Dinner with Mark & Sheila

After the F1 race and before they ventured to Malacca, Mark & Sheila managed to steal a bit of time away to come and join us for dinner!  What a thrill to have them in our house.  We learned a number of things, including that Mark is a superstar board game player - trouncing us in Sorry as well as showing his farm roots by teaming up with Rania to defeat the competition in "Life on the Farm."  This has been a very popular game, originally from Uncle Don and Aunt Lynn, and is one of Rania's favorites.

Fun times, delicious food and lots of laughs!

Mark & Sheila!

What a huge privilege to have cousins, Mark & Sheila come to Kuala Lumpur!  We spent Saturday at the Mandarin Oriental, where they were staying and had a delightful time with them around the pool, talking and catching up with all sorts of interesting things - including updates from Arizona falling in March Madness action.

The girls had a blast in the pool and we enjoyed a nice time together.  They were in town, coming from Bali, as part of a trip that was originally scheduled around the Formula 1 race outside of Kuala Lumpur.  But what a thrill to have them in KL for a visit!

Birthday Cake!

The days of "Happy Birthday Daddy Cake" are long gone, but when we got back from our Spring Break adventures in Penang, we had the chance to have a birthday celebration.  The Bouwens came over and the birthday girl got quite a collection of presents!

The pillow pet was a bit hit - though the dry ice from the ice cream cake was also pretty fun, too!

Goodbye Penang

It was time to say goodbye to our visit to Penang and make the drive back to KL. 

We got in a last swim in the morning, where Reeve demonstrated the hair flip, the ability of his hair to take most of the water in the swimming pool and flip it upward. 

After another lunch at China House, Doug made the potentially ill-fated decision to not via with Georgetown traffic, but instead take the ferry.  It was an experience. . . .but not quite as efficient as Doug hoped (much to Tracy's frustration.) We'll see if the marriage can survive those lost minutes.

Batu Ferringhi

The place where we stayed was certainly an oasis and great place to have as our base.  Here is our review for the highly recommended place where we stayed (as long as you don't steal it from us when we try to go back!)

We ate most of our meals out; Penang is famous for its food and we enjoyed the stalls along the beach that had some really delicious food. 

And night swims!  Those don't happen so often anymore now that Grandpa and Grandma are not so close by. 

Georgetown

It was very hot, but we did a walking tour around Georgetown.  The kids managed (though perhaps did not enjoy it).  It was so fun to show everyone the Eastern and Oriental Hotel - where the girls and Doug stayed, courtesy of Grandpa Levi back in December 2007. 

 

Doug & Rania recalled the location of one of Doug's favorite pictures of all time.  Gabi remembered the place where the yummy waffles were served each morning - on the veranda on the edge of the boardwalk.  It was still every bit as picturesque as ever.

Auntie Marta will be very happy to know that the E & O has welcomed BOTH Douglas Fairbanks AND Douglas Woodward as its guests! 

We walked past Fort Cornwallis.  How a fort in Malaysia was named after the General who surrendered to George Washington is a story of the breadth of the British Empire.  

One of the more amazing places to eat ever was China House.  Doubling as an art gallery, the food was amazing - and you could doodle on the tablecloths.  WOW! Definitely a winner from the Yum List!

It was a hot day, but nice to see such a historical and magical location.

Parasailing

It was a first for all of us.  Only Tracy had ever been parasailing before, so we decided to try it.  

Reeve was the first one to go. 

Gabi's homework for Spring Break was reading in an "unusual place."  We figured that reading just as she was going to go Parasailing was probably unusual enough!

Then came the adventure.  Doug & Rania went together.  Doug thought he knew all the directions.  But either a strange burst of wind (that's what they said) or poor flying technique, we took a nasty spill just as we were coming in for landing.  A bit sore, but thankfully okay.

 

 You can see where we are just starting to go quite a bit off.  Then everyone went running to save us as we crashed just at the edge of the waves.  It could have been a lot worse! Now we have a story to tell.

What beautiful sunsets and great memories from a Spring Break we won't forget!

Spring Break in Penang

We found a delightful spot in Penang on the north part of the island - Batu Ferringgi and the gracious hostess, Sharon met us to welcome us to her place.

The slide was one of the highlights and the kids had a spectacular time going down the slide.  Not too long, but super fast!

As only Doug & the girls had ever been to Penang, it seemed like a nice easy Spring Break trip - and one we could do in the car!

Lasik

Doug finally did it.  He went for Lasik Eye surgery.  Many other ISKL teachers had used this doctor and highly recommended it - so Doug figured it might as well be the time to get rid of contacts.

The first 24 hours were far more uncomfortable than expected.  Hopefully things will improve quickly.