October 2009

Greetings!

It's been a while, so here we go....

Clearly, the most important event in my life lately has been going back to The States, going home. Home. With that big "o" sound in the middle it just sounds welcoming, comforting. Even ET made it sound desireable. God it was nice. Jessica had the day off on Friday when I arrived, and was at the airport to meet me—that set the tone.

Saturday was a day for sports—Claire had a volleyball tournament, and Sophie had a soccer game. Then, Saturday evening, Jessica and I went downtown to stay at the Hotel Monaco—our favorite retreat from the world. We went to Blue Hour and had a lovely dinner, and the rest of the evening was very, well, romantic. The next morning we went out for breakfast and shopped a bit. I told her to buy something, even something frivolous—it was on me—but she just couldn’t find what she really wanted. But, the next weekend, I did get her a new Coach purse that she really loves. Ahhh, women and their purses!


Over the course of the week I ate like a king—those foods I really miss: steak, chocolate chip cookies, and ribs. Muslims don’t eat pork, so ribs are practically unknown here. It was fantastic to have some things I love—may have even gained a bit of weight. Monday I went for a 26 mile bike ride. I was nice to get back on the road bike again, tho at first it felt so TAL—you definitely sit lower to the ground on the mountain bike. But I did one of my favorite rides, and the sun was shining, the leaves were turning colors, and it was really pleasant out. Rode the ridge between Portland and Newberg—some of my favorite country. Even took my Garmin GPS home with me, so I got the ride “logged.” Sadly, the weather turned to typical-Portland-fall and started raining Tuesday, and that was to be my only ride.

Claire--a nice "tomato" ..........................................Some more nice tomatoes!

On the home front, I made and canned about 20 quarts of tomato sauce from the garden. Lots of tomatoes this year! Also made some very hot salsa, and canned up a bunch of that as well. I even brought a quart back to Malaysia with me. I got Claire a new dresser and nightstand from Ikea, but didn’t have the time to assemble them. Something to look forward to for my next visit at Christmas time. My buddy Tom had refinished our deck while I was gone, and it looks great. Claire had her first-ever homecoming dance, and had a date. Nice kid. She looked fantastic—no a little girl any more! I worked in the yard a bit—did a little fall clean-up. I also bought some new jeans and cycling clothes—the weight loss makes clothes shopping a little more fun.

APPLE FESTIVAL............................................PORTLAND IN THE FALL

All-in-all I enjoyed being home, enjoyed the cool weather (it was a nice change from 90 degrees and hot and humid every day), loved the fall leaves. The Saturday before I left, the family made our annual pilgrimage to the Portland Nursery Apple Festival, and it was a nice time, as always. We then went down to Hawthorne Street and shopped and bopped. God I miss living in SE Portland! I guess the artsy-fartsy hippie in me will never die.

Best of all was being with my family. Jessica and I took Sophie to see the movie version of “Where the Wild Things Are,” and it was really good. Made some strong points about relationships and honesty. We celebrated Claire’s birthday at home since I was there. She'll be 15 (FIFTEEN!!) on Halloween! We got her a new IPod—she said here old was crapping-out. She was happy, but not quite the reaction that we got to her first one a few years ago—she cried like a baby that time—it was pure joy to a parent! Yet, just being there was the best thing. Having that intimacy, that human contact. Even if we were just having dinner or driving to school, it was NORMAL, it was “real life.” And this whole experience is showing me just how wonderful, how valuable, that is to me.

IPODS--NOW--AND THEN

And once again, it was hard to leave. Jessica took me to the airport, and I couldn’t kiss here, or say goodbye, enough. Even after I went inside, I tried to go right back out the revolving door to give her just one more smooch thru the car window—but the door stopped, the sensor didn’t seem to recognized that I was still in the doorway—now going out instead of in! Yipes! I was crestfallen. I gave her one final wave thru the glass, and….gone.


And then the interminable flights back to SE Asia. Best not to think of it. It’s like putting life on hold, becoming a human dial-tone (“nnnnnnnnnnn”), being in-between, and therefore being no where. And too much sitting—way too much!
But on returning, it was good to find that the pond had fared a little better than my last rip away. Oh, a couple of causalities, but for the most part—much better. The new filters were worth it! And of course, it was back to work. Lots of work, and always deadlines looming.


Yesterday I cleaned the pond, and tried to fix the leak that has plagued me of late. I rebuild the stream, thinking that was the problem, and found another possible place for water to sneak out, and (hopefully) fixed that too.
And I bought a cat! I figured something warm a lovely to home to—fish just don’t quite cut it—would help. Let’s hope I’m right. She’s a little orange tabby, and I named her Riley. Nope, no idea why. But it seems to fit. She can be lovely, and also playful. And she took the ride home in the car pretty well, and the flea bath too. Only minor trauma. But she’s definitely not sure what’s going on, and where she is. Tho she clearly likes having room to run. Last nite, when I was ready for bed, she was ready for running, and run she did. And thru the nite, I was only wakened by the sound of yowling a couple of times—I called to her, and she quieted down, but she didn’t come and sleep with me—rats!

RILEY!!

So, back in Malaysia, back to my quiet bachelor life. I do feel refreshed after being home, and that’s huge. My attitude toward the craziness at work is renewed as well, and that’s good too. I needed it. I think there’s a lesson regarding how long between trips home in there. Need to get back a little more often—this trip was the fist since early June.

It’s strange the choices we make, and the effects they have. Coming here was, and is, in all a good choice. The office in Portland is very quiet. I’m given some time for myself. The work is nothing if not challenging. The pay is good. But I need to get home more often, that’s for sure. Even tho the family came here this summer—I need to go there. I need to decompress, unwind, be reminded of what normal is, and that it’s still there, waiting for me. All that becomes more important as I will probably extend my stay from 1 year to a year-and-a-half.
On a happier note, Jessica and I are planning a little trip, without children (!), come spring break. I’ll fly her over here, and we’ll go to Bali, or someplace equally wonderful. A real-live second honeymoon. Cool!




Keiko and Shamu..........................SunPower Job site

Before I left Malaysia, I bought a BIG koi. I call it Keiko—it’ is, comparatively, a whale. then I b ought another one when I got back--sop I had to call it Shamu--what else? And as I sit here typing away, there are occasional loud splashes from the pond. Not sure what’s up, but those fish can really kick-up some water!
It rained this morning, and has turned hot and hazy. It’s nice to sit in the shade, with a bit of a breeze tinkling the wind chimes, and write. If nothing else, I’ve done a pretty good job of making a life for myself here. Found some real live salmon (from Denmark) at the store, and the boys are coming for a bbq tonite.

One thing that is kinda interesting are Malay (Bahasa) words.


First, the emphasis is ALWAYS on the second syllable. So:
Malay English
Kiri............................Keer-RI (left)
Kanan........................Ka-NAN (right)
Belo...........................Bay-LO (turn)
Teros.........................Ter-ROS (straight)
Tandas.......................Tan-DAS (bathroom/toilet)


Next, they “borrow” words, and it’s usually pretty easy to figure them out as you drive along:

Farmasi.......................Pharmacy
Insurans......................Insurance
Restoran......................Restaurant
Ekstrem.......................Extreme
Bas.............................Bus
Teksi...........................Taxi
Polis............................Polis
Motosikal.....................Motorcycle
Kopi............................Coffee

Ok, pretty easy. But a few are a little trickier:
Rutbir..........................Root Beer (seems kinda obvious now, doesn't it?)
Sians...........................Science (Si-ans, ok, I get it)
Dan.............................And (seems kind dyslexic to me)

And my favorite:
Aiskrim.........................Ice Cream (ya, I see it—now)

And then there is the tricky one….
The word for water is, get this, “air.” Pronounced “I-er.”

Then of course, some of their own words are lovely:
Kanak kanak..................Children (it kinda sounds like the sounds they make)
Boleh (p: bo-lay)............Can (as in "Yes I/we can!"--a bit of a mantra around here)
Mat Rumput...................Guy who tears arfouind on a motosikal
Sama sama....................Your welcome
Rama rama.....................Butterfly
Gembira!........................Happy! (It sounds happy!)

So, there’s a primer in Bahasa. It’s kinda scary—every now and then I see a sign, and can read it, comprehend it.