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?

Our farewell party

My children hosted our going away party. It was awesome. I really miss them a lot. I look forward to the day they come to visit us in Malaysia. At the party, there were tears, laughter, dancing, a beautiful cake and great conversations. The best feature was having everyone there, together, interacting in harmony. What a day! I'll never forget it! Thanks guys!

This was the karaoke session.

Stars were born that evening!

Celine & Francois jumped through employment hoops to manage enough time off to drive seven plus hours and be at our party. My dad and Liette drove five plus hours to join us as well. It meant so much to me having them there. U guys rock!
Chanty & Rick let us stay with them for our last two months in Canada. We raided their fridge, drank their drinks, kept them up late, cluttered their garage with plastic bins and played Rock Band, and they let us do it! That was seriously great. We miss them a ton along with our good "deck chats".

My good chum, good pal and awesome brother-in-law Rick, a real mans man!


We were blessed with a beautiful cake as well.
It was the most unique cake I have ever seen and it tasted awesome. Thank you guys.



This is the "Wanna Be" mafioso family I left behind. They threatened to
Fit me with a pair of cement galoches if I left,
I said "Bring It" and I split!
On a safety note,
Amy and I purchased a smoke alarm for our condo,
it's the best one on the market!

Our Friends

We met Jim and Shelley at the Sheraton during our first week in Eden and we have become good friends. We love hanging out with them. They're fun and we get along naturally, we can be ourselves. Jim knows everything about IT, it's awesome. Amy and Shelley are like twins when it comes to the way they think, sometimes it's scary man.

We took a trip to Kuala Lumpur with them and another very helpful friend, Steve Wise.

This is Steve and that cute English teacher, she happened to be there that day so I kinda chatted her up a little, she is quite smart and really funny. I think she likes me a bit.

Talking about friends, we really miss Brian and Kim. This is the last picture we took on Canadian soil. They drove us to the Sheraton at Pearson and we spent our last moments with them. I'm looking forward to a good hug from my Halo pal and Kimmer.

Teaching in Paradise/ Missing my Loved Ones

I never believed the day would come when I would return to the front of a classroom, well it happened and I'm loving it. My employer here is Taylor's College. I teach Business Leadership to pre-university angels, yes angels. I have zero discipline problems, in fact the only problem I have is to get my students to talk in class, you know, ask questions. They are so quiet, humble, shy and eager to learn. It seems surreal at times. I love planning because I know that I will be able to teach my whole lesson, everyday, no exceptions.

This is where my planning happens, and it's serious business! The picture on the right is my "V", I miss them. This experience would be perfect if they were all here to enjoy this with me.

I work with this very cute English teacher as well, this is her at her desk. She wears this awesome perfume, it makes me weak in the knees.

I think I'm gonna ask her out soon, what a doll!

Taylor's is great place to work. The staff, both locals and expats are fine people. Anytime I need help, I just ask and it's done. My department head is Rowena. She is so helpful, funny and full of zest for life. We have been out on the town with her and her husband. They're a very nice couple. We have been sent on an all expenses paid trip to Rompkin. Team Building was the theme. We had a blast! Paintball, Karaoke, a little dancing, team performances, good food and horseback riding, well actually it was horseback sitting because the guide led the horse while I sat there like a five year old boy. I hope nobody saw me.

This is Taylor's and that cute English teacher, what a cutie!

Sometimes I forget things because I'm so excited, so I write them in my new Palm Pilot!

The Art of Walking in Subang Jaya

If you walk without looking down, all the time, you will end up in a four foot deep open sewer here in Subang Jaya, and it has happened to expats in the past, especially ones who enjoy a few too many treats during "happy hour". We have open sewers along the roads and sidewalks, wide open and deep. If you aren't looking down when you walk, chances are, you are going down. You're also dodging cars, mopeds and jigsaw style sidewalks. Walking along a strip mall here is very good exercise because one is constantly dodging holes, crevices, stairs, and uneven joints.

Urban and city planners from the West would cringe in Subang Jaya because the potential for personal injury is high. Some areas are under construction and the sewers have been covered over. Kuala Lumpur is nice and safe, in most areas.

Wherever there is a MacDonald's, Starbucks, Burger King or any other Western coffee shop or restaurant, the area in front is covered and safe. It's the only time one can walk and look up.

Leaving Canada...Now that was tough!

I sold my house, my car, my tools, and my poker ships (ouch!), I packed a few vestiges of my life, including treasured mementos into 15 plastic tubs, stored them at a good friends house, and began the flight to Malaysia. It took sixteen plus hours. My arms were like sloppy rubber bands when we landed. Plus, I carried Amy on my back because she was too tired to fly. Next time I’m taking a real plane, never mind the whole “let’s save on flight costs”.

The tough part wasn't the flight over here, it was who I left behind. Not so much "what" I left behind, but my family and friends. My country, Wasaga Beach and the landscape I will envy from time to time, but the people/family...I miss them all the time.

My First Blog - Malaysia, my New World!

Welcome to my blog and welcome to my new world. I'm an optimist, so you won't find any whining or complaining here. This experience is awesome. I departed Canada, my home and native land, with my soulmate & sweetheart, AMY!

Ooops,that's not her.... Hold on......there she is

So, as I said, I left in search of peace, a new experience, a job I love and some adventure. I found them all...and then some! We arrived in this warm and welcoming country on June 27th, 2009 and the honeymoon has not ended yet. It may well come to an end, but so far, no end in sight. The honeymoon is actually my teaching experience. The students, all grade 12 level, are like angels. Seriously! They're always respectful, they want to learn, they love to laugh and get this, they always say "Thank you sir" at the end of every lesson, every day, now that's amazing eh!