Phil and Selina

March 20th - 26th This weekend we finally did something I have wanted to do since we got here; go to Fort Cornwallis. The fort was established by Francis Light, a British trader who is linked with the Western colonization of Penang island. Since I am writing this a month after we visited it, and all our souvenier brochures are on their way back home, I can't tell you much more. The Penang tourism website has some good info. Also, this new site, Penang.ws, is a little more concise, not so touristy. The two Walks through Penang are a nice way to see downtown, and the fort is part of one. The fort is pretty nice looking. Some of the original buildings are still standing, as is a mysteriously lucky cannon. Supposedly infertile women come and ... read more

February26 - March 3rd 2006 Our second day in Oregon started out perfectly; a big delicious breakfast from the Original Pancake House, our #1 spot (#2 was yesterday!). We went with my parents, Judith and our friends Steve and Jessica. This place is so popular on the weekends we always go early, as in 7am, but it's sooooooo worth it. Dutch babies and apple pancakes! We included the photos of the menu for the sake of Phil's coworkers. A western breakfast is all but nonexistent in Malaysia, let alone a two page menu! My parents left after breakfast and we did some shopping and prep for our Mardi Gras blowout on Tuesday. That night our friends Jessica and Steve had us and some other friends over to their new condo for enchiladas. Yum! Mexican meal #3 ... read more

February 13th - 19th 2006 This week we started preparing for our trip home at the end of the month. Over the weekend we did two really cool outings. Saturday we went on a hike to Monkey Beach on the north end of Penang Island. We had no idea that there was a national park on the island! The park encompasses the northwest corner of the island. Some people say Penang Island looks like a swimming turtle, I personally think it looks like a cowhide. In any case the park is the front left flipper/leg of the island. Friends of ours who are leaving at the end of March arranged the trip and invited many of their coworkers; there were at least 25 adults and kids that did the hike. Since there were so many of ... read more

Week 10: November 8th - 13th 2005 The best part of this week was that we got our digital camera back from the repair shop! They didn't actually fix it, or so they thought. I'm still convinced that a) they didn't really know what they were doing and were just keeping us apeased with "we are still waiting for the parts to arrive" and b) that all the camera really needed was a cleaning. The camera works fine now and we didn't get charged, though we were without a real camera for two months. That weekend we explored a little more of the west side of the island, most local villages, and went to a beautiful secluded beach. We drove and drove down this little path through the jungle along the edge of the island until ... read more

October 24th - November 1st Yay, Phil's parents came to visit this weekend! Our first official visitors. The week went by as usual, though we were thrilled to finally receive Phil’s replacement debit card on Friday (thank you again Mark!!!!). His parents arrived Friday evening and we took them straight to one of our favorite local restaurants, Roo’s Cellar. It is a wine bar that that serves good food and has an upstairs bar and an incredibly wine selection considering where we are. We had some late dinner snacks and a nice bottle of wine. Back at home we were lulled to sleep by what Phil’s dad described as “firecracker junkies.” I should explain. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar is Ramadan, a month of fasting that happens to fall in October this year. Muslims ... read more