Thursday Out and About

Yesterday we went with some friends to the iBox Glass Museum. It was not so much a museum as a mix of a few how to exhibits, a store selling fantastical glass creations, an art studio where you could make a small pendant, and a sampling of 3D photo opportunities. We spent a long time deciding and creating our designs, and came away quite satisfied with the results. the 3D photo ops weren't that impressive to us, having been to the large Art in Paradise in Bangkok a few years ago, but the kids had fun.

 
The kaleidoscopes were the best fun, I think!

Afterwards, we walked over to the ginormous pet store that is half tourist attraction half serious pet store. We saw and fed huge koi fish, and discovered just how much you'd have to pay to own a fox, a pararie dog, a jerboa, and other exotics as pets. Jasmin and her friend were "in heaven" as pet lovers! 

Yet Another Milestone...

What do you get when you have a pet-loving, plant-interested, entrepreneurial 12 year old daughter?

A household with more plants and pets than people! The count is now 3 turtles, 3 hamsters, 1 sugar glider, 14 plants, and only 5 people :o)

Jasmin has done this on her own initiative and has paid for everything out of her own money that she has earned - great learning experiences for which we put up with living in a self-made jungle :oD

Multicultural Living

We just love this multicultural living!
Today we..

• Interacted with Singaporeans, Korean Americans, Malay Chinese, Indians, Malayans
• Heard conversation in Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin, English, Tamil
• Spoke in English and Mandarin
• Read signage in Malay, Chinese, English 
• Ate cereal from a bowl with a spoon for breakfast, Indian Briyanni chicken off a banana leaf with our fingers for lunch, and fusion food for supper!
• Heard Chinese celebration drumming, Hindu temple gongs, Muslim calls to prayer
• Passed Christian churches, Mosques, Chinese temples, Buddhist temples
• Saw signs for Christian, Japanese, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin, English schools

All this on our adventures today biking through town! We started the morning at church, taking in the first part of a four hour prayer and praise session. We moved on to Penang House of Prayer for a course we're taking. We ate lunch in Little India before striking out for Grace's voice teacher's home for an extra practice (Grace has a voice exam coming up soon). And then ran into (Chinese) church friends at Tesco on the way home.

Canada Day Plus

Guess what we did for Canada Day... supper at the beach!  We stayed till dark, but we didn't get any fireworks :o) On the other hand, the sunset was spectacular so we didn't mind not having fireworks.

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We've been introduced to another tropical ailment this week... this white rash on Grace's face. Thankfully it is an easy thing to fix.  While at the doctor, on the way home from the market, a neighbourhood cat decided the buggy was a great place to hang out. She was singularly not impressed when we came out and she had to leave her spot.

We discovered this beauty this week too - unfortunately in the bathroom. We think it is a papilion emerald. They are exquisite in tiny detail (it's about as big as a fingernail!) Trying to get a decent photo that showed the detail proved impossible for us, but here is a clearer internet photo:

A Tumble Through June

We've just tumbled through June, trying to get ourselves back into a decent routine.  Dad being away in Canada for the beginning of it meant that Mom was kind of living life both here in Penang and in Canada as dad called a lot to talk through some issues that came up while he was there. That really threw the family off rhythm.

We had a joint birthday party for Jasmin and Aiden on the 14th - half way between their birthday dates. Aiden was pretty pleased to get this book - and it worked well: the next day he read it all and promptly beat dad at chess! Jasmin got the shelf and reading lamp she was hoping for - her bunk was getting too full of all the things she wants access to from her bed.








Game days with friends. We set up a dedicated afternoon for board games with another family; every other Tuesday now is filled with games like Bonzana, Settlers, Quirkle, or Ticket to Ride.

The girls scrambled to finish off the last bits of school; in the end Grace was trying to do up to 6 lessons of math to finish before July 1st! It has been difficult as we've moved to a summerish schedule of sleeping in after later nights, and other summer activities have competed for their time.
For example, Jasmin was offered a pet sitting job for a week, so she was out twice a day for this commitment.

Mom had a short, acute bout with sickness, complete with high fever and strong stomach pains. Thankfully, she was out of commission for only one day, though tiredness and weakness lingered for a few more days.