Back in Miami for Christmas

December 21, 2007
Well, we made it! Fernando had to travel ahead to make a business meeting, so I travelled alone with the kids. It was a long trip, but Dito helped me so much, and Mati was a trouper so the trip was good.

Miami is beautiful! There is more construction everyday, but they have built beautiful roads, and buildings and everything with palm trees and landscaping. The weather is nice, just a little cooler and windier than Penang.

We are staying with Fernando's parents in Miami, and then heading to Keystone after New Years.

Merry Christmas from the Paz's - A year in review

December, 2007
Dear Family & Friends!

Merry Christmas from the equator! We are toasty warm hear all year long (translation: ITS HOT, LIKE AFRICA HOT!), but we are enjoying all the beautiful natural resources this country has to offer! I can’t believe our first year in Penang, Malaysia has gone by so quickly. There isn’t enough paper in the world to describe all the experiences we have had in this crazy, up-side-down, backwards, and inside-out wonderful paradise we now call home. But, I’ll try to give you the bird’s eye view from each of us…

Fernando… my wonderful husband! He is working, and working, and working, all hours of the night and day, traveling all over the world under a lot of stress and pressure. Motorola has had a bad year, with constant re-orgs, layoffs, consolidations, and plant closings. And in spite of the internal turmoil, they still have to deliver the products on time and with high quality. It’s been a rough year for him, and I am so proud of his dedication, resilience, and just overall good attitude, to come home in a good mood, and play with the kids and take me out dancing, and go explore the sites. I think his favorite part of Penang is the celebrity status that goes with being a “white, expat, MD” (MD = Managing Director as they call him here). For example, we went to a wedding for one of his employees of about 250 people, and of course we were late…and they waited for us to arrive before starting – 45 minutes! Another time we were standing in a buffet line and the hotel staff ran over and apologetically shuffled us out of the line and seated us in the air conditioned “VIP section” where they brought us a full gourmet spread. We have a chauffer, a live-in maid, and now also a cook. Our maid, Kanthi crushes fresh ginger root every night to make Fernando (“My Sir” as she calls him) his ginger tea for his midnight conference calls. Whether its at the coffee shop, or the supermarket, or the restaurants, people know us everywhere we go. For me it’s all a little embarrassing, but Fernando is thoroughly enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.

Fernandito,… at 10 and in 5th Grade is really starting to be his own person. He is funny, energetic, and non-stop. He is extremely social, making friends everywhere he goes. He loves DALAT, saying it’s his favorite school attended. His class is the largest in the school with 25 kids, from more than 10 different countries including South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Korea, The Philippians, Malaysia, Canada and the US. He is getting good grades, but not enjoying the homework or the writing assignments AT ALL. He was on the Swim Team and won first place in the backstroke. He was also taking equestrian, and had his first job as a stable boy one afternoon each week. Recently, he was in a track and field event, and surprisingly won 4th place overall in the Javelin in the 10 through 14 year old division …. Go figure! Dito’s favorite part of Penang is the independence he feels at school. He rides the bus, and the school is a closed campus on the beach. They have dorms with about 80 students living on campus so there is a shop and plenty of after school activities. He is there on his own; making his own choices for which activities he will participate in, and is free to go around the campus after school with no supervision. Some after school activities he has chosen include Skits, Scrabble, and Bible Study.

Mati continues to be the princess of the house at age 4 going on 16!. She is such a big girl now, and using phrases like “Oh Pickles!” and “It just breaks my heart!” and “I can’t wait until I have a car so I can go wherever I want”. She is smarter than all of us, and I have to think in triplicate just to keep up with her. Mati is in Pre-K 4 at DALAT with 7 other students mostly from Korea and the US. She loves jewelry, especially earrings, and loves to paint her nails. She is not much into the dresses, preferring jeans … but always loves to wear her fancy princes high heal shoes! She started off the year by wanting to be a hairdresser… cutting off all of her hair almost to the scalp! Thank God it’s started to grow back again. Now she prefers cooking… when I came out of the shower the other day, she had taken tons of ingredients out of the refrigerator and had used all 12 eggs in her effort to “bake Mama cookies”… close supervision is required with this one! Mati’s favorite part of Penang is the Macaque monkeys. They come down from the mountain and into our backyard almost every day so we can see them from inside very closely. Each monkey has a role in the pack, we can identify the alpha male, the young males that get food, and the mothers with their babies hanging from their bellies. Mati also loves her pet hamster!

My mom has been staying with us on and off, and has been a great help with the kids. She loves it here, saying that it reminds her of Cuba. She is in good health, although getting older (aren’t we all?). My dad is also well, but hasn’t made the trek to come visit us yet, I’m still holding out hope!

Of all of us, I think I enjoy Penang the most. I’m still with Motorola, and my work schedule is a little crazy, since I mostly work with the people in the US. I normally put the kids to sleep by 8:30PM, and by 9PM I start my work day until about 2am, but sometimes have to set the alarm at 3 or 4 am to participate in conference calls. The benefit of this is I have my days free to be with the kids and explore the island. I’ve kept myself very busy as I was the co-secretary for the International Woman’s Association (IWA) and I am also volunteering teaching math and English to 4 local high school boys. I love to hike in the jungle, or go to the beach, or visit Little India or the fishing villages. I read that Malaysia is the country with the highest density of different species of animals and plants in the world. There are 17 different kinds of bananas here (literally) and every time I go out hiking I’ll see a different kind of insect, or crab, or bird, or mammal. But, my favorite part of Penang has to be the food. With the mix of spice savvy cultures here (Muslim, Indian and Chinese) along with the ample supply of fresh sea food and the close proximity of the fruit and vegetable plantations, the Penangites take pride in merging all the different spices and fresh foods into the most delicious cuisine I have ever had, anywhere in the world. (Certainly not the most appetizing to look at, but if you can ignore the way it looks and get the food into your mouth, you will never be disappointed!) The other thing I love are the people who are just so friendly. It is very common to meet a person on the street one day, and have them call you the next, and before you know it you are eating dinner or going on site seeing tours with them. We have made many friends both local and expat, and are growing in our understanding of different cultures.

But of course, we miss home, and we miss you all so much! Things I never thought would be significant, have real emotional meaning…When I first arrived, I almost went into shock when I realized there were no frozen waffles (they have them now) and I missed bagels so much, I almost threw a party when the first coffee shop got them in; for Halloween, I just had to have a real orange pumpkin so we could make a jack-o-lantern, and I miss pine cone decorations for Christmas and real Christmas trees that smell. I miss the crystal blue skies from South Florida and the beautiful blue oceans (its pretty polluted here) and there is really no concept of hygiene, all the bathrooms are wet, and you have to take your shoes off everywhere you go so that is pretty disgusting! The places we miss the most are Miami, Key West, Colorado, and of course, Disney World!

We thank God for the blessings he has bestowed on us this year! Our lives have been full of activity and adventure, but we are ever mindful that everything we do is in His service. May His grace & peace be with you at Christmas and may He bless & keep you close in 2008.

We continue to extend an open invitation to have you come stay with us on your next holiday so we can explore Asia together!

With all of our Love, Besitos,
Carmen, for the Paz’s

Rainy Season & Thanksgiving in Penang

November 11, 2007
We've been super busy. I work most nights until 2 or 3 am. I wake up at 6 to get the kids ready for school and off on the bus, and then back to sleep until about 10 or 11. I spend my days shuttling back and forth picking up the kids. Mati gets out at noon, and Dito gets out at 4, so by the time I go get Mati, feed her lunch and play a little while, its time to go get Dito. We come home do homework, eat dinner, put the kids to sleep and time to start my work day again. Fernando has been traveling a lot he's been back to the US, to India, and to China a few times. He is working 18-20 hours a day to cover work days on both sides of the globe, so for him it is really tough.

The weather here has been beautiful lately. It is the rainy season which I thought would be bad, but it is actually the best. It rains every night really hard, which clears out the haze and cools off the land. So we wake up every morning to clear blue skies and cool breezes. The trees and flowers are GREEN and blooming, and there are many birds now which we didn't have during the dry season. There are more monkeys now too, different kinds that come down from the mountain to eat the fruits from the trees in our neighborhood that are in bloom. I never tire of watching the monkeys. They have an entire organizational hierarchy, roles and responsibilities in the pack, and daily activities. I know where to go, at what time to find them. Its awesome.

Mati has more kids in her class this year which she is happy about. There are 3 new American girls ("yellow hair just like me") which is a welcomed addition to her and a relief to me. I'm already not big on chatting with moms during play dates, but trying to make conversation with Korean, Japanese and Chinese Malay is just torture!

Fernandito loves his school, and enjoys staying afterwards to play basketball and 4 square with the boarding school kids. They had a track and field day, and he placed 4th in the Javelin ... go figure!

November 19, 2007
We are getting ready for thanksgiving in Malaysia. It's been interesting to say the least! Carmen searched the entire island of Penang looking for a turkey. T'giving is basically unknown here and the few turkeys that are ordered arrive in December (for Christmas) - not in November. Fortunately, a friend who has a cousin who has a friend, knows somebody that raises turkeys - and Carmen was able to find one at the "wet market" - "wet" as in alive... should be interesting.

November 29, 2007
The turkey ended being about as big as a really skinny chicken... We needed to buy 2. I cooked everything, and for a person who never cooks, it came out pretty good! We had the traditional Cuban / American cuisine with Frijoles Negros and white rice, and Sweet Potatoe casserole, home made pies: apple, mango, & pecan. We had a formal sit down with Fernando & I and the kids, my mom, and Siva & Kanthi. I used my new plates from the Mikasa outlet on the mainland, and the table looked beautiful. It was a quite and nice time.We are looking forward to our home leave this December. I was playing Christmas songs at home this weekend as I was setting up our tree (the first artificial tree we have ever had, but of course, it wouldn't be easy to ship a live evergreen to the equator! We were thinking of First Baptist, the pageant and the great choir and awesome sounding Christmas carols and missing home.

Melaka & Kanthi's Mother's Funeral

September 17, 2007
We went to a city in Malaysia, called Melaka about 3 hours south of KL. It is an old Portuguese settlement but also a bustling city. On the way home we stopped in KL to visit Joe Drobnich our friend from Texas, and then made a stop at Kuala Selangor to see synchronous fireflies on the river.

Kanthi, my ahma, had to go back to Indonesia for 1 week because her mother died. This was a big financial problem for her because when Muslims die, their family (and the entire village) needs to pray for them for 40 days. This means that she needed to buy food for the entire village for 40 days, because if she doesn't give them food they won't go pray, and her mother won't go to heaven

Cameron Highlands & Life in Penang

September 2, 2007
We are doing great. We love it here, it is just adventure after adventure. We were visited by 5 Maquaque monkeys today, and I was feeding them bananas from my porch. They are really just amazing, wild creatures! They climb the coconut tree by our pool, hold on to a palm branch with their feet, pull the coconuts off the tree with their hands, and crack them open with their mouths. Then, holding this hugh coconut in their mouth, they scale the gutter up to the third story roof, and sit on the apex, drinking the coconut milk like if they were people!

We went on a 5 hour hike through the jungle in the mainland (3 hours up the mountain and 2 hours down) . We hiked up holding unto the roots of trees for balance with the guides yelling "Don't shake the trees, or snakes will fall!", we saw a Tiger scratching post, and crossed rivers walking make shift bridges (2 bamboo poles tied together). We saw the largest flower in the world the "Rafflesia" which grows on the floor and spans about 6 feet in diameter. It is the most physically challenging thing I have ever done, but just an awesome experience.

We have met so many friends here, both locals as well as expats, and there is a group of hispanics here that we go out with frequently. They are actually hosting the 2nd Annual World Congress of Salsa dancing in Penang next year, so there are a few places to go out dancing.

The kids are doing great, in Dalat a Christian / American school which they love. Dito is in 5th grade, and started off the year with an overnight retreat at an island resort off the coast of Penang called Jerejak. Mati's happy because she actually has another girl "with yellow hair" this year in her class ... last year she had 3 Korean kids only.

We think about Karen & Eric our friends in Colorado sometimes. Penang has a lot of mountains (hills really) and they have bike trails everywhere. Fernando wonders how they would like the trails.

We've taken up hiking in the mountains which is really amazing. We have seen 3 types of monkeys, monitor lizards (huge like alligators), and several unidentifiable mammals ... imagine a 30 pound black squirrel with a bushy fox tail about 3 feet long flying through the trees... just amazing! On a recent hike I found some frog eggs which I brought home and have successfully hatched into tadpoles in an aquarium ... we have about 65 of them at last count!

The people here are so nice, and SO different!!!!! Everyday is a surprise. Kanthi is our ahma, (nanny / housekeeper) who is live in and Muslim Indonesian, and a driver, Siva, who is Malaysian (Hindu / Indian) (Yes, he is holding up a whip viper snake that he caught in our driveway). Most of the people we work with at Motorola are Malaysian Chinese (Bhuddists). Each one has a different superstition, different holiday, different customs.... Penang is just alive with celebrations almost every day of the year. We are particularly enjoying our driver, Siva, and his stories.. his life is like your typical Indian Love Story movie, full of heart break, comedy of errors, and even demonic possessions ... Fernando said his life would make a great movie or novel! Seriously.

Fernando is doing really well at work. We just shipped our first product from Penang, and it shipped on time with high quality. So the GM from Florida came here last week for a big party. As for me, I work mostly nights so my days are free to explore Little India, the beaches, the jungle, and I volunteer teaching 4 local teenage boys math and English.

Our house is huge -- Its three stories, with a huge play room on the 3rd floor, all the bedrooms on the 2nd floor, and the living area on the first, and overlooks a beautiful golf course and the jungle / mountains. My ahma is a delicious cook, so we've hosted all kinds of parties and luncheons, so I am in hostess heaven!

No Shoes, Superstitions, Monkeys, and Bathrooms

August 27, 2007
Por aqui todo bien. Ya mas confortable en la vida de aqui, aunque todos los dias siguen las sorpresas y cosas incomprensibles. Por ejemplo me escojieron para narrar un comercial video para la Motorola.... me escojieron a mi por que no podian encontrar ningun otro empleado que podia pronunciar la palabra "Motorola". Cuando fui a el estudio professional de gravacion me obligaron quitarme los zapatos antes de entrar para no ensusiar la alfombra. Pero sin darme quenta pise un pedazo de crystal roto (parece que como no ensusian piensan que no es necesario limpiar tampoco??) y como es natural y no tenia zapatos puestos me corte el pie. Y sangre tanto que toda la alfombra se mancho de sangre!!! How do you process this scenario ???!??!!

Inmaginate, que digo, y que me van a decir??? llamaron a la farmasia abajo y en un instante un chinito me estaba poniendo una curita en el pie ... Mind you, I didn't notice I had cut my foot so I had been walking all over the entire studio, back and forth, back and forth, the entire WHITE carpet was filled with blood stains ... I didn't know if to be embarassed that I ruined the guy's carpet, or glad since he made me take my shoes off. I said to him "That's why in my country we don't have to take off our shoes!" I was soooooooooooooooo mad!

Otro caso es los ninos que hago tutoring.... como son Chinos tienen crias de pollos, pajaros y peces por toda la casa. Jason, que tiene 13 tiene una cria de "fighting fish" con como 30 bebitos en un tanque con agua verde, y me dijo que me hiba regalar uno cuando cresen. Ahora el chofer, que es Hindu, esta preocupadisimo porque en su religion dicen que un pes "fighting fish" adentro de la casa trai broncas.... igual que cuando pones dos escobas juntas!!!?!!!?! El no se puede inmaginar como puede ser que yo "siendo tan inteligente no conosco estas cosas tan basicas!".

Hemos discubierto mas especias de monos, unos (Silver Leaf) que son tan mancitos que les puede dar comida de las manos en la naturaleza. Y otros (Dusky Leaf) que son enormes y parecen a Tarzan brincando de arbol en arbol. Y ahora que es la temporada de los cocos los monos Macaques entran a donde esta mi picina (con los ninos ban~andose) y suben la palma de coco para comer. Es increible ver como un mono tan chiquito tiene tanta fuerza para agarase de las palmas con sus pies, quitar el coco con las manos y romperlo con la boca. Y despues cargando el coco enorme en la boca, sube el "gutter" con una facilidad al techo de el tercer piso y se sienta en la punta de el techo a tomarse la leche de coco como si fuera una persona -- mirando a los ninos en la picina! A veces llevo a los ninos al parque por las tardes y veo las madre Macaques con los bebitos en el parque tambien teniendo un "play date". Siempre un grupo de como 20 a 40 madres e hijos y solamente con un macho. Juegan 1 hora y despues se van todos juntos a la montan~a otra vez. Pero cuando salen a buscar comida el grupo es mucho mas pequen~o de como 5 a 10 y casi todos son machos o hembras grandes pero los bebitos no van.

Fuimos en una escursion a la jungla - nos demoramos 5 horas - 3 en subir la montana y 2 en bajar -- y fue la cosa mas dificil fisicamente que he hecho en mi vida. Cruzamos rios por puentes de bamboo, y vimos arran~asos de tigres, y la flor mas grande de el mundo (Rafflesia) que crece en el piso, se demora 5 anos en crecer y cuando es grande mide mas de 2 metros de ancho - si -- mas grande que yo! Fernando y Fernandito soplaron un "poison dart" por un "Blow pipe" de bamboo en un village de Orang Asli, los nativos de aqui. Las adventuras son espectaculares y nunca yo pense que yo hiba acer nada de esto. Siempre Fernando esta pensando en Moli y como le gustaria estar en todas estas adventuras!

And in case anyone was wondering ... los ban~os siguen sucios y mojados!!!!! I still don't understand what the hose is for, all I know is that sometimes I'm in the stall, and a WAVE of water comes flowing at me, and over my shoes from the person in the stall next to me. WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE DOING!!?!?!?!!?!? And hence, probably the reason they insist on taking off the shoes before entering anywhere!!!!!! (sigh!)

Siva's Sister, his Fiance & his Motorbike

July 25, 2007
Hoy, nuestro chofer fue al templo Hindú para bendecir su motoneta (un tipo de despojo) ya que tuvo dos accidentes en un mes. Nos invito pero tuve que apurarme por que según el calendario hindú, hoy era el ultimo día en el cual este tipo de despojo se podía hacer. No se cuando se podrá repetir? Lo acompañamos y lo pude sacar todo en video - así que ahí lo tengo para la prosperidad. Si sigo como voy, vamos a tener un documental de la vide sur oriental asiática - tipo National Geographic.

El chofer (Siva) sigue esperando para la novia Senu desidirse si se quiere casar o no ... La novia no se decide... Pero tampoco le dice que no...La mama de Senu lo llama y lo invita a la casa, pero Senu no quiere estar con el, y lo ignora. Yo lo veo muy mal pero Siva sigue con las esperanza.... But, I found out more chisme, ... The reason he feels so indebted to the family is because his sister (you remember the old ugly fat one) lived with Senu's family for 2 years. This is because (I promise this is the truth!) they all believe she is possessed by a Malay Muslim demon. They believe that this possession started when she was 12 and she used to eat Mangos from the Malay Muslim mango tree (everyone knows that the Malay demons live in the Mango trees). Since she was 12 she has gone to see I don't know how many doctors, and then even more Hindu priests. Apparently when she is possessed, she goes to the temple and throws herself on the floor doing the "snake dance" and asking for a Cow's bloody head (mind you, remember that to Hindus the cow is the most sacred animal). Finally, Senu's mother couldn't take it anymore, and they took her to a Malay witchdoctor, who although wasn't able to totally exercise the demon, he was able to "tie it up" enough so that they could find a proposer for her, and marry her off. Only now that she has been married for 6 months, the demon has "become loose" again, and the mother-in-law is threatening to send her back to the parents...the story couldn't get any more interesting if it was in a book.

Penang in Summary, first 6 months

July 2, 2007
We enjoy Penang very, very much. It is ever the adventure, ... Penang is an island on the equator about the size of Broward county with 1.5 million residents, so it is roughly the same as what we are used to in terms of weather, city size and population. However, what makes it totally different is that instead of being surrounded by a swamp (the Everglades ) we are surrounded by mountainous jungles. I live on a golf course, that is just at the foot of the jungle. We have monkeys in our back yard daily and monitor lizards about 3-4 feet long, and at night it is SO loud with jungle noises it was hard to get to sleep at first.

The nicest thing here are the people, who are so friendly and helpful, and go so out of their way to do favors that at first we were skeptical of their motives, but really they are just being nice.... to us ... we are treated almost like royalty. The strangest or most difficult thing to get used to is the people and the way they treat their servants. It is like going back in time 200 years, where maids and drivers are litterly treated like slaves, not allowed to leave the house, given the poorest living condition in huge mansions, and made to work 7 days a week. I really have never felt myself so Christian, our ahma (maid) and driver can't understand why we are so nice to them ("Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to Me!") It really makes it hard for me to be true friends with people here because although they are so nice, and we have made so many acquaintancs from the West, I can't believe how they can come here and then forget all people are God's children.

There are three main cultures here (Muslim, Chinese, and Indian). And every holiday is celebrated along with all the Christian ones, so there is always a party going on somewhere, with the strangest rituals, customs, and festivities you can imagine. From fireworks to sacrificial body piercings to holidays where they through colored sand/water on you as you go down the street -- we've seen it all.

The fashion though is for me the most interesting. You can go to the mall, and in the same store see a muslim man with a fez, followed by his 4 wives in full black burkas with only their eyes showing, standing in line right next to Chinese teenage girls with micro mini skirts and gogo boots, standing right next to an Indian lady in a saree, standing right next to some Australians in cargo shorts and flip flops. Then there are always the occassional Taoist monks who shave their heads and wear wrap around orange bedsheets or the men from bali in silk pajama pants covered by a floresent pink or lime green skirt... it is truely fascinating!

Oh, and as to the "Have we adjusted" question -- just when I think I've adjusted, something happens to through me for a loop... like the little black bat sleeping cozily in the office plant inside the Motorola building, or the cows happily grazing stopping traffic on the busiest streets, or the chicken comfortably resting on my front doorstep this morning -- always something to remind us that we are not really "home".

Indian Dinner in Florida

June 26, 2007
So we went to eat Indian food with all our friends on Friday night, with all the kids too... It was so much fun, we all dressed up, in the Punjabis / Bangles / anklets, etc, everything I bought in Penang...and went to a little restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. We reserved a room, and we ate Curry Lamb, and Chicken Tandori, and Chicken Tikka, and Channa Malasa. and Aloo something, and Paneer something, oh, and Samosas and Briani rice, & Naan , and Gulab Jamon for desert. And of course Mango Lassi and Tiger beer (well Fernando drank it, not me). It was delicious, and the kids were all dancing to the Indian movie on the TV, and we told all of our Little India / Penang stories. We had so much fun.

On Saturday night we went to eat dinner on our friend's boat. WOW! I had forgotten how awesome that is...that is why we love living in South Florida. The night was beautiful, and we went with the kids, and saw all of the MANSIONS on the intracoastal waterways. It is just amazing!

Well, we are back in Miami now, staying at my inlaws house. We are supposed to be on vacation, but we have so many errands to run, I'm not sure that we will get a chance to get away. And anyway Fernando is enjoying the time with his parents. It's just Tuesday now, and we leave Friday morning to go back to Penang so we only have a few days left.

We have had a great time here, but we are all looking forward to going back to Penang (well, maybe not the kids, but Fernando & I are for sure) ... so much less stressful than here. People here are crazy with stress, seriously. It made us really sad for them, actually.

Father's Day in Florida

June 19, 2007
Father's day was SO nice!!!! Fernando's sister had a BIG party for us, to celebrate Father's day and Fernando's birthday. There were maybe 100 people there, and so many kids, and it was really nice to see all of our family and friends. Fernando roasted a big pig in the Caja China, and we ate so much of delicious Cuban food! It rained so hard, so half the people came in soaking wet, it was funny and nice because everyone kept saying "Wow, you see how much we missed you, that we even went out in this storm to see you!"

Back in the Good Ol' USA

June 7, 2007
I drove for the first time in 6 months today! I was driving my toyota highlander, and couldn't help just take so many pictures of the streets. The streets are so wide compared to the ones in Penang, and there are no motorcycles... not even one. And everyone stays in their lanes, it was like a beautiful work of art. I was laughing, thinking of Fernando driving in Penang. What a difference! And the parking is a joke. The spaces are so wide, and people still park on two spaces so their cars don't get scratched.

I am driving all the time, taking my husband and kids everywhere, and enjoying every minute. I just sit back and wonder at the space and the order. People in Penang would just not believe it! When my family came to pick us up at the airport, there was this huge space in the airport parking lot, and we told my brother-in-law to pull the car around so we could load the bags. He, and my sister-in-law, were like ... oh, but we can't because the arrow painted on the street is going in the other direction... and the space was SO HUGE, like the entire parking lot at my house in Jesselton, and there were NO CARS & Fernando & I just started laughing!!!!

We ate bagels, and coffee this morning in a restaurant at 6:30am. DELICIOUS! And we ate Cuban food last night. I think I'll be coming back to Penang fat again

Salsa Party at the Paz's

Hola!

To celebrate our finally settling into our home here in Penang, we would like to invite you to join us for an evening of cocktails and latin music. So put on a pair of your best dancing shoes (and leave them on) as you dance the night away in our new home.

Salsa Fiesta at the Paz's
Saturday, May 26, 7:30PM
Taman Jesselton

Head to the youth park.Once on Lengkok Jesselton, instead of turning right to the youth park, veer left to go to Taman Jesselton towards Jalan Jesselton.
At Jalan Jesseltong, turn right, pass "The Castle" and go straight.
Enter Taman Jesselton guard gate, and turn left and follow the street around to the right.
Go straight all the way to the end of the street. Park along the side of the rode.
Enter the guard gate walk straight towards the pool, pass the pool and we are in the left corner of the complex.

We'll have plenty of hors d'oevres and wine, beer, rum, & scotch but you can feel free to bring along your favorite spirits and mixers as our bar is not yet built up to true party standards. You can bring along your favorite music CDs as well. And if anyone knows a good DJ, or wants to volunteer some stereo equipment, please let us know, as ours is certainly not the best.

Besitos