Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We went on an incredible trip to Simply Sensational Singapore. It was a lovely trip. We were however quite unprepared for the cost. The plane fare from Penang was expensive and we, ever the penny pinchers, were looking for a good way to save money. Instead of going directly
to Singapore. We elected to fly into Johor Baru. A state in Malaysia just over the border and across a narrow strait of water. Our trip into Singapore was a success! We saved tons of money and we just had a bit of inconvience at the border. We had a taxi take us straight to the hotel. Our hotel was located right on Orchard Drive just above the MRT subway system. We gorged ourselves on Burger King burgers, and visited one of the worlds best zoos. We shopped at amazing stores, like Zara, Tang's, Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Cartier. We stocked up on books at Borders, and even made a trip into Little India. We had the chance to watch General Conference with other Singapore residents too. We went to the Mandarin Hotel and sat in the Grand Ballroom that the stake rented for that very purpose.


When the time came to go back home to Penang little did we know what was in store for us. We awoke at 6:00 am to get ready for our 9:30 flight. Keep in mind the Johor Baru airport is only about 45 minutes away. We asked the good folks at the Marriott to arrange a taxi for us to drop us at the airport. The average person would assume that since we arrived by taxi we could leave by taxi. However, our first mistake was to assume. I mean, ASSUME Malaysia would keep things as simple as Singapore did. Ha!

1. Marriott folks kept us waiting for taxi arrangements for 30 minutes. We finally went out and caught our own.
2. The driver was a Chinese Joe Pesci-like character who couldn't stop talking and laughing and making fun of everything Malaysian. Very irritating at 7:30 am.
3. We got to the Checkpoint and had to walk about 1/2 a mile 8:00.
4. Then we had to wait in line at the checkpoint. Go through the border, and try to find the correct bus to drive us to the Malaysian border checkpoint.
5. We waited for the correct bus and lucky for us it arrived about 15 minutes after we arrived, and we still had our EZ-Link bus passes with us left over from the MRT subway.
6. We got off the bus and walked the wrong way because we followed the sign that said "imbarcation cards this way". Next time we will ignore the info. signs and just follow the crowd. By now it is 8:30. Our plane leaves at 9:20.
7. We found a taxi driver and followed him to his car about 100 yards away. Traffic around the checkpoint was quite heavy.
8. He drove very fast, and we began to relax a bit realizing we just might make our plane. Then we hit a traffic jam that went on for miles and miles. Parking lot slow.
9. We then realized that it would be a miracle if we didnt' miss our plane. We got to the airport at 9:10. They would not let us board the plane. The next plane with AirAsia wouldn't leave until the next day. Dave went to buy tickets from Malaysia Air but that flight didn't leave until 3:50. We decided to get tickets for Tiny and I to Penang, leaving at 10:30 with AirAsia and Dave would wait til 3:50 to fly to Kuala Lumpur to pick up our car that was waiting for us at the Hotel we stayed at the day before we flew into Singapore.
10. Only AirAsia could not process our credit cards of which we tried 3 before giving up. Dave said he was ready to start swearing like Steve Martin did in the "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" when he wanted to rent a car to get home. He gave up trying AirAsia, and just went over to Malaysia Air and bought 3 tickets to KL.
11. We made ourselves a fixture at the "Coffee Bean" we were the guests who would not leave. We plugged in our lap tops and palm pilots and sat there for 6 hours, occasionally buying things to keep them from kicking us out.
12. We got on the plane and went uneventfully to KL and took the train in to our hotel. Got lost at the huge train station, but painfully made it back alive to the car. We had the hotel give us very detailed instructions on how to get back to the North-South Expressway.
13. Sadly we got lost the minute we left the driveway. We ended up in downtown Kuala Lumpur at the height of rush hour. Luckily it was still daylight and it only took us an hour to navigate ourselves out of the hole we dug.
14. We drove up to Ipoh and had terrific Nasi Kandar for dinner about 9:00 and then drove into our parking space at home about 10:45.

All and all Singapore was great fun. A beautiful big city that will be fun to return to again and again. Next time around though, I think I'll save some money and take the expensive flight directly to Singapore.

The Funtastic Night Market

We took Elders Delaney and Giles to the night market in Batu Ferringhi last night. Elder Delany is going home to Australia in a week and he had not been to Penang's greatest night market. The market is situated along the street of a mile long stretch of "hotel" row about 4 miles north of where we live. The market has oodles and oodles of colorful, brashy, tacky, beautiful, noisy, cheap, counterfit and wonderful touristy treasures. You can get any cd, dvd, designer purse, imaginable. There are wonderful batiks, pewter containers, and other local goodies as well just for the bargaining. I came home with 6 new cds and the second season of Numbers. I purchased everything for under 10 dollars. Yes I am a thief. But to my own defense, there are no places to purchase dvd's let alone rent them. So we have to buy them from the bad guys. (how is that for rationalizing??) We met this cute Auntie last night. (in the photo with Dave. ) She had blue eyes like Dave, she spoke very good English and we fell in love with her. Her name is Madam Lim, and she was born and raised here on the Island of Penang. She is part of the reason Penang is the Pearl of the Orient. The rich culture and friendliness of the local people is beyond compare. The Chinese have kept their lovely traditions as is evident in the food, clothing, and celebrations here.

Doughnuts Make You Fat

We cannot get doughnuts in Malaysia. A real cake donut is something we Gaddis' not only crave, but need with every fiber of our bodies. I have been doing some research online to find a do-able recipe, one that will satisfy and put a gut bomb in the tummy with the greatest of ease. Last July, I even bought 2 doughnut gizmos to help me acheive perfection. While these didn't taste like I had hoped, they sure look pretty. I will keep trying cake doughnut recipes until I am satisfied. Until then, I will probably gain lots of weight, testing and testing.

My Life Surrounded by Girls

Christina turned 14 last Saturday. She invited every single girl in her class to come to have birthday cake and sing Karaoke. Seventeen out of eighteen girls came. It was a bit touchy at first because a handful of these girls are not friends of Christina, in fact they have made her life miserable at times. But, being a kind and thoughtful person, she was adamant that all the girls would get invited. They all came and hatchets were buried. We went over to "Redbox". Redbox is a huge Karaoke club. They have over 60 rooms of all different sizes with excellent equipment in them. Redbox feeds you and waits on you and you sit in the room (ours had a dance floor and huge wall sized screen) and sing your heart out. Thanks girls for the great time!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the delightful Young Women at church. Can I tell you that the Lord has prepared the most magnificent future leaders possible here in Malaysia! All of these girls speak at least 3 languages, and can write in them as well. They attend early morning seminary and are all working on Personal Progress, and progessing!! I love them so much. The leadership in our branch is wonderful as well. This photo was taken last Sunday the 10 of Sept.

Christina is basically an only child now. Her older sisters are adults living 10,000 miles away. Our life is so full and complete with her. Dave and I love and adore here and we appreciate her desire to make good choices and live righteously. We look at Christina and wonder where the last 14 years went? We savor these last few years with her at home more than you can ever know.

Comfort Food ..Thanks Grandma

4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 T. Crisco
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup warm water

Incorporate well the shortening into the dry ingredients with your hands.
Slowly add the warm water until a nice dough forms, not too wet, not too dry.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Divide into nice round golfball sized pieces.
Roll them out nice and thin and round.
Cook them on a medium hot griddle and you have Flour Tortillas.

This is my ultimate idea of comfort food. I don't think I ever was at my grandmother Lucero's house when she didn't have homemade tortillas on hand. Now I make them so seldom it is a shame. I guess other things take my time and I forget the simple things that make me happy. Yesterday I made Chorizo, from my Grandmother's secret recipe that my Mother gave me years ago. I cannot tell you how happy I was today at dinner, scambled eggs with Chorizo and fried potatoes and fresh tortillas! Poor people food that I grew up taking for granted. Eating this simple meal took me back to humble yet sturdy kitchen tables laden with food made with love by strong women who knew how to feed not only the body, but the soul as well. Wow! Now that is comfort.

Sugar is the "Gellical" cat of Malaysia

Here is a wonderful comparison of a fat American and a fat Chinese.....cat. The cat above weighs 15 kilos or 31 pounds to westerners. Our cat on the left, Sugar, weighs 11 kilos or 23pounds. People come into our home and they are caught totally off guard by the freakishly fat and very big boned cat. Once the scare factor is over, they are totally enthralled and cannot belive what they are seeing. We had a big party last Christmas and Sugar was the "freak" at the show. We should have charged one dollar a peek, it would have paid for the party. There was a constant stream of people lined up to see her laying on Jordan's bed.

Sugar is totally unlike a Malaysian cat. Malaysian cats are 99% scrawny , short haired and stubby tailed. The gene pool likely has not had very much influx for centuries. Any pure bred cats are kept indoors and well guarded and strays are shooed away . The street cats are on their own to face the harsh realites of life here. Dogs, huge rats, disease , abandonment and humans and all that that entails.

(the clipping of the fat cat from China comes from APpic , taken from the Star Newspaper one year ago)

From Mullet to Magical

Malaina got a wild hair literally a week ago or so. She impulsively got it cut at a really bad place by a really bad hair stylist. She went home nearly in tears and totally disgusted. Long story short, she called my niece Toni and went up to Sandy to get it fixed. It is probably the best haircut she ever had. Not only is it cute as can be, it is easy for her to fix. Shown here is my beautiful 18 year old BYU freshman.
Malaina says "Hat's off to Toni". I agree.

AWAS (caution) Cindy on crutches

Okay, I was getting up from a nap to answer the phone tripped on some slippers, WHAM went down, and I conciously made an effort to avoid a twisted ankle so I fell on the hardwood floor on the side of my foot and snaped a bone. I was laying on the floor, and I called to my maid Kanit, to get me some ice. She comes in with a big bag of ice and plops it on my painfully sore foot. Then she tries to rub the pain out of my foot. I ask her as nicely as I can to "please take her hands off my broken foot and stop rubbing it!' She just walks away shaking her head saying "Aye-yah!" Thinking that I must be a namby-pamby to whine about a tiny little bruise.

Really, I am doing as well as can be expected. I have good neighbors and friends buying groceries and bringing me cookies. Next week I will trying swimming some laps to maintain some sort of cardio health. Speaking of health. The doctor I go to is excellent. They have excellent digital x-rays, and state of the art phyisotherapy as well. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures here on this site I will do so. Any one out there have any ideas? When I am creating a message, I click on the add image button, but nothing happens.

Pioneer Day in Malaysia

Last night we had the greatest Pioneer Day Celebration as a branch. We had a great pot luck. Oh my gosh... the variety of food we get is fantastic. Curries, salads, desserts, noodles, rice dishes. My favorite new Malaysian hybrid is the curry puff. A tender piece of deep fried pastry folded around succulent curried potatoes and chicken. The only "pioneer"food we had was the potato salad (boring) that I brought.
We had fun games, the primary sang a pioneer song, and one of the Elders gave a presentation on Pioneers. We may not be in Utah, but the Saints here know all about faith in every footstep. What a great bunch of people, pioneering together right here in Penang.

Road Rules

Have you ever watched a motor cross race on ESPN or some channel on tv? You know how all those motorcycles are lined up in no particular order and then someone waves a flag and KABOOM! They're taking off like bats out of hell? Well that is what every single red light / green light is like here in Penang.
No matter how far the first car in line is hugging the intersection line all the small little one or two stroke engine motorcycles and their drivers butt in line ahead of you. They zig zag in and out of cars and in between the lanes until they are as far to the front of the line as they can get. It can get really crazy when you are surrounded my these motorcycles. Sometimes there are as many as 2 dozen motorcycles.

• No doubt you will have about five or six Indians. Some are big boys too.
• Four or five ancient Chinese men with smokes hanging out of their mouths ( these old guys all have ramrod straight backs and their legs poking out in very wide obsene angles... )
• And at least one or two Malay families with at least 2 children illegally and unsafely mounted between both parents.
• And at least one third of these drivers will have on a jacket turned backwards just covering their arms. I think some of the drivers are in the sun so much that it burns their uncovered forearms and they have come up with this "back-jack" method. Other reasons are to keep dust off their clothes, and for wind resistance. What ever the reason it looks stupid.

The light turns green and those that haven't run the red light already, roar off down the street. Because you are in a much bigger car, you can't accelerate or you will hit someone, so you have no choice but to sit there for a few seconds and let them clear out. And clear out they do, at great speed. Except, the families whose weight prevents them from moving too quickly. These folks don't care that they are holding you up with their pokey departure, some drivers get so impatient with these slow pokes that they will drive around them even if it means forcing the car in the next lane into a tree. Dave said it perfectly "Their problem, becomes my problem. "

Anyway, the rest of the motorcycles are zooming down the street. There is usually one young crazy driver who thinks that he is the most important and has to show off his driving skills by weaving in and out of the others. He is the one who runs the red lights, and thinks "nothing" can touch or hurt him and will probably cause or be in an accident

6,500 motorcyclists a year die in Malaysia. It think this is among the highest in the world. Keep in mind that these are not the motorcycles we have in the U.S. The Malaysian motorcycle is by our standards a small little 150cc scooter. Any bigger and the taxes go up and the average user cannot afford it. But these little buggers can move and they have the strength of a little mule. Some of the abuses I to these motorcycles I have seen would boggle the mind. I will try to get some photos and download them soon. Dave was going to get a Harley and drive it here in Penang, and I (for the first time in my marriage) put my foot down and said over my dead body!

I have a maid

This may seem like a lame topic, but how did I ever live without Kanti? My Indonesian maid or "amah" in the old Hokkien Chinese, is my best friend. I never realized what a slob I was. Why you ask? Well here is my theory:
As a young girl, my mother used to force us into slave labor on Saturdays, my sister and I would rotate chores each week. I dreaded when it was my turn to do kitchen duty. I had to mop, scrub the stove, and worst of all clean the refrigerator. I mean it had to be dismantled weekly. Shelves removed, every bottle cleaned, every egg dusted you name it. We would not be allowed to go anywhere or make any plans unless our work was done and checked over by my freakishly, complusivlely clean mother. My complaints fell on deaf ears. My mother would always respond..."Do you want to be a pig when you have your own house?" Well guess what mom.... I have a maid now na, na, na, na, naaah.. Here are the facts.

Before Kanti After Kanti

Sheets washed once a month if lucky. Sheets washed weekly (or more).
Floor mopped once a month if lucky. Floor mopped every other day.

Bathroom cleaned once a month if lucky. Bathroom cleaned every day.

Fridge cleaned twice a year if lucky. Fridge cleaned every other day.

Laundry done by Cindy without love. Laundry done by Kanti w/o love.

Cat crap cleaned by me. Cat crap cleaned by Kanti.

Okay so you get the picture. My maid is doing everything for me but bathing me and powdering my bottom. Whew!... this blog is helping me unload years of resentment toward the matriarchal figure of my teens . Don't get me wrong. I would have loved to have been as clean and maticulous as mom when I was my own housekeeper, but thanks to Kanti, I am now the woman of my mom's dreams.