Stepping Stone Center, Balik Pulau

Monica's friend, Loh Siew Har, arranged a visit to Stepping Stones--a work-life center for physically and mentally disabled people. 

Monica was particularly interested to see if she could help with the pottery aspect.

Products made on-site for sale to supporters.

The center was tidy and well-run.

And their clay program was well-stocked.

After the visit, Siew Har brought Monica and Ian to a fish curry lunch at Eryna Cafe. We have since made the pilgrimage to enjoy uber fresh snapper curry at really low prices RM5-7/person (about US$2.00)

~ Shien

5th Grade Music Concert

Aria got to introduce the pieces for her class. She said she was nervous, but she did a great job.

The 5th grade girls also got to do a dance number--One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful". They invited the audience to dance with them at the end.

~ Shien

Aria Likes Eating Cucumbers...

And she doesn't like it when we threaten to steal them...

~ Shien

Junior Senior Banquet 2014

All gussied up for JSB.

The unprecedented activity for this event was that the Juniors were able to get every one of us in the room dancing! Yay! The theme for the event was the Great Gatsby and they led a simple group dance from the stage. Awesome.

~ Shien

Urban Easter Egg Hunt

While our kids were getting older, they were not quite ready to let go of the easter egg hunt. At least Aria wasn't--Ian was getting quite past it! So, for the interest of safety, we did the hunt in our apartment!

Sometimes the best hiding spots were the most obvious. This egg in the carton was not spotted for a long time even when the kids kept passing it, and we were giving them hints!

Are you done hiding them yet?!!

She finally sees it and claims it for herself!

Nice haul of candy considering they do not celebrate Halloween here with trick or treating.

~ Shien

Monica's Favorite Food at the Viva Stalls

There was something elusive and alluring about this vegetable side that captivated Monica who ordered the 4 bean special just about every time we visited Viva Stalls--Long beans, Kacang Botol (4 angle bean), Petai (a bean like a giant smap pea) and french beans. Yes, it is simlar to the other Malay sides, but there was a twist. Maybe Thai, maybe Peranakan. Even my mother who is an amazing cook could not crack the code and decipher what was in it that made it so more-ish.

~ Shien

Exploring Balik Pulau (Penang West Coast)

FIRST STOP--Craft Batik to make some DIY batiks

When we first arrived, we heard about a batik factory where we could colorize our own batiks from colleagues at our school. So we were very eager to try it our for ourselves.

Seeing the process in person was very gratifying. The wax resist can be laid down with a wax pen or a template as shown here.

The wax pen technique was also demonstrated to us.

Colorizing the batik is a delightful process much like tinting with iridescent watercolor paints. After a short tutorial and demonstration, we dove into this fantastic world of color.

Once we were finished, the factory allowed our work to dry, and then simmered them to remove the wax and dipped the fabric into a fixer to help preserve the colors. Then they delivered them to us at the school about a week later.

LUNCH--Yee Choon Seafood Cafe

This zhuchar place was featured on several locals' blogs. The fish was somewhat fresh, and the sides were yummy, but it was the price that was most attractive.

HAPPY GOAT FARM

This was the visit that almost never happened. From the constant miscommunication from my weak Hokkien and Mandarin skills and his non-existent English, I was grateful he chose to meet us at the cafe and guided us to the farm through unmarked tracks that wound through the marshland.

Finally, we arrived and got to see the facility.

The goats were, well... happy! Air conditioning to keep the insects down, grated floors to keep them dry and away from sewage.

The kids were truly in awe at how pampered and clean the goats were.

I tried my best to translate what this very earnest man was sharing with us.

They even grew two types of grass and harvested only on dry days to offer the goats mold-free feed.

We got to buy some farm fresh product.

The ice cream was luscious and had very gentle, deep flavors.

PASIR PANJANG

Our final stop was a popular beach for locals on holidays. Fortunately for us, we were there on a weekday, so we had it pretty much to ourselves, but it was still scruffy. We had to frame our camera angles carefully to exclude the litter.

Still as often is the case, we made the most of the beach and played raucously until we were tired and dehydrated. The drive home was rather quiet. :)

~ Shien