Wednesday

Ok I LOVE the roast duck from the Pulau Tikas Market!! I know its probably cooked for the expats, I don't care its really good!! I noticed yesterday that my duck lady also has spare ribs that looked really good, so next week I am in for the ribs...I need to get there early again though!! Ok so today is Brenna's short day and with Roxanne being unable to stay home today, it was going to be a scramble to get to the soccer experience on time....Thankfully Rox needed to get some sleep and that made my life a ton easier today! I also am late on our phone and Internet bill so the plan was to get out of the house around noon, walk up to the POS office, and pay the bill, then walk down to the soccer experience. I ran out of time...it was raining and that meant I could not walk as fast as usual...bu the time I got to Kelawi, it was already 20 till 1, and that did not leave me enough time...I will have to pay it tomorrow...no problem. So the time with the kids today was great, I mean really great, especially the little ones, there was a nice big group, and we had some fun...I spoke to some of the moms afterwards, and they seem very interested in doing a summer program, at least the ones that were here today, so that is awesome. The bigger kid turnout was bad again...only two and the original two that had always been there were sick. so with only two kids it changes things a bit...we tried Frisbee golf, and that went over like a lead balloon...then we tried Frisbee football, no luck there either...they both wanted some soccer stuff, so i set up some soccer drills, and they could hardly kick a ball?? I like the Frisbee games because it involves a new hand eye skill that many of them may not have ...the problem is that they are 6-7 years old and have never even seen a Frisbee before...I am going to have to try some new games with the big kids...they are really behind in their eye hand skills and behind on their general coordination skills...next week I will come better prepared with some stuff that will align with kids with different skills. The pickup game was good fun as always and I found out that my friend Mahesh (spelling?) is going away for medical school and this was his last game, he promised that after the game he would take me out for some real Malaysian food!! I was good with that for sure!! So we went down off of little penang road, and got some Cendol from a very famous Cendol stall. This is considered one of the best places for Cendol in Penang. Cendol is (well the version we had anyway) crushed ice,coconut milk, a noodle that has a tapioca base, so it is green in color, crushed ice, brown sugar and kidney beans...now I have to tell you that combination, especially the green noodles and the kidney beans...did not sound appetizing...I was wrong, not only was it good, it was awesome!! What I found so wonderful about it is the combination of the textures and the flavors...the brown sugar and coconut milk offer two very different types of sweetness, to mushy noodles and the firm beans add a different flavor and texture, and then the crushed ice...my friend Mahesh said that it is even better on a hot day, very refreshing...now right next to the cart is a small place to sit and eat it, Mahesh said that to sit in there is .50...you can go just a bit further down the street and sit in the dining area that is controlled by the cart...it has pictures of all the celebrities that have frequented the show since it opened. it is also a two generation shop, with the father having begun the business, and the son now taking it over. Mahesh got me two servings as takeout for Roxanne and Brenna to try...great guy, he is the one leaving and I get treated! I cannot thank him enough as this was a great meal and a great experience!

So back home, and Rox and Brenna are both enjoying their time, we had a simple dinner and both wanted to wait to try the Cendol ( If it were me I would not be waiting!!). Brenna is again struggling with going to bed because she took a nap this afternoon...I am not sure why this works this way, she is exhausted because she does not get enough sleep at night, getting up 2 or three times...she gets a 1 hour nap in the afternoon, is still exhausted and stays up until midnight...then brags about that at the bus stop....I don't get it!! anyway...another great day in Penang!! goodnight you guys