Time with Matthew, Shawn and Jelise

Matthew and Ian were having some bonding time on the Laptop...

Meanwhile, Shawn and Aria were downstairs passing the football.

I was in the kitchen showing Jelise how to make some wicked mrul kimchi from scratch and lacto-fermented on the counter.

Afterwards, we went to the Viva Stalls for dinner.

~ Shien

Using the Moped to Jumpstart the Car

On the way to church, I discovered that I had left the car lights on again and run down the battery. No worries! I started up the moped and used it to start the car!

Problem solved!

~ Shien

Aria's Birthday Party

We baked a gluten free chocolate cake frosted with store-bought icing for Aria's birthday.

We had discovered this awesome free spray park and play area between TESCO and Straits Quay. It became our go-to venue for birthday parties.

Passing out cups to dunk water on each other!

Ian wisely chose to stay out of the line of fire.

Wild children...

Queen of the hill!

Quick break to eat cake before rushing off to play until closing time.

Monica riles them all up with some scare tactics and heckling...

Another break to open presents.

Friends are wonderful gifts from God. Good friends are like gems.

And then there are soul mates that seem inseparable by time or space.


~ Shien

Staff Retreat Fancy Buffet Dinner at Sarkies, E&O

Sarkies corner is touted to be the finest buffet in Penang, and it is certainly elegant being the flagship F&B in the historic E&O Hotel.

I was genuinely thrilled to get to sample it as part of our School Staff Retreat.

The staff did well keeping up with us when our entire 80+ crew descended on them in addition to the other guests they had accepted.

Food quality was good overall, but there were a few stupendous items...

The pasta station was really good. Cooked al dente with fresh toppings and awesome sauces, especially the pesto... oh that pesto!

The sushi, sashimi was alright. The smoked salmon and mackerel were even better...

The cheese board with aged Brie and succulent, perfect Kiwi Fruit. The salt baked salmon was also outstanding.

~ Shien

Christina and Stephen in Penang--4 Round Island and Mainland Loop on Jaguhs

It was a gorgeous day for a long ride, and after picking up the bike from Doug Ladner, and meeting Tony Boyd to complete our threesome, we rode up to Air Itam Dam and took a break before the ridge crossing.

Now that we knew to follow the path marked by the thick bundle of black electrical lines, I had the confidence to explore.

The air freshened and cooled slightly as we ascended, and the path steepened to the point where we had to use 1st gear only to climb.

I took a fork to the right marked by very thick black powerlines--curious to see where it went. We arrived at the most well kept flower garden I had seen! It was practically spotless!

Stephen was quite serious when he said he could live up there... Tony (pictured), wasn't quite ready to leave either...

Having crested the ridge, we parked again for a moment to rest our rears and soak in the view.

As we entered the Balik Pulau township, I spotted a coconut vendor so we stopped for a drink.

Once again, we took our time to soak in the sights before proceeding around the south end of the island and onto the second link bridge onto the mainland.

We had to pause for a photo while we were on the bridge.

At one of the toll gantries, Tony casually mentioned that he had not eaten anything yet, and so we made a bee-line to Juru for some Nasi Kandar at the Sri Pelita.

Refueled, we proceeded to the original bridge and returned to our neighborhood where we ended our ride on the hill behind our condo.

After cooling off, we called the ladies to check-in, dropped by the convenience stores for cold beer, and ended the day celebrating with stories from our epic 5 hour ride. Average cruising speed 70km/h.

~ Shien