Sri Lanka

The Blue Lotus is the national flower of Sri Lanka. It's beauty and uniqueness reflect the qualities of the country it represents. Sri Lanka is a country of stunning beauty. It is lush with enchanting beaches, mountains, and people. We spent 2 short days there, recognizing that we will be back for a longer and closer look.
The flight from KL to Columbo is 3 hours. We arrived in Sri Lanka at 7:15am on Friday. Hikkaduwa, our destination, was about 120km south of the airport. In my travel plans that distance would take about 2 hours and I estimated we'd arrive at our hotel by 10:00am. I forgot to take into account we were travelling in a third world country. We arrived dusty and weary about noon. We spent our first day at the beach soaking up the sun, the r and r, and the beauty.

The next day we hired a tuk-tuk driver, Anura, to show us around a bit. We went to Galle to see the largest European fort established in Asia. It is a world heritage site and sits right on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. It was established long before the Europeans came though and was a major trading center for the Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and Indians. The Portugese, Dutch, and English all realized the importance of the fort as center for the spice trade and took turns ruling until the British were finally kicked out in 1947. It was then that the island replaced its colonial name, Ceylon, with Sri Lanka.
After a good look around the old fort and parts of the city we checked out some gem shops. Sri Lanka is renown for gems and so we looked through piles of sapphires, agates, and other precious and semi-precious stones. Weary from this we headed to another beach a little south of Galle for a swim and lunch. The beach at Unawatuna is a little smaller than Hikkaduwa but better for swimming. We spent a couple hours hanging out both on the beach and in the water.
After the beach we tootled on a little bit farther to visit a tea plantation. It was a small operation but specialized in white tea, which is a delicacy. We were the only visitors and we were treated like royalty tasting tea in an old colonial home on the hill overlooking the plantation. We got to see the whole operation. It was a mixed farming affair with a few mango and papaya, as well as rubber trees mixed in among the tea bushes. The machinery they used to dry and crush the leaves was ancient, dating back to the mid 1800's.

It was nice to get to know our driver, Anura. Like most of the folks along the coast he had a sad story to tell about the tsunami. He lost his home and meager possessions when it hit in 2004. Pretty well all the local fishermen and villagers who lost their homes were forced to relocate in land after the tsunami hit. They were told it was too dangerous to go back and it was a condition for aid. It didn't take long however after the locals left for the multinational hotel chains to scoop up the best beaches, after they were cleaned up with aid $$, for development at bargain prices.



This ox and cart was on the streets of Galle. I think this fellow must have delivered those sacks of cement you see in the background. He was rather ripped.


Picking tea at the White Tea Plantation. Apparently the first time a human actually touches white tea has is with the lips when drank. The Chinese emperors had their pickers use gold scissors to harvest. I don't think they had those here. We sampled some and it tasted delicious, smooth but we didn't want to sell our house to buy some. Apparently they get regular orders from Middle Eastern royal families.


The fishermen here are tidying up their nets after a day on the sea. When we watched the sunset and sat on the beach in the evening we could see hundreds of fishing boats out on the ocean. It is called the highway to India as they stretch from the south of Sri Lanka to the Indian coast. Many of these fellows went out in wooden catamarans with one pontoon.

A women selling her mangos on the side of road.

The streets of Galle were full of market scenes like this. Lots of produce and fresh produce for sale.

This snake had Maureen excited. It was scurrying through the newly planted rice field. It was about 4 ft. long. According to Anura it was a harmless one.

Vietnam

Almost two months have gone by since the last post. Hmm... time is slippin' away.
Shirley and Maureen returned in the wee hours from Hong Kong on October 5th. Things have been pretty hectic since then. The highlight of our time (except for the company, of course) was the trip to Vietnam.
We had a week long school break in October. We flew to Ho Chi Minh City(Saigon) right after school ended on Friday October 9. It is an incredible place. The city has a flow and buzz to it that never stops. It is a city of 7 million residents and 10 million motorcycles. The roar and flow of the bikes is the first thing we noticed coming into the city but everything is a feast for the senses. There is a unique mix of new and old, poor and affluent. There are modern highrise buildings and butchers cutting up meat on the street in front of them. Old ladies, like the one above, in traditional hats and baskets full of goods for the markets with chic ladies in BMW's roaring by.
We spent our first three days just exploring and looking around. We visited many of the war museums and got the 'other side's' view on things. A highlight was a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong had built an elaborate set of tunnels to provide communications and supplies to the resistance. They were incredibly small and deviously constructed with traps for the enemies and escape routes for themselves. They did demonstrate the tenacity and craftiness of the Vietnamese. The farm boys from the Midwest and the poor boys from the projects did not stand a sniff of a chance against them.





After a couple days in city we flew to a much quieter location, Hoi An. Hoi An is an old trading town smack in the middle of Vietnam. Most of the buildings date from between the 15th and 18th century. It is most famous presently for its abundance of tailors plying their trade for tourists. There are about 150 tailor shops in town who can whip up pretty well anything you want from any fabric you desire for next to nothing. We arrived about 10 days after the typhoon had ravaged the area. The famous Japanese bridge in town, for example, was completely underwater after the typhoon. We did do our part to help out with the recovery by employing a few tailor shops. I came back with a suit and numerous shirts and pants, all custom fit and made. You can only imagine what Maureen and Shirley did. We did manage a couple excursions while we were in Hoi An. We went on a cycling/fishing trip. We got to see both farmland and fishing villages with this. We also took part on a motorcycle trip in the countryside. The story behind this adventure is much too long for the blog though.
The next two photos show a couple market scenes from Hoi An.


This photo was taken at the temple on top of Marble Mountain in Danang.


We returned to KL on Sunday, October 18th. Maureen and I were busy with work while Shirley toured around Malaysia a bit visiting Cameron Highlands, a hill station/tea plantation in the middle of the country and Malacca. Maureen took off at the end of the week to go on a build with Habitat for Humanity in Kuching on Borneo. This was a trip she thoroughly enjoyed both the experience of building and the Kuching and region. Shirley left on Monday, the 26th. A couple days after that Guy and Pam Woods arrived for a visit. We got to tour them around a bit but they were independent for the most heading off to Bali and around Malaysia while we worked on report cards and kept busy with coaching and other work commitments. It was nice to connect and see them and provide some tips for travel around the area.

Our next break is this coming weekend. We took advantage of yet another Air Asia sale and have booked to go to Sri Lanka for the three days. We've found a nice place to chill out in Hikkaduwa.
We are really looking forward to Christmas when both Cole and Alana join us. We are off to Bali with them to spend part of the Christmas vacation and can hardly wait.



An international squad from Switzerland, Singapore, India, Peru, Malaysia, the US and Canada.

My girls' soccer season wrapped up last week-end with a tournament. We play 7 a side which makes for a bit of a change from the regular game. Maureen's basketball season will start up shortly after the Christmas break.

Thoughts about Padang

We were in Padang one week before the earthquake hit. My thoughts keep returning to the sights and memories our experiences which seem so different from the images plastered on the television. In my last entry I did mention that Padang had a real 3rd world edge to it. A little dirty and run down, garbage all over. One night as we walked from the restaurant where we dined to our hotel we caught a cat and rat duking it out over some trash. The rat was literally as big as the cat.
The landscape and the people though were beautiful. I've provided a link to a little BBC news clip in which the reporter discusses the search efforts on the Ambacang Hotel, the place where we stayed while in Padang. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8286833.stm) I can't help but wonder what happened to the people we met who worked at the hotel. All of them were so friendly and helpful. I wonder what happened to the cute little desk clerk who had just finished studying English at university. She wore beautiful traditional clothes that Maureen really liked and desperately tried to find while we were there. Her dream was to save up a enough money to travel to other countries, something that she didn't know if she would ever be able to do. I wonder what happened to bell boy that bent over backwards to help us with anything we needed. He was a bit of an oddity in Indonesia. At 6ft 3in he was a giant in a land where even I am taller than most people. I wonder what happened to all the staff, the cleaners, food service, doormen..... The hotel offered swim lessons in their pool for some of the local children. The lessons were happening Wednesday afternoon when the quake struck. I've included a few pictures of happier times in Padang.


This picture was from our room in the Ambacang Hotel. I had to take it. Seeing the KFC bucket in the foreground and the tradtional Minangkabau buildings in the background typified the dilemna faced by developing countries. How do they maintain their own culture with the pressures of the western multi-national corporations? The KFC was located in the side of the hotel and was always packed. I can only imagine that it was full when the quake struck. Looking over the building you can see the Indian Ocean in the background.




The main market in Padang. Everyone was in a celebratory mood when we were there during Hari Raya.

We had a snack on the second floor of a little restaurant and watched the sun set into the Indian Ocean. The setting was gorgeous. Across the street and on the edge of the ocean little stands like the ones you see here sold local food.

The people of the area were so relaxed and happy. They love music and it seems every young man plays a guitar. Like most people in third world countries they have much less but seem to be very content. Living on the 'ring of fire' perhaps gives them a special way of looking at the world and enjoying each day.


We drove to a little bay on the out skirts of Padang. This was a view looking at Padang through it's harbour. The main part of town is hidden by the rise on the left.This is a view down the food stalls that line the ocean. Unfortunately the beach area in front of these was usually full of plastic and other trash.


The streets and market were full on the eve of Hari Raya. The oplets (the vans here) were jammed packed full of people heading home with their last minute purchases at the market.
I have seen a more recent photo of this area and all the buildings were destroyed.



Deepavali--
We have one more week of school and then a week off for a fall break. It ends with the Indian celebration of Deepavali. Below are photos of some of the Indian mothers in the school creating these beautiful rice decorations on the floor outside the elementary school entrance.
It really is rather nice to celebrate and learn about all these cultural celebrations from other countries. I had Chinese children bring moon cakes to school for the Moon Festival on Saturday. A Korean mom brought me some glass noodle dish on Friday in honour of Korean thanksgiving (the name of which it forget now).
Maureen is in Hong Kong picking up Shirley Neil this weekend. From the text messages I'm getting it sounds like are having a blast. I went to the Malaysian Open tennis tournament last night and got to see the semi-finals where Gonzales played Verdasco. It was an incredible match.
Next weekend we are off to Vietnam for 10 days or so. We had planned to visit Hoi An and Hue in the central part but they are still mopping up from all the flooding that occurred from the typhoon so we may have to do some adjusting. I guess I'll report in my next post.

West Sumatra

The cries of ‘buleh, buleh’ followed us wherever we went in both Padang and Bukittinggi in West Sumatra. Literally it means blue eyes but it's a term the Indonesians use for all foreigners. The kids all seemed to look carefully at your eyes to see if they really were blue, though. The people of West Sumatra were very friendly and very happy we were visiting their area. They don’t really get a lot of tourists other than aging, rich surf bums (all males from what we could see) passing through to catch the monster waves of Menawati Islands.
We were visiting during Hari Raya, which signals the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. This was probably not the best time to pick to travel in the most populous of all Muslim countries. Everyone, it seemed, was on the road heading off to visit friends and family or heading off on some vacation. The highways were very crowded and trips that should have taken us 2 hours took 4 and many restaurants and shops were closed up for the holiday. The flip side of this was that we got to see how the holiday was celebrated. On Sunday morning, the first day of Hari Raya Puasa, we watched throngs of people streaming out of the mosques as we headed from Padang to Bukittinggi. Everyone was beaming because the fast was finally over and proudly wearing the new clothes that everyone buys for the celebration. The women were all wearing the traditional headwear with long flowing dresses and the men were in their sarongs, batik shirts, fez type hats.
We arrived in Padang early on Saturday and planned a snorkeling trip with Losman Carlos. This turned out to be a bust as the boat were heading off on broke down after we barely got out of the bay. We did manage to watch the village fishermen haul in their nets and saw some beautiful scenery on the way to the beach. The island of Sumatra has a string of volcanoes(most of them active) running down it’s spine with rice field and rainforests spilling out into the ocean. All in all it is very stunning. After our misadventure on the ocean we headed back to Padang. Padang is the capital of West Sumatra and has a bit of an edge to it. Things are rather dilapidated and garbage abounds. It is right on the Indian Ocean but our walk to the beach was rather disappointing as the ocean is treated by the locals rather like a landfill site. Being the day before Hari Raya it was very busy. The holiday is much like Christmas is for us and everyone was shopping for new clothes to wear or for gifts for the children. It was a feast for the senses and we walked through crowds taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. They have these most amazing ’pimped’ up Suzuki vans called oplets which work as private buses. You can stop one at any point on the street and ask to go to your destination for very cheap. This is great but they usually pick up a dozen or more people on the way and they were all jam packed. Everyone honks their horns in Indonesia and so the streets are full of the sound of blaring horns.
Padang is known for its spicy food. We found a great seafood restaurant to eat at. When they take your order they bring out a tray full of fish, live crabs, prawns, and octopus. You pick the one you want and the style you would like to have it cooked. We grabbed a red snapper and had it grilled with coconut sauce. Delicious!! Everything has a kick to it in Padang and so we had to cool things off with a couple bottles of Bintang.
We hired a car and driver to take us to Bukittinggi the following morning. Self-drive is not really recommended in Indonesia and it is easy to see why once you are on the road. Everything is optional; using lanes, stopping at red lights, and other rules of the road we follow at home are considered only suggestions here. It would be rather nerve-racking to try this on your own. Attempting to navigate the road system and find your way from point A to point B would drive most folks to suicide. Hiring a really nice car and driver for the day comes to a grand total of about $40 and so is a much more sane option.
The drive to Bukittinggi was beautiful. Being in the mountains it was much cooler here. We spent the day exploring the town with a little side trip to a small village of silversmiths. The main square in Bukittinggi was packed with the holiday crowd. The Dutch were the colonial masters of Indonesia and many of the building around the town reflected a Dutch style with shuttered windows and bright colored paint. The square boasts a Dutch clock. We walked to the zoo for a quick visit but it was a rather sad affair with animals caged in very confined areas. We found that we became an attraction as popular as the animals as people kept asking us to have their picture taken with their families. (Buleh, buleh) We also had a tour through the Japanese caves. The Japanese built an elaborate system of caves here (I should say made the Indonesians build). No one is really sure of the purpose but they did this all over lands they occupied in South-East Asia during the Second World War. The Japanese still are not too popular with the Indonesians as a result. When we asked directions to the caves they would draw their fingers across their throats in bayonet fashion and then spit on the ground. The Japanese killed all the labourers who built the caves after they were completed so the ‘secret of the caves’ would not get out.

The architecture in West Sumatra is quite incredible. The traditional homes were built with roofs that were to represent the horns of the water buffalo. Many of the government buildings in Padang were built in that style but in Bukittinggi many homes and other buildings also used this design. The people of the area are Minangkabau and have a strong cultural heritage. The clans are matriarchic which seems to go against what most Muslims practice but they have blended the two heritages quite well.
On Monday we hired another driver and went to Lake Minanjau. The lake is a crater lake. Descending to it was spectacular. There are 44 hairpin curves to navigate and the roads are really narrow. According to our driver there usually are no other cars on the road but during Hari Raya it was packed. At the lake we hired bikes and pedaled off on a very quiet road. Winding through small villages and rice fields was very peaceful. We only wished that we were able to spend more time there. We did have a nice lunch on the shore of the lake. The owner of the restaurant is also a guide. He heads up wild boar hunts in the jungle. I just added that to my ‘bucket list’. Hunting wild boar in the jungles of West Sumatra seems like an adventure that can’t be passed by. We went back to Padang that evening in order to catch our flight back to KL the next morning.
We have a three day work week this week and we both wish they were all like this. We’re off to a Black-Eyed Peas concert on Friday(who the heck are they anyway?), we have a dodge ball tournament on Saturday, and a tennis match with folks from the Canadian Association of Malaysia on Sunday. Next week Maureen is off to Terrangannu with the Grade 9 students for their Malaysian Studies trip. On Friday of next week she will also head to Hong Kong to meet Shirley Neil. Shirley is coming to join us for October and on our 10 day trip to Vietnam over the fall break. Never a dull moment.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is in northern Thailand. Maureen and I took our 'personal' day off of school on August 21st and headed there with Maureen's sister and Len. We stayed the weekend while they lingered on for a bit more before heading down to Bangkok for a visit there.
Chiang Mai is an ancient town and regional headquarters. The central city is surrounded by a moat and there still are remnants of the walls around the city and grand gates to enter it by. Most people go to Chiang Mai for a short visit to the city and then to head off into the country-side to trek or have some adventures with elephants and other such things. We spent the weekend exploring the city and some of the hundreds of wats or Buddhist temples in the city. The grandest wat of all, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, is situated on a hillside some 15 kilometers out of the city. Legend has it that around 1300 the builders sent an elephant off with a Buddha strapped on it's back and chose the site when the elephant stopped at this point and died. The site apparently does offer some wonderful views of the city and countryside. Unfortunately the weather was rather socked in for our visit and we couldn't see to much. The temple though was amazing and we spent a long time exploring and viewing.
Another highlight of Chiang Mai is it's markets. They have a night market that sells many local hill tribe crafts as well as thousands of other trinkets that can be found all over South-East Asia (I think we have one of each of them by now). Shopping and the food were both great. We stuck to Thai food although the first night we ate in a British pub style place. Most of the tourists around us were gobbling down french fries but that seemed sacrilegious to us. The food where ever we ate was incredible.
We left Jan and Len in Chiang Mai and headed back to KL to work. They continued to have great adventures both there and in Bangkok. After there return to KL and pretty well one month after there arrival they returned to Vancouver. The time certainly flew by quickly and it is hard to believe that one month of work has also gone by. 9 more to go in this school year.
We are back into our schedules here. I have started coaching soccer this week. We still manage to get out to play some tennis a couple times a week. Maureen starts her coaching later on in the year but will be heading off with a group of students on a Habitat for Humanity project to Borneo for a week. In the mean time she keeps the social schedule busy. We're off to some grand opening of some club downtown on Thursday with folks way younger than us and Saturday, I think she has us lined up for two events. Somethings never change.

Kids dressed up in traditional costumes at the entrance to wats. Helping with the family income.



Umbrella maker we saw at factory we visited. How could you not buy one?

Monks in prayer and meditation.

Back in Malaysia

We're back!! It is always hard to figure out where the time goes over summer. This year things went by faster than usual. We were finished school on the 5th of June. We hung around KL for a bit after school ended enjoying the quiet time. While were in 'tax jail' we did manage to fit in two trips. The first was to Bali where we spent 6 days and confirmed our love for the place, pledging that it will be our 'winter retreat' once we retire. After a few days of packing up back in KL we headed off to the Perhentian Islands in north-east Malaysia. The Perhentian's are absolutely spectacular and we enjoyed the beach and the snorkeling that is second to none. After returning to Kuala Lumpur we spend a hurried few days moving out of our old condo, putting our belongings in storage, and packing up for our trip home.
We returned to Canada as soon as we could, which was July 2nd. The time home really was too short as we needed to return to work on July 30. We did enjoy touching base though with friends and, of course, seeing Cole, Alana, and Pedja as well as most of the rest of our families. Nelson is uniquely beautiful and going back confirmed it as our home.
We arrived back in KL on July 29. We got in about 3 in the afternoon and spend until the wee hours unpacking our things and moving into the new condo(see the view from new condo above). We started work the following day. We had two days of meetings which we were able to sleep through easily enough. On Saturday August 1st Maureen's sister Jan and her husband Len arrived for their month holiday in SE Asia. The next week was spent working during the day and touring around the country-side in the evening. We managed to pack in seeing the fireflies at Kuala Selangor, watching the sunset and the lights come on at Petronas Towers from the Skybar, and other things I can't even remember now. Jan and Len joined us at the big 'back to school bash' on the first Friday of school. They got to see how the MKIS family of teachers have fun together. We got up early the following morning, Saturday, and headed off to Malacca for the day. We got to show them around our favourite get away close to KL, a two hour drive away. We then saw Jan and Len off to Bali the next day. Moe and Jan in front of one of the Chinese Nonya guild halls.

We spent last week recouperating and settling into our jobs at school. I'm teaching Grade 5 again and have a great bunch of kids. Maureen is teaching Grade 9 PE and Health. She is much more comfortable in this position and enjoying the challenge of teaching a rather talented group of kids.
We spent this past weekend busy again. Last year Maureen had volunteered to look after a couple kids of some fellow teachers once a month and they took us up on the offer. They came home with us Friday after school and they kept us busy as only a 4 and 8 year could do. We did have a party in our condo complex to go to in the evening so we had to get a babysister for a while. Too funny!!! The next morning Maureen ditched me with the kids and took off for a climbing course at Camp 5. (Check it out at http://www.camp5.com) I did manage to equip myself with gear from MEC in Vancouver so I can climb there this year and Maureen did want to take a course to use as part of her PE program at school climbing wall and to also join me once in awhile at Camp 5. The kids were picked up in the early afternoon. I spent the rest of the day resting while Maureen managed the energy to head off to a wine tasting event with some other teachers in downtown KL.Yahoo!!
Maureen at the bouldering part of Camp 5.

I headed out to the airport late that evening to pick up Maureen's sister and husband. Their plane was delayed, of course, and we ended up not getting back home until about 2 am. We spent a lazy Sunday, had some friends over for dinner, and then saw them off again early in the morning as Jan and Len headed to the Perhentians.
Next Friday starts the first of many trips we have planned this year. We have taken our 'personal' day from school and are heading to Chiang Mai with Len and Jan for the weekend. We have also booked 4 days in Padang, West Sumatra in September, 10 days in Vietnam with Shirley Neil in October, and a long weekend in Siem Reap, Cambodia in November. Alana is joining us at Christmas time and depending on when she is able to get hereafter UBC exams. we will be off somewhere during this holiday

End of the school year

Well, the first year is now over. The past few weeks were as busy as any end of the year could be, with a seemingly endless amount of report writing, portfolio preparation and presentations, field days, field trips and good-byes. The good-byes have occupied quite a bit of time lately. The school has a typical turnover of 30% of its teachers and students and so we have said or are saying good-bye to some new found friends, hoping that we will stumble into them again at some point along our journey. They are all good people and we hate to see any of them leave.
It has been quite nice taking things easy for the past few days and actually being relaxed in KL for the first time. We've been out to brunch twice and ate way too much both times. Both venues were downtown and I think I am at the point where I can drive to the centre of the city without my GPS, something unfathomable even a few months ago. We've also cranked up the tennis playing and have managed to get a set a day for the past few days.
It has been hot however. We moved our plants over to some friends so that would be watered over the holidays and even that little bit of exercise left me drenched. If sweating gets rid of toxins, Maureen and I have been well cleansed over the past year.
We leave on Thursday for Bali. We are allowed 6 more days out of Malaysia to comply with their tax laws. When I found this out a few months ago I immediately got on the Air Asia web site and managed to nab seats to Bali for about $4 return each for us (taxes and other fees in the total is $70CAD for both of us). There is no better place on earth than Bali to escape for our last reprieve from 'Malaysian tax jail'. After we return we are packing up to move apartments. We found something in the same complex for less $$. We lose our fantastic view but gain in other ways, primarily with a kitchen where Maureen will be actually able to cook in. The packing will be short lived however as we leave a few days after our return for the Perhentians, a group of islands in the South China Sea not far from Thailand. According to all reports these are the gem of Peninsular Malaysia and we will spend a week there relaxing and snorkeling before our flight back to Canada on July 2nd.

Tapirs to Penang

A tapir at the sanctuary, one of the stops on the Grade 5 field trip.

The past few weeks have flown by as we knew they would as we approach the end of the school year. Every thing gets more frenetic as the year begins to come to end. Definitely no ‘winding down’ only a quickened pace followed(June 6) by a dead stop. I’ll work backwards to the last blog entry.
I’m sitting on a ‘school bus’ right now on our way home from Penang. One thing about Malaysia and some other countries is that bus travel is a far sight better than home. Reclining seats, TV, clean and comfortable, we even have our own ‘tour guide’ on board (although I really haven’t quite figured out his role yet other than keep the driver company). We went to Penang for a tournament with Maureen’s Jr. boys basketball team. A male chaperone was needed and I got the call. I guess there are some advantages to having both of us at the same school. The school hosting the tournament is located right on the ocean and so the setting was quite spectacular. We even managed to sneak into visit into Georgetown, Malaysia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site.
We spent just enough time to realize that we need to come back for a longer and closer look.
The architecture, colours on the streets, and shops are a feast for the eyes in Georgetown.

School has been and will continue to be busy with end of the year concerts, ceremonies, student led conference prep, report card writing, fun day planning etc., etc.. One reality of an international school is that it becomes a focal point for students, their families, and staff as one place of belonging in a city and culture so different and far away from our own families, friends, and familiarity. As a result many things are planned, celebrated, and well attended. While we don’t catch everything we do make it to most events.
We have managed to establish a couple nice regular interludes during the week. After our weekly Wednesday staff meeting we try to head out for dinner with our friends, Christian, Cindy, and Laura. We’ve also been getting in a regular tennis match with Melanie and Malcolm. The games are quite competitive and the level of play is improving as we are now playing on a regular basis.
Last weekend was relatively quiet for us. We hosted Geoff Bullen and his girl friend, Mazi, on their lay-over from Indonesia to Thailand. Friday night we headed out with them to listen to one of our teachers’ bands play its last gig. Tricia has landed a job in Madrid and will heading off as soon as school ends in June. On Saturday night we prepared a ‘home cooked’ meal for our guests and watched a movie. I let Maureen spend Mother's Day going the a ballet with some friends. I couldn't get too excited about seeing 'Men in Tutus'.

Maureen and Laura cavorting with the dancers from 'Men in Tutus'.

The weekend before this was the Malaysian Labour Day weekend and we headed off to Kapas Island again to enjoy the beach and snorkeling. We stayed at the Dutch resort again and I’m sure we came home a few pounds heavier after enjoying a few days of Sylvie’s cooking. On the trip home we found out why it isn’t such a good idea to travel out of the city on a civic long weekend. We ended up in a traffic jam about 150 kilometers out of the city and had to settle for 40 kph crawl back home at that point.The walkway to the snorkeling beach at Kapas. The island in the distance is called Gem Island.

The week before the trip to Kapas we took 80 Grade 5's on an overnight trip. We visited an orchard, tapir sanctuary, rice farm, watched the fireflies, hiked in a mangrove reserve, and visited a traditional fishing village. The kids had a blast kite flying and fishing. Everything was busy and chaotic as only elementary field trips can be but we all had safe and fun trip.
Checking out the dragon fruit on the orchard tour.
Kite flying was a rather chaotic event. 80 kids running down a narrow little road trying to get their kites up. Amazingly most did.
Fishing in the 'crick'. The kids caught dozens of little 2 to 3 inchers (the same ones again and again, I think) and had a ball.