Singapore

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa found me this year after all & I just got a new Wii! Guess what we will be doing tonight?

Tomorrow we leave for Singapore & come back on Monday. We are staying at The Orchard Hotel on the world famous Orchard Road. We plan on doing some shopping, visiting the night zoo & spending a day on Santosa Island.

More about it when we get back!

http://mapsingapore.com/index.php

http://www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/orchardhotelsingapore/index.html

Last NIght

Here are a couple photos taken at our Boat Club on Kenny's Mom & Aunts last night in Miri.

Bandar, Brunei

Welcome to Bandar, Brunei, where alcohol is not allowed in public, but the call to prayer is loud & clear. We took this trip the day after we returned from Kuching. We stayed at the Empire Hotel & one photo shows the view from our room. The Sultans brother built the resort & spend over $1 billion dollars (US). The place is amazing...golf course, movie theater, bowling alley, 7 restaurants, sand bottom pool, regular pool, spa - the list is endless. The place has to be seen to be appreciated. Wowowowowowow. I was still feeling pretty crummy so we got here on Saturday & just loafed around the resort - I just got to know the big lucious bed ...and huge bath tub. Ahh.

The next day we checked out & headed out to tour the city. We toured the city mosque that had 24 karat gold domes...we were made to put on stinky robes & only walk on a marked path area like we were dirty - hmph to Allah. :) We also went to a museum that had many gifts that that had been given to the sultan from other countries.

The highlight was taking a boat tour to the water city where there is a huge community of houses, restaurants, hospitals and schools - all built over the water. You can see the Sultans palace - or one of them anyway - in the background in the photo. After we toured this area they took us to the jungle where we saw Hornbills, Probiscos Monkeys www.opentoengland.org, a crocodile & a red and black striped snake. After this we were exhausted - it was really really hot outside - and made the 2 hour drive back to Miri.

Kuching

We had a great time in Kuching. We met Kenny's Mom & Aunt at the airport and had the rental car ready - which ended up being a van instead of a compact car. We then proceeded at 10:45 pm to head off on our 45 minute drive to find the Damai Beach Resort. The rental car agent pointed it out on the map & stated "very easy". Famous last words. The drive was anything BUT easy with maps that didn't match road signs & lack of road signs altogether & pitch darkness. Somehow - we found the resort after 2.5 hours of horror. We slept in the next day & just enjoyed the resort. The photos are taken from our balconies in our rooms. That night we went to a local restaurant for dinner & had lobster & local vegetables for cheap cheap.

The next day we went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Center & experienced the Orangutan feeding. The Orangutans are wild & being rehabilitated so they have calls for them when they feed them & platforms where you can stand & watch them. They are amazing! Here is a photo of the mom & baby who was 1 year old but there were also 3 young males that came to dine that day. Then we saw the big daddy at the end of the feeding.

On our way back to the resort we stopped by the infamous Cat Museum which was really more of a crazy collection of cat crap than a museum. Kenny & I were in hyserics at the poster collection of kittens doing ninga, kittens riding motorcycles, kittens dressed up as doctor & nurse...wow. The best part of this stop was the photo of us as cats.

The next day Kenny, his Mom & Aunt went on a jungle treck that started behind the cafe photo...and ended 2 hours later. They said it was amazing. I opted to stay behind & enjoy a massage at the spa.

Our last day we shopped around the river area of Kuching - and I ate something that gave me food poisoning the next day. Yay. We flew back to Miri that night.

31 Weeks

Here I am at 31 weeks. My belly is starting to take over! The doctor says all is well & the baby is about 4.5 lbs. It is breech still & if it doesn't flip then we will have a c-section at 38 weeks.

We finally were able to get the crib set up too - aww!

Blog has been neglected!

The doggies have been neglected this past week as well. We had Kenny's Mom & Aunt here for a week - then traveled with them for a week & then the Monday they left to go back to the states our container arrived so we have been crazy busy unpacking (me) & setting up house (both of us)...we are finally caught up. Here is a photo of the doggies today after a much needed walk on the beach.

Tomorrow I will update the blog with photos from our trip to Damai Beach, Kuching & Brunei!

Kuching

We are off today to Kuching, staying at the Damai Beach Resort...http://www.damaibeachresort.com.

It is only a 1 hour flight for us & located in the South of Sarawak. Kuching is the capital & the word means "cat" in Malaysian. http://www.isarawak.com.my/kuching/main.html

We plan on visiting the city & an Orangutan sanctuary...maybe a national park but I also need a massage & a day doing zilch on the beach.

More postings when we return next week.

Here's the waterfall picture Heather was referring to. It is pretty cool that this is a 30 minute drive and 20 minute hike from our house. There are 2 more falls but Heather's too prego to make the rest of the hike.

I was "at Halliburton" when we did this. I office in Shell but frequently "have to run to Halliburton" to go work out, go hiking, or invoke my half day Friday policy. I approved that one myself. So far no one has caught on or if they have don't care. Plus it is an extremely different work environment here - way more laid back (read lazy).

I'll end my first blog post because it's getting too close to lunch and per Kenny policy I have to prepare to leave and "run to Halliburton".

Baby 28 weeks

Kenny says the baby is going to be a Zombie because it is eating all my brains. :)

I thought I had already posted this & just realized I hadn't. Oops!

Here is baby at 28 weeks - if you look in the bottom left hand corner of the image you will see a chubby cheeked little profile! Awww!!!

Miri City

Ken's Mom & Aunt Linda arrived Monday for a visit. Tuesday we went to the Lambir Hills National Park & hiked through the rain forest to a waterfall & had a picnic. Kenny has a great photo on his phone that he needs to upload & post for us. It's beautiful. -

Wednesday Kenny had a meeting all day in KL so it was girls gone wild in Miri. I took them to try Laksa for breakfast & they almost licked their bowls clean - we have some new fans! Then we hit the Krokop Market & got some fruit & veggies so they could see where I do my shopping & see all the neat things. Then we went to San Ching Tian: Photos above. Opened in 2000 this is the largest Taoist temple in South East Asia & cared for my Buddhist monks. I had never been though it is only a mere block from our home. It was beautiful! So much detail & the most peaceful windchimes. I need to go back & spend more time & learn more about this religion.

Thursday Ken was in a convention all day so it was just us gals again. We went to the Tamu Muhibbah market in city center where they sell rainforst delicacies & fresh pork. Yes see photo above. Those are brains on the table next to the jaw bones. Blech. They also had their hearts hanging on hooks & bowls of intestines. Elaine & Linda commented on how it was too bad that our container hadn't arrived & I didn't have any cooking pots & pans since the pork loin there was so fresh & of such high quality. I informed them that though I do eat pork now let's not push it. I won't eat the pork from which I know the face that it came from! Triple blech!!! We also went to the Petroleum Museum which is on the top of the hill here in Miri with beautiful views - though they tell me the museum was set up for children (I waited in the car & rested my pigs - no pun intended).

They are off to Singapore for a few days today - we will meet up with them in Kuching for a few days on Sunday. I booked us rooms at a beach resort so of course I can't wait to sit under an umbrella & veg...more to come on Kuching!

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!
I spent yesterday shopping & was able to find a pie pan & a casserole dish. I then spent the day making a broccoli chicken cheese casserole (reminds me of my Mom's dish & my Nanny's dish kinda...) & then I made an apple pie from scratch. Who knew you peeled apples to put in there! That's a lot of work! And who knew there are 14 kinds of flour - bread flour, cake flour, self rising, not rising - I finally found one that said white & hope it was the right kind. We are about to find out here in a couple hours! More news to come.

Anyway - that left today free for us to pack some drinks & take the dogs to the beach. The photo is of our 2 umbrellas & Kenny is under there somewhere. We found a nice tree right by us with shade for the doggies. They had so much fun - they love to chase the crabs & run & run down the beach. Crash of course has to go swimming. So we had a great day relaxing in the shade - though I did get stung by a jelly fish while we were swimming - that hurts! Don't ask if we peed on it. You don't want to know. Did I mention it hurt a lot? I was grateful I just got the lashing of one tentacle, it could have been much worse.

So - that's the first Thanksgiving in Miri! We are both homesick but making the best of it. :)

Penang -Batu Ferringhi Beach - Post Trip

I think there was something wrong with Heather's computer when she uploaed the Buddha picture. Hook 'em.

We are back from spending 3 aweome days on the island of Penang. We had a blast. We spent a couple days in the downtown area of Georgetown which in hindsight wasn't so great. We walked and walked and walked - to the tune of about 4 hours a day. We found China Town but it wasn't very quaint as we had expected. It was huge and trashy. It was a backpackers dream though with cheap bars & hotels. We found Little India which we liked much better - blaring Bollywood music and the smell of curry pouring onto the streets. China Town has lots of smells pouring onto the streets but most of them almost made me throw up. Then there was the naked lady I saw taking a bath in the dirty stream, but I digress.

The photo above is on Kenny on a rickshaw. The elderly man convinced me that we should both get in this thing for a one hour tour. Now that I see this photo I understand why the poor guy was almost unable to make the thing move with both of us in there. And why people were laughing. It was not comfortable and not cultural and not anything but embarrassing so after stopping traffic & being afraid for our lives I got out for this photo & didn't get back in. We paid for an hour tour but only stayed 15 minutes max. The geezer was smarter than we thought?

The other photo is of a religious conflict in Little India. Jesus or Hindu God? Take your pick!

The second day we went to a couple of very decorated Buddhist Temples in Georgetown. One held the 2nd largest lying Buddha & there is a photo of one of the largest standing ones. They were a little touristy but still we were glad we went. We also went to an authentic Indian restaurant the second day. We were dropped off by our cab in front of this dive place & as we peered inside the owner who had 2 teeth motioned me inside saying "yes yes"...as we have learned from the rickshaw ride I am easy to lure. We went inside & both ordered the curry. We were not disappointed & were treated with one of our best meals on this trip. We were the only whities in the joint & the waiter was amazed that we wanted our food spicy. This time my adventurous spirit worked to our benefit!

The last day we spent tucked into beach chairs by the ocean. The beaches there are beautiful with rocks & hills in the distance. The Asians here don't seem to feel the same way we do about the beach & don't spend much time on it. We had the place basically to ourselves. We had a great lunch at a dive restaurant & Kenny had a few Tiger beers. I had water. Yay. The photos are of the beach from our hotel room.

We are still stuck using a camera phone until our container arrives & our chargers, etc. are located. That will be mid-end December. Photos of Bali should be decent!

Otherwise there was a great night market by our hotel where we went every night & ate crazy good curry - Indian & Malaysian. Sooo good. We did some light shopping - got some cool artwork & many tv shows on dvd - we now have the entire series of The Wire, The Sopranos & Entourage. Who needs football season? Ok that's not true but hey - it helps to pass the time!

Penang

We leave tomorrow for Penang -Batu Ferringhi Beach....can't wait!

26 Weeks!

So...does this belly make my butt look big? Here we are at 26 weeks.

The Chinese people here are telling me they think I am going to have a girl because my face isn't changing. Kenny keeps staring at me to see if I am "looking like a man" yet - too funny. If so that is supposed to mean it is a boy. We don't care either way honestly.

I sure wish our container would arrive so we could have our bed here - when I look at this photo I can see why my back is killing me. Oh my sciatic! :) I am taking lots of hot baths which the baby either loves or hates - my belly looks like the movie alien with all the motion.

Kenny can feel the baby kick now & the look on his face the first time was priceless. He can also see it now when the baby is really active - like after we make chicken fajitas! One thing for sure - it's a Texan!

It's Durian Season!

We are seeing hocker stands like this everywhere lately - and when you walk by you know by the smell that it is Durain season. It smells (to me anyway) like weak, old vomit. Supposedly the fruit is tasty & Malaysians love them...http://www.pahang-delights.com/durians.html. Kenny won't try them with me - chicken!

Hey Lizzie Lizzie

This photo is from the internet but I found a 4 foot water monitor just like this one on my drive way this morning. I tried to take a photo but it ran off. Click on the photo for a full view.

Baby

Here is the photo from the 23 week check up. As of now I am officially 24 weeks prego - 6 months! My lower back hurts but that is really my only complaint so am very lucky. A lady I bought our t.v. from yesterday said I looked "vedy vedy big!" to which I said thank you? Yes, I feel big. Couldn't be more happy with hearing the word "normal" at every check up. Everything is just fine.

Photos are from the back so we can't tell if we have a yeehoo or a yeehaw - I want it to be a surprise. Kenny wants to know but is going to wait. He knows he won't be able to keep the secret if he finds out. Baby's arm is raised in a) fight the power or b) hook 'em horns. I have had friends suggest both.

The other photo is of the hospital where I will deliver. It still scared the crap out of me. We had a tour that took about 10 minutes and I think we understood about 1/10 of what the lady said. They have 20 maternity rooms with old crank hospital beds, t.v. & air conditioning. What more could one want? This will not be a spa like experience with flowers in the room, soothing colors, soft linens & relaxing music. If anyone wants to say the hospital looks cute or tropical I would say talk to Julia before doing so....these words don't excite me when it comes to where I am delivering my baby!

Miri Crocodile Farm

OK Kenny & I went here on Sunday thinking it would be fun.

http://www.crocodile.net.my/

It is advertised as a man made animal sanctuary. I would call it more of an animal hell. The crocodiles didn't upset me very much though there were way too many of them per pen & not all of them looked that healthy, but sad as it is they just lay there anyway & didn't seem to require much space nor did they look too intelligent.

There were monkeys in cages so small all they could do was pace back & forth, back & forth and you could see the insanity building in their eyes. They sold bunches of small bananas for 1rm each that you were supposed to feed to them in these cages but I didn't want to participate. The people that did squealed in dismay as the monkeys would try & grab their hand or tear the bananas away from them & then throw them at them. I was secretly, ok per Kenny not so secretly, wishing them the best of luck in whipping some ass!

There were bear cats about 8 to a cage that was 3/4 flooded with water and watching them pace the bars was horrible.

We did have fun when we found the deer like animals that had a nice large pen & seemed happy so we bought lots of bananas & fed them for some time. Funny to watch a deer eat a whole banana, funnier to watch a goose beg for one & run off with it.

We stayed until 11:30 for the crocodile feeding which I expected to be much like the one I had seen on a boat in Louisiana where they threw chicken parts into the water. This was not like that. They had whole chicken carcasses in big black trash cans. We stood on raised rafters over the crocodiles & watched a Malaysian man reach into the trash cans & then toss an entire dead chicken - head, feathers, feet & all - into the pit. Sometimes it would go directly into the crocodiles mouth. Sometimes it would land in the water. And other times, it would hit the concrete with such a loud disturbing THUD that I almost threw up. Kenny was laughing the entire time, not at the show but at me and my facial expression.

It was not quite the zoo experience we were looking for. I'm contacting PETA now....

Baby Update

We went to see Dr. Mattu this morning for my check up. What a wonderful thing to hear the word "normal" over & over. The baby is growing exactly as much as it should and he showed us that its stomach is in the belly which is good of course and that the bladder is fully developed as well. So cool. Kenny felt the baby kicking last night, or flipping or dancing or whatever it was doing. The look on his face was priceless. Dr. Mattu said there is much more of this to look forward to in the upcoming months as well as brain development. He also mentioned that if my parents want to be here for the birth (which they do they are coming yayayayayayayayay!!!) then he suggested they get here by February 8th as he thinks I will carry 35 to 36 weeks instead of 40. Sounds good to me! Only thing with this date is that this is the week of or the week before Chinese New Year. Chinese LOVE fireworks as we have learned from living in a Chinese neighborhood here in Malaysia. And I mean wake up thinking you are in Bagdad explosions. We are going to have to get doggy downers for Crash. Luckily with all this barking the baby should be very used to the sound by the time it is born so hopefully won't be affected by it. We will have to wait & see how this works out...yikes!

Krokop Market

Here are 2 things found in abundance at the Krokop Market where I do my produce & shrimp shopping. The first is a typical example of what the dogs look like here. They are usually skinny, lacking fur, tail between legs and having just given birth. This dog had a lucky day since I had a bag of puppy food with me. She was very shy but perked right up when I shook the bag of grub. The locals look at me like I am crazy for feeding them. Oh well. :) I met a lady on the beach today walking her dog & we discussed the horrible conditions for animals here. Hopefully we can gather enough people and do something about it. Spaying & neutering is the only thing that is going to help. Ex-pats here have money and raising it should not be a problem if we can find a vet to get on board. More news to come.

The second image is of a Malaysian fruit that I cannot remember the name of. I call them hairy balls. They are really good - cut it open & inside is large grape-ish fruit with pits. Too much work for me but fun to try.

24 Weeks...and growing!

Are you kidding me? These overalls were literally baggy what seems like yesterday. Now I am glad they have a 2nd set of buttons since they are the most comfortable thing I own. Here we are at 24 weeks - the baby is busy growing a pancreas and making me eat cookies.

Also - this photo was taken today in our front yard. Malaysia is beautiful.

A Day at the Beach

The dogs love their daily walks on the beach. I am not complaining either! We get a lot of looks - the pregnant lady & the 3 big dogs. I actually took the photo of Wolfie while I was driving, which is perfectly acceptable to do in Miri.

More Animals at Home...

The Furries are Home!

Here's Wolfie making a grand entrance...

They made it through 4 weeks of quarantine and are now home and enjoying their new house! We are sad to say that Little Negrito was chased up a tree and after being pried off decided that he would reside elsewhere..

Travel Bug!

The travel bug is biting - luckily I have guests coming to town soon so I have reason to visit this beautiful part of the world. Yippee! Ken's mom & aunt Linda are coming the first of December so we are going to meet them in Kuching which is south of Miri by a 2 hour flight. Check out where we are staying... http://www.damaibeachresort.com/ coolio! There is also an animal sanctuary near by where they raise orphaned orangatangs which I will have to check out.

Our friends Julia & Brian are coming in January so we are going to take a pre-baby trip to Bali - maybe the kid will be born enlightened? We are starting out by flying to Kuala Lumpur & staying the night at the Novotel Hotel which is 1 block away from the Petronas Towers http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/7/K/k/petronas.jpg, a quick cab ride to China Town & within walking distance to fabulous shopping & dining. Then we fly the next day to Bali, staying here for 2 nights on the Sunar beach...http://www.santrian.com/. Then we take a car ride up the mountain for 2 nights in town of Ubud....http://tjampuhan.com/.

I can hardly wait!

Little Negrito

Well I guess one thing for sure doesn't change even if I am on the other side of the world - animals being attracted to me! Meet Little Negrito. He/she showed up on the front porch of our house 2 days ago & hasn't left. Can't help but think it's a smart cat! Cats here are really small but I would guess this one is about 10 weeks old. It has the typical Malaysian stumpy tail too, and a very big meow. All it is concerned with is affection & will love you to death. Too bad it costs so much to transport them to the states - I would have put him in my mother-in-laws suitcase come December. We decided to fatten it up in the next week & enjoy an outside kitty. Once our gang gets here on Sunday next week (1 more week yah!) we'll see if Negrito chooses to stay or go....more news to come.

Quick Note

Just a quick post to say that I felt the baby kicking this morning! Wow. :)

New to the Blog

I just realized I have 2 blogs - I think I like this template better. Sorry for the confusion! Maybe one day I will figure out how to get the first post to this blog....but I doubt it!

I am still reeling from a massage I just got at what seemed like a very nice establishment. I wondered if I was going to get "something special" at the end. Wow. Maybe I will be ready to talk about it tomorrow.

20 Weeks & counting!

I am so lucky to be having a completely normal pregnancy. Here I am at 20 weeks - 1/2 way there! Can't believe that I will get twice this big ...ack!