Sights, Sounds, and Smells

There is something about being in a new place that really makes you notice the little things. Everything is new and different and stands out in stark contrast to the familiar sounds and sights and smells that have become the background noise in our day-to-day lives - like the sound of the grandfather clock in your home you no longer even hear, or the smell of the cedars and humidity in Austin or the dry sage in Utah, or the sunrises in Arizona.

When first exposed to these sense experiences we are often amazed by them (or annoyed in the case of some dear friends and their grandfather clock), but over time the exciting becomes the mundane and the mundane moves into the background of our lives only to be noted on special occasions, or on return trips, or when I visit and make you turn on the chime of your clock.

As you might expect, we are experiencing a wealth of new sights, and sounds, and smells here. Some of them pleasant like the views of the city at night from our apartment, or the clouds on the mountains. And some of them not so pleasant like the warm odor that emanates from the open sewers we pass from time to time. Some of them are just noteworthy such as the lack of horns despite the congested traffic. But all of them are interesting and new and stand out to me as if this place is welcoming us and inviting us to get to know it better.

One of my favorite sounds is one we hear many times daily. A sound that is faint and will quickly fade into the background, but one that I stop and listen to whenever possible now because it is so different and beautiful. It is the sound of the Islamic call to prayer (or Adhan) that is sung from a loud speaker on a minaret at the Mosque 5 times a day. The faint echo of the call can be heard almost everywhere on the island. Here is a sample video with English subtitles in case you're interested.

Botanical Gardens

We are slowly starting to explore our surroundings more and more and have "discovered" yet another amazing place that is only about 3 km (2 miles) from our apartment: The Penang Botanical Gardens. I think it will become a weekend favorite.

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Since it is so close we took our time getting ready in the morning and arrived at the gardens around 10:30 - just when the day starts to get hot. The trails in the garden wind around for about 1.6 miles an are quite hilly, soI bravely volunteered to carry the camera, which left Tica to push the stroller up and down the hills. They say exercise is good for pregnant women, so I hope she appreciated my sacrifice.

The gardens are home to a wide range of wildlife, but our favorite were the two types of monkeys we saw there. These black monkeys were cute.

But this other one really had a peel - last pun for this post I promise.

Towards the end of our walking we found this beautiful "formal" garden where Emily could get close enough to the flowers to do one of her current, favorite activities - destroy flowers. Note the pedals on the ground to her left and right - she's only been there for a few seconds.

After the flowers we made our way down to the end of the formal garden where there was a pool with some fountains. Here is me doing my job as a photographer (capturing the moment) while Tica does hers as a mother (preventing disaster).

We let Emily play in the fountain for a little while before deciding it was way too hot to be running around out in the sun, so we packed up and headed home.

Not long after we got back to the house I received this irresistible request to take someone to the pool.

Emily's current favorite place is the pool and common area in our building, which is great because it gives me an excuse to go to the pool frequently. We normally only spend a few moments in the water to cool off, before heading over to the shady side of the building to run in the grass and play on the slides.

These little hills are her current passion and she loves to run to the top of them and back down over and over and over and . . . you get the point. It's funny how much of an obstacle those hills are for her right now.

I didn't take long for her to deliver a strongly worded request: Daddy! Put the camera down and come play with me!!!

Butterflies!!

Today we went to the Penang Butterfly Farm as our weekend excursion, and we have to say that we were most impressed with it. They have done a great job in putting together a very tourist friendly location that is easy to find, very clean and very professional looking. Besides the hundreds of butterflies, they also have: water dragons, an alligator snapping turtle, giant Malaysian millipedes (that you can hold), luminescent scorpions, some vipers, frogs, orchid preying mantis, and even some HUGE scarab beetles.

We all had a great time - Emily loved the butterflies and the lizards. She knows the spanish word for lizard (lagarto) and yells it anytime we see one. It's a very close race between lizards and dogs as to which one she gets more excited about.

Here are some photos from the day:

"Emily - I think the paparazzi have found us!"

All you had to do was dip a finger in the honey water and the butterflies would drop by and give you a few kisses. Emily wasn't the only one who enjoyed this part.

Looking at butterflies sure works up an appetite, so we stopped off at Tree Monkey a Thai-ish restaurant that "is nestled amidst lush tropical foliage overlooking the coastline, the Tree Monkey at Tropical Spice Garden offers guests a unique jungle dining experience." It's true. We liked the food, but loved the experience.

First Days In Penang

We've been in Malaysia now for about 10 days and are finally starting to feel settled in a little bit. We have:

• Internet installed
• Furniture (which required a 4 hour each way drive to Kuala Lumpur)
• Cable
• Someone to clean up after me and Emily (that's not Tica)
• Someone to take out the trash (that's not me)
• Have found the grocery stores, banks, places to eat, a day care for Emily
• Have been to the hospital twice - everybody is fine now, but there were some scary moments
• A new baby on the way (2.0 will be here in August)
• Have been the victim of a crime (hit and run)
• Have been to the police station (3 of them to be exact) to report the hit and run
• And have little Emily back on a sleep schedule - finally. I think she's the most adjusted of all of us as you can see from the photo below.

The above picture and the two below are from our ocean facing balcony. We also have a construction site facing balcony and a balcony that faces the mountains and the town of Pulau Tikus (which means island of rats), but this one has the best breezes. And despite being on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen is where we like to eat most of our meals at home.


A typical day looking down and out from the same balcony


The photo below is the view that greets me every morning from my bedroom window. It's definitely a different experience living in a high rise apartment, but the views are stunning all day long. I find myself looking for excuses to gaze out the windows - and they're not hard to find.

This photo is the view just to the left of the one above that includes the Reclining Buddha temple(golden spire), and the Burmese Buddhist temple (across the street from the Reclining Buddha. There is also a Mosque there somewhere that I have yet to find, but I get to hear the beautiful echos of The Call to Prayer a few times a day so I know it's there.

We still have a lot to do before we'll feel we're completely settled, but it's nice to have couches to sit on, dishes to cook with, and many of the other niceties that make modern life so comfortable.