Fifteen Minutes Friday Freewrite

I am going to lead an Imaginative Contemplation in one hour from now. I volunteered to lead this Friday Prayer Watch before I knew that I would be going to Southeast Asia, and it has been tough to get up early. I always forget that it is much harder coming back from SEA than going there. I sleep in here when I get back, and it takes me a good two weeks before my body is calibrated to the change in 16 time zones; about a day for each hour. Two days ago, I woke up at 7:00 am for a 7:15 am spiritual direction session! I must remember if I do it again, I will only do spiritual direction sessions in the afternoon; which is true for most of next week. Actually, 9:00 am works too. 8:30 for a prayer watch cuts it for me because even though I wake up before then, I am used to getting up so early and having long and leisurely times with God at my desk. 

All that said, the time with the directee was nice. She is making a decision about whether she will stay in her location, and I am processing it all with her. 

Next week, I will have an early morning Tuesday Supervision Group, my first one post the organization I was doing it for. I didn't really mean to "strike out" on my own, but a group from that group asked me to supervise them, and I am going to do it for six months and then send them out on their own in a Peer Supervision way, and they will do just fine. 

I was asked to talk about spiritual mentoring at a church, but it is right at the end of a hectic three weeks back, and I think I will say, "No" to it. It also influences me that one of my friends won't be there to support me because she will be on vacation. I think I need to go on vacation! SEA was really not a vacation. George was at work all day, and sometimes, she was gone into the evening. Asians must not like to mix work with the employee's family because no one wanted me to come along for dinner. Sigh. I didn't mind, but we only had one day to "play" together on Sunday in Penang. So, it would be nice to go on a mini-vacation with George or even with our kids (so happy they love to go on vacation with us even though they are adults). 

Which brings me to what we might be doing during Spring Break. I teach on the 15th. Thankfully, I don't have to do a "makeup" class on Finals week because that was the first day back after the snow storm (and my first day back after flying back from SEA). So, my last day will be the 15th of March. We had originally signed up to go to Northern Cyprus for a huge prayer conference, but now we are wondering if we should go now that we know M is not going, and none of the rest of the gang even signed up (except M and B, but they will already be in the region). I was so sure we would go when we originally signed up, but now, I cannot imagine getting on another plane. We love the flight from PDX to Amsterdam because it is a direct 10-hour flight which is never the same as flying 15-16 hours across the Pacific Ocean. I like the flight over because you leave in the afternoon from PDX so you don't have to fight the morning or evening traffic to get there. Then you wake up in AMS at 8:05 am. We could get a local flight, but already, the extra legroom flight is astronomically priced! 

Oh that is fifteen minutes, and I need to get to "Jesus Calms the Storm" Imaginative Contemplation. 

Saturday Sixteen: COVID Edition

I have my Alexa timer going, and at first, it said it was setting a 1 hour timer. Noooooo!

So, I brought a present back from Southeast Asia: COVID. George cannot get this from me. He has meetings all next week with the Southeast Asians who are coming here. So, I am quarantining and took some Ivermectrin (sp?). That should help. 

It is more like a bad cold, but I have not had a cold for about 14 years (give or take a year or two) because I remember I didn't get a cold the whole time I was at OSU, and I started there in 2015, and I think it had been five years before that that I had ever had a cold. So that would be 9 + 5 = 14. I think.

So, I am resting in bed, and I feel better already. It is very unusual that anything would keep me up at night, and this kept me up last night. But I thought maybe that was due to the jet lag and 16 hour time change.

As it was, I slept from 11-12:30, up from 12:30-3:00 and slept from 3-8. George got up at 5, and he was gone shopping by the time I rolled out of bed. It is great that we have nothing going on this weekend, except I was hoping to celebrate Michael's birthday as it is this coming Wednesday, and he will be in Salem. 

I think the quarantine requirement for OSU is five days. So, my symptoms really came on this morning at midnight. So I have until Thursday at midnight to quarantine. I don't mind quarantining because I am such an introvert. I have some movies that have piled up. So I should be good with all of that. 

I am also so glad I did most of the work for the Enneagram teaching while I was in Southeast Asia while I was healthy and had nothing else to do. Praise God I brought my computer. So, I just have a little bit of tweaking on the second teaching, and I will be done. I might even practice it while I lay here in bed.

Yesterday was so fun. I taught my class. I was socially distanced from my people in the class. So that is good in case I was contagious then. Then I did Cardio Dance, and the only person I was remotely close to was Dee, but I wasn't that close to her. There was no hug. Just cardio dancing. 

So, I should be good to go as far as teaching again at OSU next Friday. 

I am not feeling very well though. Just saying. This time, it really has symptoms. I know I didn't get the booster for the latest variant. Two boosters were enough for me, and I did not like the way I felt after the last one: faint. In fact, I did faint. I have gotten very lightheaded since that last booster. 

On another front, I led a Prayer Watch with Blind Bartimaeus, and I think it was received pretty well. I love doing Imaginative Contemplations with people. One woman dropped out, and I don't know why. She is sort of a cold fish in my interactions with her online. I am not sure why. I met her once in person, and I thought we had a very pleasant interaction. Since then, she has been pretty cold toward me, but that might just be my Type Two paranoia. LOL! 

It has been good to review the Enneagram stuff and see how much I have grown and am more aware of that Type Two paranoia, assuming rejection when there is none. That has been huge for me to let go of that, and I have let go of that person leaving the room. I know I have to leave the room sometimes when it is going over, or I have an appointment that is right after it, and I need to have a potty break. So, I will assume no rejection. I will "let go" as the Welcoming Prayer encourages me to do. 

I was thinking about the people that I interacted with in the Meditation Chapel while I was overseas, and they were all good except one. I must remember which one that was, but I think it was at a time when I could not do it here in the States. 

Also, I have been doing my Morning Pages very consistently, and it has been so good for me to journal my thoughts first thing in the morning. One thing I need to do is have a Creativity Date with myself. I am counting the PowerPoints that I did while in Singapore and Malaysia as my Creativity Dates for the first two weeks of January because I did Quote Fancy pictures and words. I love doing that.

Timer going. Bye. 

Freewrite Friday Fifteen

I really am only going to freewrite for FIFTEEN minutes like it is suggested for Freewrites. Oh, need to adjust my keyboard down. I have it on top of the box that used to hold my printer, but I moved my printer into my office to be able to see it better. It was too low to the ground on this box, but this box is perfect for my computer to sit on while I am having Spiritual Direction sessions and leading prayer watches and silent prayer. I just led a prayer watch for the first time in a long time. I substituted for Jared in September, and before that, it had been quite a while. Moving the computer (too high on the box to type).

Better for typing. Anywho. Scott asked me to lead a prayer watch for the first time in a while. I had to stop when I was preparing for the Camino because I had to walk in the cool of the morning and 8:30 cut into my training time. So I stopped the 8:30 watch. 

How I would love to have some feedback about the Watch. Two of the women dropped out during the contemplation, and I don't know why. They are both people I have met in person. I just want feedback. Contemplations can be hard for some people. I have two directees right now who really struggle with them while doing the Exercises. I love them. It is just how my brain works.

I feel pretty good for having just gotten off a plane less than 24 hours ago. I slept from 10-6 am, and I could have slept longer, but eight hours for me is great. I slept two on the plane, and napped for two hours in the late afternoon when I got home. So that is a total of 12 hours over the two days. That meets my six hours per night (If you are reading this blog for the first time. Here is a fun fact about me. I ONLY need six hours - 97-99% of the world needs 7-9 hours, but I am the remaining percentage who have a special gene that only needs six!) 

Anywho, I think I am all caught up on my sleep. Now it is just a matter of realigning my time zone. I think that will be fairly easy as I already have a 3am-9pm life here. So, my adjustment is only 12 hours as opposed to 16 that most have to adjust. I should be back to normal in about 11 days. So, by the end of the month. That will be in time for my Enneagram training. 

Boy, this is a LOT of work, but I will have it all ready for when I do the Enneagram unit for the training that I will do in the fall for directors. 

I am of the mind that if there are not enough people, I will not do it and be just fine with that. I am willing to go with three people, but ideally, it would be best with six.

Interesting that I had someone in the watch who did not think her desires were God's desires. That it is not "OK" to have wants and needs. I think this is why this person is so depressed all the time. YES, we want our desires to be God's desires! I think God will give you those as we are walking with Him. There was some twisted thinking in the prayer. It made me sad because this person really struggles with depression. My desire is for that person to have a concept of God that is accurate. He is not this stingy God that makes you "guess" what His desires are. He WILL put those desires in your heart. It is hard for me to explain, but I believe if we are delighting ourselves in Him, those wants and desires will just be there. (I also think that person is in the IDEALIST category.)

I think this year is going to be the year of lots of journaling. I am really enjoying my "Morning Pages." I journaled three pages this morning (because I am not an idealist, I am doing two most days even though that is not the "ideal"). 

I am off to lead a Pilates class. This is the beginning of my "get back in Pilates shape" goal and "get my weight back down" goal. I have just not been very disciplined in eating and strength training. I have been great at cardio (as my watch tells me I have the cardio fitness of a fit 30-something), but not strength and weight. Self-care in these areas is part of my 2024.

I think the bell is going to go off very soon. SO TTFN. Off to Pilates. George will take me so I can bring my mat to put in my new locker. I cannot believe I am going back to teaching. I am crazy for doing this.)

Home Sweet Home Fifteen

We had to walk very fast through the airport in San Francisco. We might not have made our flight if it were not for 

1) Global Entry Card - We were through Immigration in about 4 minutes (the lines were long in the general line)

2) TSA Pre-Check - Part of the perk of having a Global Entry Card. 

3) Our flight from Singapore to San Francisco arrived 15 minutes early. 

Without those three, we would not have made the connecting flight. 

There was a bug-a-boo in that George's bag came through the baggage claim quickly. Mine on the other hand came fifteen minutes later!

So, that was the thing I was most nervous about.

But it went so well. George said he had a hard time keeping up with me through the SFO airport. I just didn't want to have to wait 9 hours for the next flight which would have most likely been full because all the flights had been canceled for five days. So yay.

We got home at about 1 pm, and this is the last day of me eating too much before I start my 2024 journey back to my weight of 2013. It crept back up, and I wanted to wait until after this vacation. 

I had a little nap when we got back for about 2 hours. So, now I am trying to stay up until 10 pm. 

I even had a class on the book Renovated with Michael S.  I stayed awake.

Now I am watching the Golden Globes because I recorded it but couldn't watch it outside the US (I wonder if I could have on the Wifi on the plane?). I love to see people win awards. I am so happy that Oppenheimer is winning so much! I was such Robert Downey, Jr. would win. So well-deserved. 

So, I think this is it. I am going to bed in 15 minutes. 

Morning Pages for Forty Freewrite

Malaysia in the Morning

I liked blogging so much yesterday rather than writing in my journal for my morning pages. So, I will do it again here. Not as much to say though because I pretty much gave the rundown of what had been happening from January 6-15th. (It is the 16th now. So it was 6-14th for the USA.) So, there isn't very much more to tell.

George had his last talk yesterday, and he connected with his colleagues, and they gave him a bunch of food gifts. So, he has no room in his luggage, but I have a lot of food. I packed very lightly for this trip because I wasn't going to be going anywhere formal. I just had a skirt and three colored tops, black, pink, and royal blue, to go with that and the black loose-fitting yoga pants that I wore on the plane for at-night things if it was casual. Then I had a pair of shorts, a skort, and four T-shirts for walks and exercise. 

I never wore the mid-calf and long dresses I brought. I also had a sleeveless flowered shirt that I never wore either. 

So, I have lots of space and am carrying all of the goodies he brought. I will just have my backpack with medications and heat wrap, but I have not needed them because my back hasn't given me a stick of a problem - THANK YOU DR LENHOFF, and the wonders of PROLOTHERAPY - no issues since my last treatment on October 13.  

I will also carry The Great Divorce and hope to read it. I need to remember to have my Kindle books downloaded onto my phone. I didn't do that before I left. I did not bring the physical copy of one of my Enneagram books because I hoped to be more lightweight and read it on my Kindle app. Lesson learned to make sure I do that before we leave in about 24 hours.

What are my thoughts about Malaysia 25 years after we left to go back to America in 1999? We were back twice since then, once with the boys in 2001, when George gave a talk at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (both for himself and his coworker who could not go). And once in 2008 when we were on our way to Brunei with Ed and Brian. Oh, I think we brought Mike and Vangi to check it out. 

Random thoughts: people don't wear Baju Karongs anymore. Everyone wore them all the time back then. Now, they wear pants and long-sleeved shirts that cover their bottoms. I miss the sea of color of the Baju Karongs though.

Penang is so unusual. I met with Cassity, she has lived here since 2018. It is so non-walkable. I know I said that yesterday (I think), but Cassity said it isn't walkable. I have been to many other places in Malaysia, and it is very walkable. There are crosswalks. Basically, you risk your life, or you hire a taxi to even get to the other side of the road. How is that ridiculous? We needed cash to go out to eat on Monday, and we asked about a cash machine. She said, "Oh, we have one right here at the convention center!" It did not work. So, she said, "Oh there is one across the street, but there is no way to cross the road, and it is very dangerous." I have to laugh about that. I was hoping to take walks while George was at work and explore neighborhoods, but you cannot get to the neighborhoods. 

Singapore, on the other hand, was super walkable. I loved my walk to the Botanical Gardens through neighborhoods. Even when I was on a busy street, it was very walkable with an actual traffic light and crosswalk to cross the busy street to get to the Nassim Gate of the Gardens. 

Kuala Lumpur is like that too. I never had a problem walking there.

What is nice is that there is a nice big place to walk behind the hotel. So, I have walked that ever morning we have been here. 

All that said, yesterday turned out to be a big work day for me. I got all the handouts done for my Enneagram teaching on February 6th and 7th. Now I just need to spruce up the second PowerPoint. (I will ask Marty and Sandy what they want out of time before I go full in on that.) I have tools for them to utilize for their personal growth and for helping their directees grow. So, I was pretty focused on that all day until Cassity came for a short time of tea. I wanted to do the Thai Tea for Two, but she didn't have enough time before her doctor's appointment. So I treated her to Kambucha and a potato pastry. 

(I will put a picture in here when I get it from Cassity.) 

She is a friend of a friend. So I don't know her well, but we have a lot in common and mutual friends. So it was nice chatting with her. 

After that, I went back to work, and that was very nice. 

Then George came back to the hotel, and we went to Uncle Ray's Grill. We had to cross the street, but it was a quieter street with a roundabout in the middle to break up the mad dash between cars. So it was doable. It was really, really good food. George had a burger (he has been eating a lot of Asian with his colleagues), and I had delicious chicken carbonara. Who knew? And only $10 total! Wow!

Then, we came back, and I worked a bit more and then we were in bed by 9:30. I dreamed I met Marie Osmond (?). Then I woke up at 4 am, but the lights were out on the convention center. Usually, the colorful lights are on all night. Then, I watched the ladies exercise in front of the big ball. Today they had PINK shirts on (other days were blue and white). George went down to breakfast. I had Centering Prayer with my London nuns and company and also Examen with the OMS people. Then George and I went for a walk around the garden (again) watching the ladies move. So cute. 

We have been in our room and taking a long time to pack. George did it all last night and has no room in his bag. 

George had a driver that wanted to take us to the airport. So, we booked him instead of using GRAB. He has taken George two other times, and George wants me to meet him. 

That is one thing that has not changed about Malaysia. The Malay are SO FRIENDLY. Just lovely people in every way. We are bonded to them for life. It has been good to be back. It is very comfortable and familiar, and I will never regret living here for two years. We wanted to live here longer, but it was not to be. God is sovereign. We have bloomed where have been planted. I am grateful. 

Well, this is not going to be the Morning Pages of forty minutes. More like 30 minutes. It might meet the required number of pages because I type a whole lot faster than I can write. :) 

Oh, by the way, we have totally missed a massive snow storm back in the Pacific Northwest. Paul has had to walk to work every day since Saturday because the roads are so slick. OSU has been since Friday, and it will reopen at noon on Wednesday. We really missed it! 

Southeast Asian Seventy Seven Freewrite

Usually, I do a fifteen-minute freewrite, but I have been doing "Morning Pages" a la the book The Artist's Way, and she advocates handwriting three full notebook pages daily. I was doing that for the first six days of the new year. Then we went on a plane to Singapore and now Penang, Malaysia, and I have been writing my morning pages in a small, lightweight journal. Well, I am tired of this. So, I am going to just type (a big no-no in The Artist's Way book, but I am in the mood for a long blog write to document our epic adventure in a "freewrite" type of way) for forty minutes which is about the amount of time it takes me to write Morning Pages in the journal. I will go back to handwriting, but here goes.

We left Eugene, Oregon on the afternoon of January 6th, Epiphany in the sky! It was so nice that George's travel agent booked a flight out of Eugene because that airport is smaller and less stressful in every way! It is also closer, and we don't have to fight the Portland traffic to get there. The reason why George had a travel agent is because we are here for Hewlett-Packard business. So, we booked my tickets to coincide with his. 

So, we couldn't sit together, but he was kind enough to give me his window seat, and I sat next to the most delightful 20-something who was so curious about what I do, "What is spiritual direction?" she asked, and then I found out that she is a follower of Jesus, and we talked non-stop on our trip from Eugene to Portland. She is a Stanford student from Bandon, Oregon, and you can probably guess that not too many people from Bandon, Oregon go to Stanford. She is brilliant and beautiful, and we are now Instagram friends. :) Delightful and joyful for me. 

Speaking of JOYFUL. I helped lead a Discernment Retreat for the 2HC from the 4-6th, and two hours later, we were on our way to the airport. My discernment question was, "Should I bring my computer and work while I am in Southeast Asia?" I had to bring something as a question for discernment. I thought what I brought was a stupid thing, but I had such a delightful time listening and discerning in community with David and Naty! The discernment was, "Do what you love and what brings you joy," and my work brings such joy. Then Naty sent me a picture that she saw. (I will post it here after my freewrite because the rule is to keep typing, not stop, and not pay attention to grammar or punctuation.)

So, Naty sensed I would bring joy and have joy on this trip, even on the airplane (I do not like flying being so tall, and those "over the Pacific" trips can be grueling.) And that first leg was a joy.

Then we got to the San Francisco Airport, and they really helped you to know where you should go. I asked about the United Sky Lounge because David G. and a childhood friend, Lorrie H., gave us passes to go there, and we had a looong layover there (about 5 hours). They said, "Don't go to the International one. Go to the Domestic one. It is much bigger with more selection of food." So it was so nice to have a meal and enjoy the lounge. There were more people there than normal because an Alaska jet had lost part of its fuselage on take off, and they grounded all of that model plane. So there were people stuck there for hours. 

With a five-hour layover, it was so nice to have my computer, and I did a bit of work (that brought me joy). 

Then the plane flight was delightful with delightful flight attendants (after my traumatic encounter with a United flight attendant, we had sworn off United, but we had to fly them because that is what George's work booked). And the miracle was: I SLEPT ABOUT SEVEN HOURS! Say what? I have never slept that long on a plane.

We landed in Singapore and flew through the airport (We had to do a digital entry that we didn't know about until after we had no internet access, but we just stopped outside the gate and let the crowds from our plane pass through and went right through. Although I could go through the computerized part because I was too tall when the camera took my picture. For some reason, it took George's but not mine. So I had to go through the person contact one, and there was no line by then.) 

We got to our lovely Shangri-La Hotel. You know it is a nice hotel because the Crown Prince of Jordan stayed there while we were there. It is a bustle of activity, and I loved watching all the kids in the pool every day we were there. 

George went right to work, and I rested in the hotel and worked a bit too. Then, when he got back, we went to the lounge and had Satay, Rendang, and Teh Tarik! We are home! The staff was so friendly too (our waitress was from Brazil). 

We fell asleep early, and the next morning George went to work. He used the Southeast Asian version of Uber called Grab. (Grab bought Uber out - my friend's brother used to work for Uber in SEA, and he lost his job during that buyout.) It was so easy for George to get to and from work. Shi-Ane picked me up in the early afternoon, and took me to lunch and the Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling. Then, we went back to her house to meet up with long-time UO Navigator friends, and their spouses: Wini and Victor, Prakash, Jackie, Shi-Ane and Ka-Choi. So lovely. We had a wonderful time, and Shi-Ane was so kind to "send" us back to our hotel late that evening.

This next day, Shi-Ane picked me up, and we went to the Botanical Gardens for a lovely walk. It was hot, and I should have worn shorts or a skirt. I am so hesitant to wear shorts, but things have loosened up a bit since we lived here 25 years ago! The Gardens were lovely. 

Then, Shi-Ane took me to their Country Club for yummy Asian dishes. The view from there was so great. The golf course and forest beyond. I really enjoy Shi-Ane so much. She is such a kind person. It is hard to believe I have known these Singaporean friends for 40+ years! How did we get old?

The next day, I worked all day long from four in the morning until George came back at 9 pm that night because his coworkers took him out to dinner. I got my whole PowerPoint updated for a talk I am giving on the 6th of February and a handout to go with it. I didn't even exercise that day, but it was good to be focused. All I did was go down to breakfast with George (The Line restaurant at the hotel was amazing!) and had a Teh Tarik and Satay at lunch in the lounge (working the whole time). 

On Friday, I ate with George and then walked from the hotel to the Botanical Gardens. It was so much cooler than when Shi-Ane and I walked, and I had such a lovely time with God as I walked. So many people go there to exercise. Seeing all the walkers and joggers at this free attraction was fun. Then I came back and worked a bit more. I was even able to practice my talk (so GLAD I brought my computer, and I didn't even have to carry it - George did).  I treated myself to the Waterfalls Italian Restaurant and had an exquisite lobster pasta dish. It was spendy but my biggest splurge after being treated by our friends. 

Speaking of being treated by our friends. Jackie took us out to a group of restaurants on Friday night called Dempsey. WOW! We settled on Mediterranean food, and it was so delicious. We had a full meat platter, fried cheese with honey, bread, and a divine Greek Rose. I wish I had gotten the name. It was so good. What was better than the meal was Jackie! She is also a spiritual director! One of my dreams was to talk to spiritual directors in Singapore (and possibly Malaysia, but I have found none in Penang), and one of my dearest Singaporean friends is one (we found that out on Tuesday so I pursued this one-on-one with Jackie)! How cool is that? We talked about our similar journeys. She has even done the Spiritual Exercises. Say what? It was like living in a dream (as the Malays would say, "Seperti Mimpi") to talk to this soul friend of mine. I think we have always been connected in that way, but this cemented it even more. She even said, "Have you ever heard of the Enneagram?" I laughed (that is all the work I have been doing while here in SEA). We had such a great talk about that too. It was a delightful evening (until 11 pm)!   

By the way, George had BIG talks at HP Singapore. The first one had 90 people. It is so great that he could meet all these people he has worked with for 18 months face-to-face. It was a joy, but it was a lot of work to give those talks.

On Saturday, we woke up and got ready to go to Malaysia! The flight was easy on Singapore Airlines, and as we waited at the Changi Airport (the last time we were here in 2011 there was MAJOR construction - it is so nice now), I looked up travel documents, and we filled them out on our phones. Most of our plane did not know about the documents so we breezed on ahead of the other passengers and went through immigration very quickly. Also, the flight attendant came to the back of the plane and said, "After the last passengers board, we would like to take you and your husband up to the Exit Row so you can have more legroom." Say what? How kind!

We arrived in the little airport of Penang. We found a taxi right away and settled in. It was Saturday. So George did not need to work until Monday. So, we settled in and walked to the Dandy Restaurant because we could not figure out how to get across the street to the restaurant we wanted to go to. So, we chose one with a sky bridge over the road. We are in Malaysia. Of course, the smaller towns don't make allowances for crosswalks and lights. LOL! The Dandy truly was dandy though. A delicious fusion of Asian and American food. We had divine watermelon smoothies.  We came back and went to bed.

On Sunday, we got up fairly early. My breakfast is not included in the price of the room like at the Shangri-La. So, we had gone to a grocery store the night before and got some breakfast food. Plus I had some leftover Chicken Sharma to munch on. So, I was content. 

I found a waterfall near our hotel: "Air Terjun Sungai Ara." (Ara River). It looked like a nice hiking trail up the river. So we used Grab, and we had a sweet older Malay gentleman who didn't know where he was going, but he drove very safely, and that is all that matters to me. We had wanted him to drop us off at the trailhead, but Grab maps are not as detailed as Google Maps, and he couldn't figure out where it was. So, we had him drop us off at the bottom of the hill in town, and we walked up and MISSED the trailhead and walked up a pretty steep hill until I realized that Google had been telling me to turn around the whole time (I had the volume down). So, we turned around and found the very crowded trailhead. We had thought that it was just the parking lot for the Hindu temple, but it was where all the hikers were parking. 

What a delightful hike! It was in the shade along the river. George kept saying, "Oh, I so needed this." He was in an HP office the whole time we were in Singapore. I had at least been to the Botanical Gardens and walked through the streets to get there. He had no exercise and no nature for days. This Oregon boy needed his green! We ended up climbing past the waterfall and found a lovely vendor with cool drinks about halfway up Bukit (Hill) Sungai Ara. We decided to keep going to the Emporer Villa at the top. There is a hotel there! I cannot imagine getting supplied up to it, but there is a big restaurant there. I think the hikers hike up, eat breakfast, and hike back down. We had already eaten. So, we just turned around and came back down. We hiked a total of 6.6 miles. YAY! On the way down we got some great pictures of the waterfall and of a big spider (my favorite picture of the trip). 

We came back, showered, and rested for a couple of hours until I found a Nasi Kandar restaurant. Nasi Kandar is what Penang does. We had a great driver who took us to the bustling city of Georgetown, but the "best" one was closed (even though Google Maps said it was open). But our driver knew another one: Hameediyah. (And it is the OLDEST in all of Penang. It has been there since 1907!) We had to queue up for this one. We waited in the heat for about 30 minutes, but we made friends with a sweet Malay family, and they even ordered for us. It was so delicious. Everyone ate with their fingers there! We had conquered a Bukit (Hill) and Nasia Kandar in one day. Well Done Weavers! 

On Monday, George went to breakfast, and I ate the yogurt we had purchased at the grocery store. Then I sent him off to work, and I walked around the Setia (Loyal) Garden that is connected to our hotel (Setia Spice Hotel). There is a Bamboo Garden and walking that is mostly covered. Every day there is a group of people (mostly Chinese women) doing low-impact dance (mostly arms and very little movement of their lower body) in front of the big colored ball of the Setia Convention Center. They all wear the same shirt. Yesterday, it was blue and today it was white. I walked for about 20 minutes out there (75 degrees). Then I did elliptical and weights in their nice, deserted gym. (I had done a bit of the treadmill at the Shangri-La, but it was very crowded there.) Then I came back and stretched in the room and worked the rest of the day on a PowerPoint and handout for Enneagram Harmony Triads until George came back at about 7. I had found a place where we did not have to cross the road, but Google Maps was wrong, and when we crossed the road, there was no restaurant there. LOL! Ray's Grill was there, but it was closed. So, we broke down and went to the hotel restaurant. Sangat mahal (very expensive) but convenient since I had not eaten very much all day. The food was just OK. I would have preferred a little outdoor local place. 

So, I am here typing away on my computer, and this freewrite has taken 72 minutes! There was a lot to recall and love about our time. Today, George is teaching for the last time. The group here is much smaller, but he is loving it. Cassity, a friend of my friend, Firah, is coming at 1:30 for tea at the hotel, and then we will eat maybe at Awe Nasi Ayam Budu (another famous Northern Malaysia dish), but we would have to cross the street to get there, and sometimes that is impossible here. LOL! So, we might order it through GRAB and have it delivered to our hotel instead. Or we can cross the less busy street to Ray's! So, now I am off to work. When I  have a break I will post the pictures. If you are reading this and don't want to wait, go to my Facebook: Carol Ann Weaver or Instagram: Carolfosia. the pictures and videos are there. 

Ta ta for now. 

Total Freewrite time: 77 minutes (perfect since I graduated from high school in 77)

Oh, by the way, our arrival back in Malaysia was the day we left 25 years ago! How is that for timing?