Ronny and Marisa (two long time friends of mine) just left Singapore a few days ago.  They came to visit Ronna and I for about 2 weeks.  For those 2 weeks I was very busy shoeing them around.  We saw lots of things and ate lots of food.  We did not do anything new in Singapore that I haven't blogged about before so I am just going to focus on the 2 side trips we took.  The first side trip was a day trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia.  I have been to KL a few times, but it has been about 10 y...
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So while the girls were visiting we took a long weekend trip to Tioman Island in Malaysia.  Tioman is a small tropical island off the southeast coast of mainland Malaysia.  It was a about a 4 hour bus ride followed by a 1.5 hour ferry ride.  Here is what the ferry looked like.



I rented the entire top floor of this chalet.



Our room was on the left and the girls room was on the right.  The resort was surrounded by rainforest and beaches.



As you can see the resort was very pretty.  There was a golf...
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1 flight down and 2 to go (and a long drive home from LA).  I am currently sitting in McDonald's at Kuala Lumpur's International Airport.  I am getting more and more excited to be going home.  It has been exactly 3 months to the date that I have been gone and it went by like nothing.  I look forward to seeing you all soon.  And of course there is still a little adventure left as I am concerned about my baggage.  I left with 2 bags and I am returning with 3 bags.  An extar bag is not the probl...
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Tomorrow is the day.  The day I leave for home.  The day I return home.  Basically the longest day ever.  I will be in transit for about 24 hours and yet somehow I will arrive the same day I leave (November 10th).  I leave my friend's house about 6:30am to go to the airport.  From there I get my 1st flight to Kuala Lumpur and then I wait for a few hours.  Next I catch my 2nd flight to China and wait a few hours again.  Then I get a 3rd flight to LA and land about 6pm.  Finally I must go throu...
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The past few days I haven't done much other than help my friend's dad prepare for his trip to the US with me.  We have done some shopping and gotten all the things he needs to take with him.  We have also been visiting with people saying our goodbyes.  Only 2 more days until I am home.  Each day I am getting more and more excited.  At the same time I am not ready to leave.  I am especially not ready to go back to reality, but I guess it has to happen sometime.  See you all soon....
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The last few days we have been celebrating Deepavali, the Festival of Lights.  The Festival of Lights or Deepavali is about celebrating the victory of good over evil.  Technically Deepavali is only one day, November 5th, but it is celebrated for about a week.  On Deepavali Eve my friend's immediate family came over and they said some prayers for their ancestors and then we feasted.  The next morning we got up early and went to the local temple.



At the temple they lined up to give an offering t...
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Hey!  My name is Bala and this is not really my blog, but uncle Scott is letting me write for today.



I'm 11 years old.  This is the photo of Uncle Scott and my momma.



Her name is Yogeswary.  My mom forced Uncle Scott to put this picture.  (Umm, The End!)
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I have been back in Penang, Malaysia for a few days now.  I am back with my friends.  Nothing new or special has been going on over here other than preparing for Deepavali (a Hindu holiday - kind of like their version of Christmas).  Tomorrow is Deepavali so they are having a Deepavali Eve dinner and prayers with the immediate family.  Yesterday we went to a similar party with my friend's mom's family.  Hopefully my camera will allow me to get some photos to show you of the celebrations in th...

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Currently I am in transit to Krabi, Thailand.  I am sitting at a McDonald's in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia.  Sitting here I realize that I am on the last leg of my Asia trip and that I am almost home.  I am looking forward to coming home for the holidays and seeing everyone.  I have had a wonderful trip so far with memories that I will never forget.  At the same time I feel like I am ready to end this part of my journeys.  I think the break over the holidays will do ...
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When I woke up today I was treated to a special goodbye breakfast.  I was made homemade dosai (a very thin bread - like a crepe).  I had one plain one with vegetable curry and one with egg, butter, and sugar.



The egg one was my favorite.  It was kind of like an Indian pancake.  Here is what it looks like when it is done.



After breakfast my friend's work was having a family day where they give tours of the place and have tons of free food, games, etc.  My friend works at Bosch in the power tool ...
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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....

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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