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!

Dancing Around

This is Jim, doing some fancy foot work around another "pit" along our route to lunch.

Aim and Fire Toilet

Some of the toilets here are the old AIM & FIRE style, a hole in the floor. If your aim is bad well...you get the picture. The good thing is that there's a hose to clean your shoes. Mind you, if you come out of there with wet shoes, people know exactly what happened.

Rubik's Cube Anyone?

Today, I teamed up with YiJazz and Eddy, two of my students and we taught a Rubik's Cube seminar. Two people completed the cube in a little over an hour. We have our second session tomorrow. It was fun to see their excitement when they finished the cube.

Deep Holes

I wasn't kidding about the deep holes in the ground everywhere you walk. If you don't keep looking down, you go down...deep! And there are nice big fat juicy rats in there waiting for some western lunch.

A Comment about Life.

Doors open and doors close in life, all the time. Learning the art of entering and exiting the right doors at the right time is a life long skill. If we stay in the same entrance too long, we mummify. If we leave an entrance too quickly, we miss out on the main event. Not many people, things and events are permanent in our lives! That's why we should treat every moment like it's the best...because it's temporary..until another door opens, creating another moment.

Now that's exciting!

My Children

I try to call home as often as time allows and talk to my children. I miss them quite a bit, I really wish they were here with me. My son Mitchell is planning a possible move to BC at this point. He works full time at Tim Horton's. A new adventure is always a good choice. This is Mitchell and Heather.Follow your creative instinct Mitchell and all will be well.

Melinda, my avid reader, works at Subway while attending school full time. What a load, what dedication, but as we know, education creates opportunity and good income. Teacher's and doctors have the rare opportunity to travel the world and work abroad. Go Aminda Go! I'm cheering for ya!

James is working on his B.A. and eventually his B.Ed. His goal is to become a History or Political Science teacher. He has a natural passion for world events and political history. He spent three years in China teaching English. A natural teacher, I look forward to sitting at the back of his class one day. Two thumbs up James! You'll do it!

Kirsti is the "hooked" traveller, having spent six weeks in Europe, she is eager to see more of the world. A Licensed Real Estate Agent, Kirsti possesses excellent social and people skills, she can sell anything! Quite artistic as well, she has painted some fine art that has been displayed in her high school.

Kelli is our family caretaker. Always taking care of everyone and making sure they are OK. She works in Manitoba dealing with children with special needs. She is very well educated, very bright and loves taking on challenges. Kelli has no fear of adventure. She has been to Ireland and a few other places.

Waves, Water

As mentioned earlier, we had a blast in the Langkawi waves. Tossed around like rag dolls, knocked over, dragged under, and flipped head over heels.

We burned a few calories as well.

Someone spilled a lot of salt in the water!

Langkawi Vacation

During our "September" week off -one of two- we went to beautiful Langkawi with Jim and Shelley. We lounged on the beach for seven days, soaked up the sun, collected weird/cool shells, some days it was really shelly for Shelley and myself. We also tossed ourselves silly in the waves whenever they came in.

Then, we found this nice, comfortable restaurant with a tasty menu...well the menu wasn't tasty but the food was, the menu tasted like greasy international fingers. Anyhow, the food is so good that we ate breakfast, lunch and supper there, almost every day. The owner, Tanja adds quite a friendly atmosphere as she comes to the table and chats with customers. She's evidently in her niche and she is very good at it. She speaks English with a very charming German accent. Her husband Oli and her staff work with the same warm servitude to make customers feel relaxed and welcomed.

the Red Tomato Garden Cafe has it all, excellent food and a warm ambiance. When you go to Pantai Cenang Langkawi, stop in, have meal and a chat, you'll wanna go back for more!

Tanja and Oli

Sitting at the Red Tomato Garden Cafe, I'm smiling because I just ate a great meal, was served by a friendly hostess and across the table from me are good friends and my sweetie! Who could ask for anything more?