The March Malaysian Tour

I think we blinked and March was over. We spent the month working (hard) for the weekend, indulging in late nights, early beach days, and making some headway on our ever-growing list of Malaysian weekenders.

First up, we headed off to the food-famous island of Penang to gorge on streetfood, trape around on rickshaws and to soak in a bit of colonial-vs-Malaysian-ness. Penang did not disappoint, although the intense heat was a killer (you know the wonton soup is AMAZING when you are willing to sweat it out at midnight just to have a taste)!We didn't do much exploring of the island as a whole, but mostly wandered around the city of Georgetown dipping into gitchy cafes, dim sum dives and the odd museum...mainly for the air-conditioning (although I can now tell you all about the Penang Hill Railway which opened its doors in 1923). Anyway, Tyler and I didn't get a chance to explore as much as we would have liked due to the onset of a month-long bronchitis saga...however, we liked what we saw!

Even though I was super sick, Holi festival was in town and although not in India, I figured this was the closest I was going to get. We put on our whitest clothes and headed for the Hindu temple a couple blocks from our house. We had a blast throwing powder at each other, pretending we knew how to Bollywood dance...and then trying to find a taxi to take us home. Having a giggly paint fight with a 9 year old is something teachers can only dream of; If you can, get to a Holi Fest within an Indian community.

Literally, metaphorically--Night and day.

About mid-March we got the sudden news that our friends Ali&Serkan were being quickly relocated to Europe. As the sound of breaking hearts echoed through the halls of our condo, a going away party was planned and executed with what some may call sophisticated poise ($1.50 mojitos, a live band and a taco stand on the corner is really all the class I can handle at this point in my life).
We miss you boys!

As the departure of Serkan and Ali was somewhat abrupt, Tyler and I had unwittingly booked a 6am flight for the next morning. As we had already considered ditching the flight before the farewell party got rolling, I was pretty proud of us for packing, getting to the airport, taking one seriously rocky boat ride and arriving on Perhentian Island by 10 am...it wasn't all family-fun smiles, but we got there.

So the chain of islands on the east coast of Malaysia are BEAUTIFUL, but are not always available due to weather. The Islands had just 'opened' up in February, and the seas were still rocky....however the weather and water had calmed closer to land and were awesome.Tyler and I spent the next 8 days seriously decompressing. We feverishly read our books (everyone should read A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry), snorkeled around, played cards, marveled at the seriously crystal clear water and celebrated Tyler's 27th birthday! As we had been warned about the lack of alcohol on the island as it is in a more traditional Malay part of the country, we had a few tricks up our sleeves, and spent our evenings watching the Sugar-gliders make their way home while hitting the Uno hard. The lack of party that usually comes along with an island paradise was really refreshing. It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever had!

Photographic evidence of doing pretty near nothing for a week....but THAT water!

 Unbelievably enough, when Ty&I got back from the Perhentian Islands....I still had a week of vacation (I have very little to complain about with my work situation). A group of co-workers headed to the hills for some gossip, laughs and continued R&R. Cameron Highlands is a mountain area three hours up a very windy road where there is copious amounts of fresh air, tea fields, scones and strawberries. With Magesh who kept the tour group on its toes, we had a great time chatting and chatting and chatting....and buying strawberry themed souvenirs.

Ok, so as you can see we have been a bit manic about seeing bits and bobs of Malaysia in March. Although we are still pretty enthusiastic about our Malaysian tour, we can pump the brakes a bit and start to throw in some international trips again...bbbeeccaauuussee we are considering spending one more year in Malaysia. Yes, we've been threatening to leave Asia for a few years, but Tyler and I are really excited to sign contracts at the same school (the whole working at separate schools is really just not working for our lifestyle). Here's to one more time around the block!