Just Another Day in Paradise…

Greetings, everyone!!!

What a month October has been.  I can’t believe Halloween is this Saturday!  The weather here is no colder (it’s actually hotter) and the leaves are all still on the trees, so it still feels like summer time.  I guess that’s how time has passed so quickly.  I’m sitting in Kuala Lumpur in our apartment next to some beautiful roses John had waiting for me when I got here.  They were such a wonderful surprise when I came in after my journey from Singapore.  And, the best part is, I get to stay in Malaysia for more than a week so I can enjoy them (and being with John) for a while!  My sweet husband is definitely a keeper!  🙂

This is just an update from your friendly Asian Candetos.  John is still working in Malaysia (potentially extended through January now) and is working 12 plus hour days fairly consistently.  He seems to be learning a lot and is sleeping lots on the weekends.  🙂  He’s promised that he will write a blog entry soon, so I’ll let him give you all of the details.

I’m in the final stretch of school.  Only one assignment, two exams, and a dissertation stand between me and a masters degree.  I can hardly believe it!  My dissertation will be turned in by 15 December and I will be able to enjoy Christmas!  John and I aren’t coming back to the US for Christmas this year, but we hope to keep in touch with all of you all through out the holidays.  We’ll definitely miss being back.  John’s work schedule is very much up in the air and we are hesitant to book something and then not be able to come.  We’re not sure when we’ll be back next, but we’re hoping it’s soon!  We’ll definitely keep you posted!

We are LOVING Asia right now.  We’ve had a really wonderful time getting to know a new city (Kuala Lumpur) and being able to have a “home base” (Singapore).  Kuala Lumpur, as I’ve said in previous entries, is a rapidly developing city in a developing country and every day here is an adventure!  For example, today, I was walking home from the grocery store with my groceries (maybe a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment) and a bolt of lightning hit and a loud clap of thunder followed!  Of course, I was startled, but I was even more frightened to find out that the lightning strike has knocked out all of the stop lights and I was about to cross a major intersection!  As you can imagine, traffic is quite crazy here–or can be.  So, I tightened my grip on my shopping bags and sprinted across the road behind a local, hoping and praying I wouldn’t get hit by speeding car or a stray motorcycle.  I am happy to say that I made it home in one piece.  Long story short:  every day is an adventure.

Malaysian Open

Since being in Malaysia, we’ve tried to do a bit of sight seeing.  One Saturday, we went to the finals of the first annual Malaysian Open Tennis Tournament and realized how much we miss playing!  Oddly enough, there is a tennis court right outside of our door in Singapore, but we have yet to utilize it!  We had wonderful seats and had a nice gentleman take our picture!  The next weekend, we decided that we needed to get out of Kuala Lumpur!  We headed to the Genting Highlands which is Malaysia’s version of Las Vegas and Disney World combined.  We saw a dance/magic/comedy show, had some delicious local food, and generally explored.  It was actually pretty cold up there, especially considering the kind of weather that we’re used to.  It was probably 65 degrees Fahrenheit.  To us, that’s cold!

The real adventure of our trip to Genting, however, was not the Las Vegas–Disney World combo, nor was it the local food.  It was the drive up there.  You see, in most of Southeast Asia, you drive on the left side of the road with the driver on the right side of the car.  Neither of us have EVER EVER done this before (we don’t have a car in Singapore) so this was an adventure in itself.  It didn’t help that KL is fairly hard to navigate (the signs for exits are posted AFTER the exit actually happens) and that it was a Saturday.  John did a fabulous job–we made it back safely and didn’t hit a thing.  I guess next time, it’s my turn to try.  Or, I could just let him drive.  🙂

Uh, John, are you sure about this?

For the past few weekends, we’ve been at our place in Singapore (I’ve had school commitments).  We were lucky enough to have visitors from Manila one of the weekends (our friends Yoshie and Patrick who we met in Singapore back in December of 2008).  Patrick works for Accenture and is working in a project based in Manila.  He and his wife Yoshie came and stayed with us and we had a lovely visit with them!  We really wish they would move back to Singapore or to KL or that we could all be in the same city again for a while!

So…that’s what’s been going on with our lives!  On Monday of this week, John sent me a text message:  “Hey, what are we doing this weekend?  Want to go to the beach?”  Heck yes, I would love to go to the beach!  So, on Monday, we booked a little Halloween trip!  Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we’re headed to Langkawi, an island in the northern part of Malaysia (near the Thai border).  We’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them soon!

We miss you all very much and can’t wait to see you again soon! Check in soon for another update!

One last note:  Tomorrow is the big App St. game–GO PALADINS!!!!!