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...
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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.
