Neilson Christmas Vacation

So we are wrapping up our first visit back to the US, and I figured that a short synopsis of our trip and some observations of our return, after 8 months in Penang. December 16th found us leaving Penang, on our way to Hong Kong, which by the way was awesome!! We had almost a full day to walk around the city and although the air quality was not good enough to really see the skyline, we had a great time anyway.

December 17th found us off to beautiful Newark NJ...Ok, no matter what class you fly in, 14 hours on a plane is a long time, period! We landed in Newark, had a short layover, and were onto Orlando, it was late on the 17th by the time we got in and we were all VERY tired. Roxanne's step mom Diane picked us up and we were off to her Dad's house. Pop and Diane's home is very relaxing and our cat CiCi was there and very happy. Our first night in the states was not very restful, but we did wake up to the sound of a barn owl and sandhill cranes, nice!! We also had the opportunity to stop at Publix supermarket which was AWESOME!! We all missed Publix. The Next day found us in the car (I drove) back to St. Petersburg so rox could spend a few days working, kinda sucked for her...no...it really sucked for her, but at least she was able to save some vacation days. Being back in the "burg" was so nice, Brenna and i took a walk on my old running route in Coffee pot bayou.

I got to get some "GT Daves" Kohmbucha at "Rollin' Oats" market (we also at lunch there one afternoon...awesome). Brenna got to see her best friend Sadie for two consecutive days, with one of those days being a play date and the other to the movies to see "Arthur Christmas" (good movie by the way). We ate at all three of our favorite restaurants "The Moon Under Water", "Cafe Chibo" and "California Chicio". We also got to get some lunch at "El Cap" the BEST hamburger joint,

with my good friend Mark and Roxanne's good friend Sydney and her daughter Julia, good times!!
We also met some of the "Hockey Ladies" and their hubbies/kids...Jen and Dan, Lucianne and Christina, and Netta and Mike. they thought it was strange to go to P F Chang's, but its good food so it fits!! Brenna also got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, because she did not want to sit with the Westshore mall Santa...she was too old in her opinion.

Leaving the burg was sad, but we knew we would be back at the end of our stay, so we said goodbye to our house and hoped that when we got back in two weeks, Brenna would be able to (maybe) see some of her Grace Lutheran friends.
So it was back to Pop and Diane's for Christmas eve, and part of Christmas day. Christmas Eve was fun and Diane works so hard to make it perfect, and it was. Roxanne's brother was in from Las Vegas, and our friends Marc and Nele, brought their daughter Jilene, she had recently turned one and joined Roxanne's step sisters daughter River, and her Nephews daughter Sophia. It was good to see family and see everyone in such good spirits. We were also able to get a good full family picture, Rox's family anyway.

After that it was onto Roxanne's moms, for the rest of Christmas day, we would stay there till Thursday the 29th. then we would be off to my parents. While we were at Roxanne's mom's we had a chance to go to a Tampa Bay Lightning game, they were playing the Flyers, so we were not expecting a good game, but they played great, ok strike that, they did not play well, but got great goaltending. It was fun to go to a game, it did not make me miss playing though (I want to run!!).

We also got a Greek salad, which despite the great food we can get in Penang, there is not much in the way of good Greek food and both rox and I love a good Greek salad!!

We said goodbye to Central and West Coast Florida, and headed out to South Florida to see my parents and my brother, sister-in-law and their two kids. On our way down we stopped at Bok Tower Gardens, in Lake Wales Florida, and met Roxanne's Step sister and her husband (Rachelle and Ben) and their little girl River. We walked around the gardens and also got some lunch, its a nice way to break up a long trip to my parents house.

We had a great New years with my family, Brian and Noreen we gracious hosts for new Years eve and our final meal with  my family. Brenna had a great time with her cousin Emily, they laughed, giggled, danced and ran around like crazy kids, they also got to go in the pool one of the warmer days, but it has been unseasonable cold on and off. We also took some family pictures with my family at a park in Deerfield Beach, Brian and Noreen have a close friend who is a professional photographer who gave us a break on her fees to get the pictures done for my mom and dad for Christmas. We had a great time doing the photos and it will be a nice memory that we will have in pictures. Today we headed out of South Florida and back to lakeland and Roxanne's mom's house. Tomorrow its back to St. Pete, to take care of dental and doctors appointments. Then back to Roxanne's dad's house, and the Thursday the 5th, back to the airport for our trip home to Penang.

A few last thoughts on this trip home...

First, as much as i love the wet market in Penang, and as used to the cold storage market we have become, there is nothing like the selection and variety of a Publix supermarket, and the ease and convenience of a Target. I think we all have missed that, despite how much we can appreciate a more local approach. Mega grocery stores like Publix and Mega stores like Target, do make things much easier.

Second, Our home in Penang is beautiful, and convenient. I miss our little house in St. Pete though, I would not have said that when we left, in fact i could not wait to get back from our time in Penang and look for a bigger house. I have discovered that i miss the cozy-ness of our house and its familiar nooks and crannies. I also like that if i don't like the color of the wall i can change it, and when the toilet breaks, i know (generally) what to do. Renting is convenient, but I like being a homeowner, and I like my little house!

Third, St petersburg...Penang is beautiful, the culture, the history and the beaches and jungles, its just a tropical paradise, pure and simple!! St. Pete though, pretty damn nice!! I love the coffee pot and snell island areas, i like the area around the pier, we live in a nice neighborhood, and well as much as i love Penang, i think St. Pete just feels like home...Although I have run in some amazing locals (and will run in even more) in Penang, at this point the coffee pot/snell island/St. Pete pier is still the nicest run I have done.

Lastly....If I could put a Target and Publix in Pulau Tikas, Get Heat Miser to let Cold Miser have like 1 month of cooler weather come to penang, get Running warehouse.com and Brooks running.com to ship to Malaysia, and get some NASA rocket scientist to release the Star Trek Transporter retail, so family and friends would not have to mortgage their homes and spend almost a full day flying to come see us, and win the US power ball so I could afford a home.....I would never leave!!

Peace out USA...Penang...see you soon!!