To Portugal for a Conference

Whining to Janet and Sarah about writing a blog: "It's so much pressure.  I don't know what tone to take... I don't want to brag...."
They assured small bits are ok and just a note here and there is fun.
Today, I find myself in a hotel in Dubai, in transit back to KL from my first medical education conference with colleagues in Lisbon.  Last year, we were in San Diego, and I had no idea what it would mean to be managing a medical unit or the medical challenges I might come across as I listened to our infectious disease expert or the other disaster scenarios to consider working in embassies.  I have now survived a couple of crises and have my own vision of what matters and what I need to learn.
So cool to see my mentor, now in Addis Ababa, and my link to the job, a pro from Kiev moving on to Oman next year... And to receive the list of next openings and dream of where we might go in 16 short months.
And have I said Lisbon is COOL?  Craig got out to explore a lot more than I did, hitting the streets with his favorite spouse co-conspirator, Tia.  He found the perfect Valentine's dinner spot at a castle overlooking the bay.  Every neighborhood has winding streets with impossibly quaint houses, some covered in beautiful tiles.  Even the tourist knick knacks are tasteful.  Seriously.
After classes ended, we took the weekend to drive south to Faro and had a one-day bicycle tour with Algarve Bike Tours.  The weather cooperated, so we were treated to more quaint villages, endless vistas of puffy clouds, and tidal rivers as we followed Paul (our guide) through a maze of country roads, shoreline bike paths, and cobblestone streets.
And, best of all, our new Ambassador presented her credentials to the King of Malaysia this week, so we can look forward to amazing leadership through our stay in Kuala Lumpur!
Craig will post pictures soon, I promise.
He is off in Chamonix with Kai, skiing today: 'nuf said!

Vietnam, Paradise, 2nd Honeymoons & Elections...

How to describe the irony of traveling to Paradise on the day after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections ???  Surreal.

We booked our vacation (which we dubbed 2nd Honeymoon) to Koh Lipe, Thailand so far back that we did not even think about it coinciding with Election day, November 8th - let alone imagining the outcome of that fateful day...  So the entire journey to our island getaway was a numbing, stumbling, flight away from the outside world... Yet, arriving at Sunrise Beach in a traditional Thai island boat, jumping off the side into the luscious warmth of the Andaman Sea immediately planted peaceful grins on our faces that remained for three unbelievable days.

Early in our life here in Malaysia, Alice stumbled onto the Serendipity Resort website one night and we both kind of got sucked in to the dream of it... booked our trip and didn't think much of it until the next day when Alice's Malaysian co-workers informed us our dates were smack dab in the middle of the closed stormy season !  Indeed, further investigation found there were actually no ferry services to the island !!!  So we frantically cut a deal with the resort to re-book and got Air Asia to re-issue tickets for November 9... little did we realize how significant that day would become.

The incredibly fortunate part of our timing faux pas was that in the interim months, we got scuba certified and arrived at this world class diving island eager to do our first solo (without instructor) dives !!!  If you have never dived, it is nearly impossible to describe the total bliss of being down below, seeing up close for REAL all those Nat Geo pictures, Sea Hunt (yes we are THAT old), and countless TV moments we have all seen... It is quite simply the coolest !  DORY LIVES ;)

Suffice to say, we have found a shared experience that promises to deliver endless adventures...

So back to paradise... 

Did I mention Thai nuts !!!!!!  

Or how about Rock Lobster...

It would be criminal to not mention our eating adventure that accompanies everything we do here !

Each country offers new tastes and opportunities to stretch our gastronomic horizons, while so far not being attacked by gastrointestinal misfortune...

While the scuba and snorkeling action took up much of our two days in paradise, our hillside hideaway was the best stuff dreams are made of...

Hammock

Veranda pool

In room Thai massage...

Did we mention the veranda infinity pool !!!

Sunrise on the Andaman Sea

Too many selfies right ?  OK, so Alice must suffer what my kids had to their whole young lives but hey - the smiles come easy here...

Everyone knows Craig is a poser...

Time Warp KL

Incredibly it has now been three months since our last blog !!!  There are no words to describe what a time slip it has been... Life in the Foreign Service is so new and crammed full of - well - newness !!! We are basically on the go every day and while we have settled into our lives here, the adventure of it all leaves us plopping into bed at night pleasantly pooped and ready for a nightly laugh from Colbert, Oliver or Noah !!!

Our trusty CRV is now ushering us around the country and the wild ass driving experience of Malaysia has provided enormous stress for Alice and frontier cowboy shoot from the hip driving for me... however, she is countering these journeys with profuse knitting and it seems to be a good combo - as long as I keep passing maneuvers down to a minimum...

   The Maclaren is our city car !






Even though we can cruise nicely at 120 kph
cars like these are constantly blasting by like we are crawling along... a vigilant eye must always be glued to the rearview mirror !  Also, notice the steering wheel is on the right side = more stress for Alice ;)







So if we back track over these last 3 months of radio silence (except for the occasional facebook entry), on Craig's 59th birthday we had our feet nibbled by little fishies and got a whole lot of Gold Medal Ribbon ice cream from Baskin Robbins - yes - they are in every mall over here !!!

They won't make a cake out of Gold Medal Ribbon in the tropics cause it's too soft and would melt on the way home...  He also got a REAL wedding ring from his blushing bride to replace the $15 titanium one he ordered for the wedding - Ha !

                                                      

We took a splendid overnight trip to Melacca - which at one time very long ago was the center of trade in the entire region... We found an incredible funky charm to the place and stumbled on a local painter's gallery/studio who showed us his work and living space and even gave us a banana from his backyard tree !!!  One day we will buy one of his $20,000. paintings ;)

      

                                       


Then there are the unending perfect evenings out in KL which inevitably lead to sighs and toasts and pinches to prove this is all really happening !!!  And no - we never get tired of seeing the two iconic structures of KL - The Menara KL Tower and the twin Petronas Towers...




                               
The next phase of our endless summer entailed a hefty dose of work at the Embassy for Alice which has riveted her as a dependable, empathetic and extremely welcome medical provider to this community.
She would never display it openly but I have heard from literally everyone here just how vital her arrival and subsequent role has become.  She has the perfect mix of experience for this work and well... her bedside manner is what has won the hearts of anyone she touches...  From small kids to seasoned vets of every department of the foreign service, to the Zika virus and most recently a training in Minnesota for emergency treatments resulting from bad people with bombs, she is being challenged on many fronts and is actually reveling in it all !!!  What a woman.


                                        Now back to fun - WE GOT CERTIFIED !!!

                                                       

It took longer than expected due to our instructor's back going out and Craig getting flu but in the end, we trained...

We drove like banshee's for 4 hours, took a nauseating (for me)  ferry ride packed in like sardines

                                  

and finally arrived in Paradise...



Then we dove...

                                       

And were certified...

I have wanted for pretty much my entire adult life to experience scuba diving.  My mountain lifestyle has not been conducive to learning so this is truly one of the great joys of my life and I can say for both Alice and I, it is a magical world that we are excited to explore together, and living here in the epicenter of warm water scuba diving will give us plenty of chances... Next trip will be to Koh Lipe, Thailand !!!   

Two weeks after we were on Pulau Tioman, we returned there with Charlotte who flew in for a visit before she started her Semester Abroad program at University of San Francisco !!!   After some local KL sights such as Batu Caves, this time we went snorkeling. It was such a blast to be there and share that with her... She even saw a shark !!!   A long way from Portland and Grant High School she has come !!!  What a class act that girl is... It is truly breathtaking to see her exploding into her life !

                                                                    

The mother and child reunion is only a motion away...

So as we draw close to getting y'all caught up with our life here in Malaysia,  there are just a few random activities around the city and surrounding hills we have done, such as the Malaysian Independence Day Parade...  Malaysia's 4th of July

                                                                       

                                                  

And hiking with new friends...

      

                                                                          

It already seems like 2 years will barely scratch the surface of our discovery quest but we are jumping into it with gusto and have no doubt this will be the most wondrous 2 years imaginable... It kinda already is !!!!

We'll work on staying a bit more current...  

For now - Selamat tinggal  Jumpa lagi !!!  

A quick note from Alice: I have very little to add, except we feel so blessed to be able to stay in touch with all of you far away and welcome calls any old time on FaceTime, What's App, or the old fashioned telephone.  

Elephants, diving and Singapore, oh my!

The 4th of July is around the corner,  but oddly the U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur celebrations have all come and gone.  First time I've worked for the federal government, and there is literally nothing to do on the anniversary of the nation's (and Charlotte's) birth!  Sigh.

                                                                                                     But that does not mean life is boring!

Craig and I had our second pool lesson to get certified for SCUBA and are heading to Redang Island on Friday for our open water dives.  Word is things get more challenging in the ocean!

Last weekend, we travelled just outside KL to see the elephant sanctuary and then to Singapore.

The poor elephants, like so much wildlife here, have lost much of their habitat to the palm plantations.  

It's hard to say if they are happier entertaining the likes of us,

but getting up close enough to look deeply into the eyes of an elephant was pretty amazing.  She had really long lashes! 

Of course Craig had fun on a different level...

                                     Singapore is so close but completely different from Malaysia...

                                                                             Sidewalks.  Singapore has very nice, wide, even sidewalks where Malaysian sidewalks are quirky in many ways. Our KL sidewalks come and go, sometimes cracking away or offering precipitous drops to the street; and the scariest are smooth tile stretches that resemble ice after a rainstorm...

 

... and taxis.  Singaporeean taxis are high-end, well-maintained cars with drivers in uniform that are well-spoken and talkative. Malaysian taxis are charmingly small and a bit rickety with drivers who don't know the name of our street but always respond to "Proton shop Ampang?" with a quick nod and "Yes yes yes"...

... and motorbikes.  Malaysian streets and highways offer up unending streams and rivulets of motorbikes weaving between cars, along shoulders, dicing apart lanes of traffic.  Driving is a new kind of video game.  At first you just sense something seems so calm in Singapore, then you realize there are really only cars on the road, no motorbikes !

We visited the giant biodomes at the Gardens by the Bay, and checked out a huge succulent garden and Baobab, olive, and palm trees growing inside.

Seeing the Singapore Embassy and meeting my boss and his team at the regional medical office was also a treat.  But best of all, we saw Craig's new ENT, who after a quick scope assured us his tongue still looks great.  Next up is the big CT neck and chest scan in December !!!

  

              Before we knew it, we were back to our "normal" life of tennis lessons, video making...

                    ...and household effects receiving for Craig and managing the health unit for me.


My new running buddy left for a Honduras this week, and our social sponsors, my boss and his wife, and many others are leaving in the next two weeks.  Such is the life cycle of a US Embassy !!!  The transition season is in full swing and underlines how nice it is that we are together!