A Great weekend in Penang...other than the dead fish!

So the plan for Saturday was to locate the Aquarium store on Jalan Burma. We slept in a bit later than we wanted, and then the cable installer came, This is the same cable installation we have been waiting for since the end of April, and we had to pay them $199RM to wait that long...THEN the total job took about 5 min to complete...there has to be some trick to this so that in case we want another TV hooked up...it doesn't take 2 months, cost $200RM and take 5 min. The thing is, that cable is not like in the states, unless it is like this if you live in a high rise. If we want all the TV's in the house to watch the same programing at the same time, that is easy, one time installation....If you want each TV to watch programing independent of each other, it is a separate installation, a separate billing...everything is separate...Is good to know however that the cable installation service is pretty much crap everywhere! So after the cable guy and lady left, we headed out to find the aquarium place. It was no problem to find, with the GPS helping us out, the problem was parking! We ended up having to park in the New World Park complex. New World Park is a big restaurant spot, there is also some shopping and at the time that we were there it was pretty crowded, kinda like the food court at the mall. We walked down a block to the Aquarium place, which was HUGE, it had a huge indoor pond with koi and other fish in it. We picked up a light for Brenna's tank, a thermometer, some new food, and 4 more fish, two more guppies, and two red sword tails. The place was really fun to walk around in and see all the neat stuff they had for sale. They had little rays, eels, turtles...it was cool! so back in the car and headed for home, We let the fish adjust to the water temp, and then set them free in the tank. Within minuets the two guppies were dead, and one of the sword tails died not long after that. Brenna now has one sword tail and the original Mr. Fins, who has outlived every fish we have had thus far...we are not doing well with the fish, and are thinking we need to get someone from one of these aquarium stores to come by and help us out...we cant keep killing fish, and Brenna said this morning..."i am tired of having fish funerals and flushing them down the toilet!". Saturday night was movie night and we all sat down to watch Fantasia 2000, with some popcorn. Despite the tragedy of the day we still had a nice Saturday.
Sunday broke with me going for a run...not so good...see the other blog. We also had the Soccer Experience, and Rox was headed to the gym, (GOOD FOR HER!!). the Soccer experience was fun today, Brenna got in a good sweat, and we had a simple lunch at Subway (better than Chili's or McDonald's) We headed home, and we are still at this point a 2 fish family, that is a good thing!! We decided it was time to get our guest bedroom ready for company...we are going with the "Field of Dreams" plan for the guest room...make it nice and they will come! We know that we are not expecting to see friends or family, it is so far and so expensive to get here, we are still hanging onto hope though...I mean Kevin Costner build a baseball field in an Iowa cornfield, and James Earl Jones showed up...I think its ok for us to hope!! So we bought new sheets, pillows and blankets for the room, hung our lighthouse pictures in there and are hoping that it creates some good karma!! We had some lunch in the mall at our favorite Dim sum place, and then did some grocery shopping. The rest of our Sunday should be relaxing and low key. I was supposed to have a client today also, but work caused a cancellation...it happens. Anyway, a great weekend here in Penang!! Until tomorrow, Goodnight all!!

Fireflies!!

So It was a very different Friday around the Neilson household, other than Brenna going to school, Rox was home, i had another massage client and we had a big trip planned for the evening. Massage client went well and i may have gotten so further referrals from it...we will see. rox had a ton of phone calls and work to do. The highlight of the day though was our trip to Nibong Tebal, to see fireflies. This area is known for its Eco farming, Octopus farms, and Fireflies (I think). So off we went with the Spiral Synergy group. The plan was to head off the island and down to Nibong. Dinner was up first and we went to a Restaurant called...

Which specializes in seafood, they are known for their crab porridge and octopus (Roxanne wants me to tell you they were "crunchy not chewy")...We had an excellent meal that included some braised tofu (not my cup of tea) and two different kinds of veggies, a celery like veggie with bok choy, and a leafy veggie that was like collard greens but not as bitter. The highlights of the meal, were the curried prawns, steamed octopus, braised fish, seafood fried rice, and the crab porridge, that included the whole crab, shell and all.

Braised fish

steamed octopus

crab porridge

Following the meal we took a short ride on the bus down to the launch site for our Firefly trip.

Here in Malaysia fireflies are called Kelip-kelip, which I heard means "blink blink, or flash flash". the trip takes you out on the river, brackish water, about 20 feet deep in most places, that is surrounded on both sides by stands of mangrove...the people in the area have worked hard to preserve the mangrove, however they are often fighting a losing battle against the land owners who often cut it down to make money in the "charcoal" trade, big business. The fireflies remain particular to specific types of mangrove and a family of fireflies will remain together on one tree or one stand of trees, from egg to full grown adult they only live for 14 days, so the time to see them is short. There could be thousands of them in any one stand and they all flash together.

When you come upon a stand of mangrove with a family on them, it looks like a well lit Christmas tree with thousands of yellow/white lights flashing all in unison...it was really quite a site. there were times along the river that we could go for a few 100 feet and they would be covering the trees for that distance, the reflection of them flashing off the water made it quite magical. It was very difficult to photograph, as the boat was floating by them, it was very dark, and although you can see them, the light that they cast is not very bright. Roxanne tried to take some shots, but all they were was black. The Boat trip was great and we totally enjoyed the fireflies and will be back with guests (if we ever get any) for sure, a worthwhile trip!! We got home quite late, so there was not much to do except get everyone off to bed...Goodnight all!!

Thursday

I promised not to post days that were just routine days, so this will be the last post on those lines...This was one of those routines days. Rox off to work, Brenna off to school, I got in my morning run and other than the fact that my evening massage client cancelled (re-scheduled for next week) it was a rather routine day. I did meet Martin (Soccer Experience owner) on my way down to the post office to pay bills (I love the convenience of that...yes, ok its not as convenient as throwing a check in an envelope and dropping it in the mailbox, but come on people...work with me here!!) who let me know that he had another client for me, and I got a phone call from another client, so I am now up to 7 clients 6 actively scheduled with one pending. I had no idea this could grow like this...I am hoping to get to a point where I can see 1-2 clients a day, some days may be more...although that might just depend on demand...the way this is going i may have to change my visa status to working and find out what it would take to get a business started here...not sure if it is worth it, but could not hurt to find out. So It indeed was a routine day, but it had a bit of spice thrown in...enough that I felt it was worth a quick note!! Have a great day!! goodnight!!

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

Tuesday and the duck lady is back!!

So since I did not make it to Pulau Tikas wet market on Monday morning, I went today...the mission was fish, but I did notice that my roast duck lady was back and she had duck to sell, so I stopped off at her first and secured my duck, then went onto the rest of the shopping. So fish...the red snapper was so good the last time that I figured that that was what I was going to get. I tried a different stall this time, as it was surrounded by people, and the mantra has always been "look for the crowds!" So they had a nice fresh looking red snapper, I asked the guy at the stall to fillet it, he said he would but then passed it onto his two cutters, who's English was not that good, so with a little hand gesturing and finally having to walk around and show them, I got two really nice fillets. I also got the fish head and a fish steak from right behind the head...not sure what I am going to do with them...may be some fish head curry!! Anyway, so for fruit is was mango, and banana, I was looking for blueberries, no such luck, but they did have some nice strawberries, got some grapes as well as some more mangosteen. For veggies, some more corn, some sweet potatoes, some lettuce, and more baking potatoes...The veggies is where things fall off, they have some really nice cauliflower, but the rest of the veggies I have no idea about so maybe some research is in order!! So back home from the market and then our domestic help Rita was here, and she really cleaned allot today...it still makes me uncomfortable that there is someones else doing things I am capable of doing, in my home...So I also had another therapeutic massage client tonight, that is now my 4th client...this is really exciting...I am thinking that with a little effort on my part i may be able to build a thriving practice here...that would be good from the perspective of experience, but bad in a sense also, because I could not take them with me when I left. it would be good from the sense that it would help me to learn what it takes to build a practice, but bad, because I may not have such easy access, like I do here (no Martin, no soccer experience). At this point though, I am just going to be happy that I have clients and that I am getting experience!! So we cooked the red snapper that I bought today, not the head, and it was really good, i mean really good...is there anything better than eating fish that was caught the day you eat it!! So it was a really good day in Penang, goodnight all!!

Monday

Well Mondays are never fun, not even in Penang. today I had another scheduled therapeutic massage client, I am steadily building a practice and hopefully a positive following...they continue to come back so that must mean something! Anyway, so despite that this was a pretty basic day, I did not do a morning run today but an evening run, and got the bike out for the first time this afternoon, good times!! The traffic on a bike is a whole new kettle of fish, I mean they are just insane on the road...I don't think they are used to bicyclists as of yet either.Anyway, not much to tell about today. tomorrow will be the wet market, another client and domestic help day, so it will be more interesting!! Good day in Penang!! Goodnight!!

My New bike.

So Today began as a Saturday of running and running around, I tried a long run this morning and more can be read about that on the other blog (afloridianrunnerinpenang.blogspot.com). The running around we needed to do was to get a package from the main post office that we had missed delivery on, so we went via cab down to the main post, only because the later in the day that it gets the harder it is to find parking, and we ere not sure if it was the right post office that were intending on going to. Well we got it right on the post office and got Brenna's package, another one from the nanster, Brenna does love getting her care packages from home!! This one had dome clothes, some hair things, and some "flossers"...yes it is very difficult to find "flossers" in Penang. Well since we were down in Georgetown, I asked my loving bride if she would not mind stopping by the bike shop, I wanted to see what they had in stock and see if I might possibly be able to afford a decent road bike. The shop was very cool, not a great selection, but a decent selection, and they were a Trek dealer, which is what i wanted. I found a nice, lower end (price wise) no real bells and whistles, street bike, and the sales guy gave me a great deal on it, and a helmet and shoes...I just could not pass it up! Brenna and Roxanne got to pet the kitty cats that they had in the back of the store, there were a few that were very cute, one that even had the same coat as CiCi...That was perfect for Brenna as getting the bike did take some time, with the fitting adjustments and such...The one thing i never thought about as we neared the end of the sale was...how in the heck we were going to get it home?? We took a cab down, and he was not waiting for us, and there was no way that Rox could get back here tomorrow with her photo tour, and the week, was a burn. So we asked if they could deliver it and they were willing to do it...Awesome!!

So we departed the bike shop, and went into a small antique shop that was close by, It had some cool stuff in it, but I would imagine there are antique shops here that have much better. We got some lunch (pizza hut, good thing i ran this morning), and then got a cab back home. It was pretty late by that time, and we were all pretty beat from the heat. Brenna had been promised a trip to the 7th floor of the mall so she could spend some of her money on gum machine figures, and we were a bit hungry for dinner as well, so we went to "Winter Warmers" cafe, mostly just tea, but has some other food, Rox and i both got chicken and Brenna got a tuna sandwich, it was good, accept for the fact that the lime mint tea, came with little wine glasses that were rim dipped in salt...ewwwww, man it did not make the tea taste very good, so Rox and I had to wipe it off to enjoy our mint lime tea. back home and bedtime for us all a long day and Rox had to get up on Sunday morning to go on her photo tour. Until tomorrow!! goodnight!!