I'm Going, Going, Back To, Back To, Bali, Bali

September 25, 2010

My time here in Penang is just about up.  I have had a great time reuniting with old friends.  Luckily I don't need to say goodbye as I will back in Penang in about a month.  I am coming back to celebrate a big Hindu holiday and I am flying out of Malaysia with my friend's dad.  His dad will be finally coming to San Diego to visit with my stepfather after 40 years of friendship.  It will be quite a visit for the two of them.  Anyways, tomorrow I will catch the afternoon train to Kuala Lumpur.  I will then take another train to the airport and I will stay the night at the airport so I can catch my early flight to Bali, Indonesia.  So I can look forward to about 24 hours of transit (so probably no blog for a few days).


Quiz:  Do you recognize the title line of this blog (I made a slight change - one letter)?  If you do then you know your music (that was your hint).

Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Bread, Bread, Bread

September 25, 2010
I love all the different types of Indian breads.  There are four main types:  naan (thick bread), roti canai (like a flour torilla with oil), chapati (like a flour tortilla without oil), and dosai (very thin flaky bread).  Here is a breadmaker hard at work.



You can get all these breads cooked in a variety of ways.  For example, if you lightly fry a chapati you get pouree (I don't think I spelled this right).



This is what I had for dinner last night.  You eat it with the potatoes and you can get...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

The Test

September 24, 2010
This week has been difficult for my friends as most of them have been sick including the baby.  I have not taken too many pictures of the baby (or anyone) yet because I am waiting for them to get better.  Here is one of the few pictures of my friend's daughter Sanju (1 years old).



She loves Mickey as you can see in the background.  So last night my friend and I went for dinner in Georgetown (the main city) which is about 30 minutes away from his home.  Last time I came here 10 years ago I pret...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Here And There

September 23, 2010
Today I was taken around Penang to many different places.  Here is one of the state mosques.



It didn't really sink in until today that I am staying in a Muslim country.  Malaysia has 3 big populations.  About 2/3 are Malays, and the other 1/3 are either Chinese or Indian.  Since 2/3 of the population is Malay and they are all Muslims Malaysia is considered a Muslim country.  That is why cigarettes and alcohol is so expensive here because Muslims cannot smoke or drink.  A 6-pack of regular beer...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Malaysian Nights

September 23, 2010
Last night I met some very nice Malays.  They are friends of my friend.  I was invited into there home for a belated birthday celebration for their 1 year old daughter.  I very much enjoyed getting to know them.  They served me some traditional Malay foods such as chicken satay.



You can see the satay next to the bowl of red stuff.  The red stuff was a sweet and spicy sauce.  The satay reminded me of Thai satay, but the sauce was more sweet and not as peanuty.  On the bottom of the picture you ...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

A Day Around The Town

September 22, 2010
Today we had a few errands to run.  I needed to get my train ticket to Kuala Lumpur for Sunday and my friend's day needed to get his passport as he is planning on coming back with me to the US.  So off we went to Georgetown.  Most of Malaysia was once a British colony so there are many signs of the past British rule.  There are lots of British styke building around Georgetown.



There is even an old British fort here.



And of course there are Asian style areas in Georgetown as well.



After running a...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Simple Days

September 22, 2010
These days are simple days.  Good for me probably boring for you.  These days here in Penang I am just visiting with old friends I have not seen in 10 years.  I am not out sightseeing and having adventures like before.  Rather I am relaxing, conversing, and eating with my friends.  My friend and his wife work 12+ hour days (this is normal over here) so we watch his daughter during the day.  Yesterday we took her to the doctor because she has a cold.  In the late afternoon I went for a nice wa...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Pictures At Last

September 21, 2010
I just finished writing this blog 2 times and now this is the 3rd time.  The website to make the blog keeps crashig on me and I have to start over.  So the blog keeps getting shorter and shorter.  Here are some views from my friends place.



That was a jungle/mountain view.  This is the slight ocean view they have.



Two days ago we watched the Liverpool Vs Manchester United Football game.  My friend is a big Liverpool fan.



Even though Liverpool lost 3-2 we had a lot of fun.  We had a delicious late...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Peaceful Sunday

September 19, 2010
Every Sunday my friend and his family get together for lunch.  This Sunday was not different for them except I would be joining in.  First we got up and had some coffee and bread while catching up with each other.  We watched the football (soccer) highlights from yesterdays league games.  I just love being in a place where football is important and gets the coverage it deserves.  I wish we had more football coverage in America.  After laying around in the morning we got up and went to my frie...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 

Moving Day

September 18, 2010
Today I left my favorite place in the world.  I left Krabi Tropical Beach Resort.  Before I even the left the place reality hit me.  The driver who picked me up from the hotel almost left me behind.  He didn't want to wait 2 minutes for the hotel to make me a sandwich to take with me.  He even went as far as to take my bag out of the van and throw it on the ground.  So I had to run over there and grab my bag and jump in the van to avoid being left behind.  Then he leaves me at the wrong place...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.

 
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