King's Palace in Bangkok

The art work everywhere in this palace was stunning. I don't know who this little girl was but she fit quite well in the picture, so I took the shot.

Chanty, Rick & the Whirlwind Trip

Chantalle and Rick arrived December 29 and left January 18. The night they arrived, we had a nice dinner at Sunway Pyramid, in a restaurant called The Rainforest Cafe (Malaysia Style). Over the next few days we visited the Batu Caves, went shopping, we visited the Bird Zoo, went shopping, we visited the Petronas Towers, went shopping, we visited the The Luna Bar, went shopping and we visited Chinatown as well. For a change of pace, we decided to go shopping.

We spent Christmas with Shelley, Jim, Jaime and Jordan, the Dales. They welcomed us with open hearts and arms. They had a beautiful Christmas Tree and we shared an awesome Christmas dinner together. Rick made Tourtiere, it was amazing. Shelley took care of the rest of the meal and she did an amazing job cooking and preparing our feast. We played some cards and we played the "Johnson" dice game. We had a blast!

Jordan, Jaime, Shelley and Jim...The Dale family.
What a fine family!

Rick, Chantalle, Amy and Jerry Lewis...what a fine family eh?

Malaysia was impressive for Chanty Rick, but our next 15 days really blew us all out of the water. We flew to Siem Reap Cambodia and stayed at the Tanei Guesthouse with pool and phenomenal service. We visited the stilted village and the floating village; we also took a canoe ride through the mangrove. We visited Ankor Wat, it is spectacular, amazing and breathtaking, not to mention moving and historical. From there we flew to Phnom Penh, enjoyed tuk tuk rides. We visited the killing fields and S21, the school house turned into a prison by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, where they tortured and killed innocent civilians in an effort to “turn Cambodia into an agricultural society”. All educated, intelligent people were killed, along with all their family members, including women, children of all ages, and grand-parents.

The Batu Caves in Malaysia, quite an awesome site.

Chanty planning our route while Rick focussed on......well...gee I don't know what the heck he was staring at! Oh....wait...there was a little wee monkey picking his nose at the next table. Was it his nose or his arse? I can't remember!

Ahhhhhhhh...Those beautiful towers!

The bird sanctuary in Malaysia. That was a great walk through a forest full of exotic birds. The colors were breath taking!

Standard procedure for us while we were in Cambodia and Thailand..tuktuk rides were a blast. We took one every time we had a chance.

Chantalle handing out school supplies to local children in Siem Reap Cambodia. The logs you see in the back are there because the water levels will eventually rise far above their heads during the rainy season. The whole town is high up, on stilts.

Chanty and Rick taking a peaceful canoe ride, there is a young girl steering at the front. She was hilarious, sassy and warm hearted. She kept us laughing.

This little fella brought me to tears. He paddled from his home- which is a big wooden room, floating on the open water- to where we parked. He was hoping to get one dollar from me. I stared into his eyes for a moment. He figured that I wasn't going to give him anything so he showed me the "peace" sign with an anxious smile.  I reached out and handed him a dollar, then I extended my hand for him to hold. He put his dirty little hand into mine and looked into my eyes as I held his hand for a moment. I gave him the thumbs up sign, which he returned to me. He watched me rubbing my eyes and he had this puzzled look on his face as if he was asking me "What's wrong?"  I was ashamed of the many times I had prayed to God for more money, more of this, more of that. I was embarrassed and humbled. I will never forget that moment and that little boy.

This is a school, on a boat, on the river. Children are dropped off every morning by boat. Their class is here on the boat. They are the sweetest children. We talked with the teacher and he allowed us to interact with the students for a little while. One little girl read to me in her native language as the others sat around and giggled. That was a very moving experience.

From there we flew to Bangkok Thailand, we saw some awesome sites such as the Buddha Temple and the Grand Palace. Angkor Wat Cambodia really nestled itself in my heart.

We also enjoyed Pat Pong street. From there we flew to our last destination, Krabi. We took a boat to Koh Lanta and attempted to rest for four days before returning home. Chanty & Rick liked it so much, they stayed in Koh Lanta for an extra four days. Amy and I returned to Subang Jaya and began our second semester. Chanty and Rick joined us for their last weekend in Malaysia. They flew home January 18th. We miss them a lot. It was awesome to have them here with us.

Cambodia & Thailand

We met Chanty and Rick at the airport on December 23rd and we began our 15 day vacation tour. It was exhausting at times but awesome, with Cambodia as my personal favorite place to visit. Every other place we visited was also quite impressive and very unique.

More photos and details will soon be posted.

Happy Holidays to Family & Friends

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Happy Holidays to our friends and families. We wish you all an awesome holiday season, lots of laughter, love, good conversations, good food and fantastic fellowship.

Cheers from Malaysia. Michel & Amy.

All smiles and fun!

All smiles! Sandra and Amy at our Christmas get together.

Posing for the camera on a rocky beach front!

What a cutie eh? The one on the right...right!

Graduation 2009

Our first graduation here at Taylor's.

The candlelight vigil at the end of the ceremony! It was quite cool. The teacher's lit their candles first, then we turned around and lit the candles of the graduating students, hopefully symbolic of us imparting our knowledge and wisdom to them as they head into their lives, careers, families and dreams.

Melody graduated and she has many options ahead of her in life, all expenses paid.

Saman is a very pleasant student. He is very knowledgeable about his homeland of Iran. He was always smiling in class. It was a real pleasure teaching this young man.

Sarah was our valedictorian. A very well spoken and free spirited young graduate who will succeed in life.

Up Up and Away

Amy heading into the skies!

Amy can fly!

Amy went up as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. 

Parasailing...WOW!

In mid air...it's quiet up there.

Christmas Feelings

My first Christmas away from family and friends. It will be quite different. Chantalle and Rick arrive December 23rd, that is our most exciting event coming. We will spend a few days in KL and then we head to Cambodia and Thailand. I miss my children and my family. Merry Christmas to all! 

Hamburger Eating Contest

I participated in a hamburger eating contest. The winner ate 9, I ate 3, very slowly, and I chewed them up real tiny. It was fun, we all won a prize.

Snow in Malaysia..Really!

We had a bit of a snowfall here the other day. Wow!...I know... We were all shocked too. But, it was all melted by sundown  as you can see in the next picture.

Snakes and Captain Ahab!

A bit of smooching right after I tackled a huge shark. We were having a nice romantic swim when this big, long beast of a shark tried to nibble on Amy's neck. I tore off his fins and send him scampering like a wounded slug. She was kissing me to thank me, I think she said something like "You're my hero".

At the Carnival of Colors I dealt with a life long fear...SNAKES! I wrapped this disgusting, slithering, mouse eating snake around my neck and then I stood there for photos. Can you believe it?

My Twin & a Dragon

I couldn't believe it either, then I looked again...It's my twin. I almost fell over, it was like looking in a mirror. He even has those sorry eyes. His name is Michka, from the tribe of HairyAsses!  We spent the rest of the day bonding together, and picking wee little bugs from each other's hair, and then we ate those little critters. How dare they nest on us?

One of my best shots with our digital camera. A Dragonfly, up close and personal, nibbling on the bud of an upcoming flower. It was awesome taking the shot because this Dragonfly kept leaving and returning. So I focused my camera on the bud and waited until Mr. DG returned and voila! Nice shot eh? Come on! It is so...you're just jealous.

Twin Beauties!

Remember these two towers from the movie Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Laser beams, smooth moves and art theft. Yeah...that's the one. It was filmed right here in Malaysia. Although, the Malaysian's are not happy with that production because Hollywood made it look like there were shantytowns near the towers in KL. Apparently, there are no shantytowns that close to the towers. I will investigate and get back to you on that! In the mean time, enjoy these twin beauties!

Nice Smiles eh?

A visit to KL. Smiling under a cool tree on a hot day.

My Book

I began writing a book quite some years ago. The content of the book encourages people to break from capitalism and pursue their passions. The book takes a close look at the impact of capitalism on individual ambitions. I'm putting the finishing touches on it and will have it published soon.

Canon Rebel Amateur

My friend Jim let me use his Canon Rebel for a few hours at the zoo. I had an awesome time scanning people and animals, looking for some unique shots. I had to be very patient but

I think I caught a few. Have a look!