the wrong terminal, he left his limo, asked me for my itinerary, went inside, approached to the service counter and inquired, in the local language, if we were okay. Then, he pointed, with a smile, to our boarding gate, wished us a good trip and left.

Gary and I had a coffee at a specialty shop one Sunday afternoon. Gary had ordered and paid for pastries to take home, but he left them at the counter until we finished our coffee. Sure enough, we left and began walking through the mall, oblivious to the fact that his pastries were still at the coffee shop. We had walked quite a distance when I heard “Sir, Sir”. I thought one of my students had recognized me and wanted to say hello. It was one of the employees. He chased us down, quite a distance, to remind Gary that his pastries were still at the store.

These are only a few examples of many situations where the Malaysian people just extend themselves to be helpful. It’s a beautiful thing!

Splash....

We had a whale of a time in Langkawi!

The Westin

We visited Shelley & Jim at the Westin.

Very Nice spot!

You may need to double click on

the picture to read the bubbles.

Wow...the Sunsets

Did I tell you about the phenomenal sunsets we enjoyed in Langkawi? Well have a look. Amy & Shelley clicked the pictures and they are beautiful.

Hot Tub, Hot Country

We recently attended a hot tub party. It was sooooooo much fun!

We had to take turns but hey, we didn't mind.

How often do you get to go to a hot tub party right?

Big Red

This is Taylor's, my place of employment.

Asia Cafe

This is our daily lunch spot. Jim, Shaun and I come here for lunch almost everyday, unless we decide to go Western and hit McDonalds or Pizza Hut. This place must have 80 or so different eating spots.

Art in the Sand

Now chuckle if you wish because I'm no artist but, I sure had fun doing this. Shelley and I walked the beach and collected these cool shells. I decided to try my hand at beach art and Carlsberg induced photography...and voila. Easy on LOL eh!