We're Off!

We leave tomorrow! We are like two kids on Christmas Eve...we probably won't be able to sleep tonight. That's okay, we will have PLENTY of time to sleep on the flight over. Sixteen and a half hours worth of time.

Of course, I now have a ginormous zit on my forehead, just in time for vacation. Woo hoo! I'm all kinds of thrilled about that. I'll probably have to buy it it's own seat on the flight. Seriously.

All to do tonight is finish packing. I tend to overpack for vacations. I never know what I will feel like wearing or where we might go, plus now I have to pack for my new travel companion, Mr. Ginormous Forehead Zit. So I have the giant suitcase out. Thank goodness for airport luggage carts. After that, I have to call in to a work conference call later tonight (a work call the night my vacation starts...that's wrong on so many levels) and then we are off to the airport bright and early tomorrow!

Tagged Again!

I was tagged by La Nina, so here goes...

5 - You’re going on a long journey, what five albums MUST you take with you? Albums that you need to listen to regularly.

Okay, if I couldn’t take my iPod or my self burned compilation CD’s with me, then this is a tough one! I’ll apply a little flexibility and say a long road trip. I can pick some pretty kick ass road trip tuneage.

1. Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits
2. James Taylor Live
3. Barenaked Ladies Rock Spectacle
4. Robert Earl Keen’s #2 Live Dinner
5. Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s Greatest Hits

4 - What four albums/songs do you most associate with a journey or travel experience? You know, the ones you listen to that instantly transport you back to a place and time.

1. “Bobby et Angelo” by Bobby et Angelo – Takes me back to Tahiti. This is a local band that M and I listened to the whole time we were there.
2. “Summertime” by Janis Joplin – Reminds me of moving into my first apartment after high school. Doesn't everyone have a Janis phase?
3. “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes – For some reason, this reminds me of driving to the next town over for beer with Triad #2 in college. We must have listened to it on the way or something.
4. The whole “Scarlet’s Walk” album by Tori Amos, especially “Taxi Ride” – Reminds me of moving to Houston all by my lonesome. I listened to this when I went down to find a place to live.

3 - Your three favorite songs of all time?

This is like having to pick a favorite child.

1. “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor
2. “What a Good Boy” by Barenaked Ladies (live version)
3. “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel

2 - Two feel good songs, the ones that are guaranteed to lift the blues and put a smile on your face.

1. "Surrender” by Cheap Trick
2. “Why Can’t I Be You?” by The Cure
Ooh, just thought of one more…
2 ½ . “Bad Reputation” by Reverend Horton Heat

1 - Absolute, overall, undoubtedly the best album of all time, in your opinion.

This just isn’t fair.

1. Rock Spectacle by BNL or James Taylor Live

Tagging Donna for this!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Donna, and since I think these things are kind of fun (maybe it's because of my unnatural love of lists), here goes:

Instructions: Remove the blog from the top, move all blogs up one, add yourself to the bottom.

Smiling Mom
Playgroups Are No Place For Children
Scenic Overlook
Spuddy Buddy
Tales of An Expat

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Wow. I had just finished up my third year of college, and was in summer school trying to make up for the fact that I had changed my major four times in three years. I figured if I had any chance of finishing college before Chris Farley did in Tommy Boy, I'd better hit the books during the summer. I lived in Tiny Texas Town, USA and has just gotten married to my now ex-husband. We were so busy in school and pretending to be adults that we never realized that we actually had no business being married to each other. We lived in a 900 square foot house that, looking back on it, was ridiculously cheap. Although window unit air conditioners during a Texas summer are a real bitch. I drank plenty of Keystone Light, ate tons of fast food, and was still at least 15 lighter than I am now. Frickin metabolism.


Five Snacks You Enjoy

1. Nutella on anything
2. Cheese
3. Wine Gums
4. Edamame
5. anything with butter, lard, sugar, or a creamy center

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To:

1. Copacabana (At the Copa) by Barry Manilow
2. You Don't Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce
3. Every James Taylor song ever
4. Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
5. The Road Goes on Forever by Robert Earl Keene

**Like Donna, this is really just a sampling, because I know all the lyrics to most of the songs on my iPod. M and I will be singing, and he'll look at me and say "How do you know that?" I don't know. He retains the knowledge of how to perform calculus equations, and I retain song lyrics. Mine is a far more useful gift, I think.**

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire:

1. Volunteer
2. Have our dream house built
3. Travel
4. Take care of our families
5. Invest


Five bad habits:

1. I'm the Queen of Clutter
2. Eating dry cereal out of the box
3. Pessimism
4. Not putting the roll of toilet paper on the holder
5. Laziness


Five Things You Like To Do:

1. Eat
2. Play board/card games
3. People watch
4. Surf the internet
5. Spend time with family

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again:

1. My size 1 short shorts with the beaded fringe and matching bustier, also with beaded fringe. I keep it just to remind myself of how tiny my ass was at some point, and also to remind myself to never ever let my daughter wear shit like that. I also look at it when I need a good laugh.)
2. Gold lame
3. Hair bows
4. Tapered pants
5. Anything with a belt (I have no business tucking shirts in, as I have no waist)

Five Favorite Toys:

1. Laptop
2. DVR
3. Ipod speakers
4. Yep, out of toys...

Five People to Tag:

1. La Nina at Mentation of an Unsettled Woman
2. anyone else who wants to do it. I can't think of anyone else who I know for sure would do it for me.

Housing Maintenance

Only two more days until the US, where I can blend in with the crowd, and not be the Giant White American Woman!

We've had a run of bad luck lately with housing maintenance, both here and back in Texas. We are having trouble with our new television that we bought here, and our bathroom window is leaking like crazy. When our TV is off for several hours or overnight, it usually takes two or three tries before it will switch on. We can hear it click, but either we get sound but no picture, or we get nothing. Yesterday, the TV repair guy finally came over and replaced the dillymajobber that he thought was causing the problem, but this morning we had the same issue, so we have no idea what's wrong with it. Since the TV is less than six months old, and wasn't cheap, we are obviously concerned and want to get it fixed while it's still under warranty.

Also, our bathroom window has been leaking for several months now. We first noticed it because our towel shelving is right in front of it, so we noticed moldy towels on the bottom shelf. Ick. Contractors here are notorious for being late, or not showing up at all, so after multiple phone calls, and me basically being a thorn in maintenance's side all last week, they finally came today, armed with the biggest caulking gun I have ever seen. They were here for about five minutes, then came out to the living room and told me that they couldn't fix it because the guy hadn't brought the right tool. So I wonder why exactly our building's maintenance had to come look at it several weeks ago to determine what was wrong with it. One would think that he wanted to check it out so that he could tell the contractor the problem so that when they came over, they would be prepared to fix it. One would think.

As for the house in Texas, we are renting it out, and so far we've had pretty good luck with our renter. He pays his rent on time (for the most part) and our neighbor there says he takes care of the house and the yard. We know he has two small dogs in the house, which is prohibited in the lease, but it really hasn't bothered us. Now, if I go over there in July when I'm back in Houston, and find out that the dogs have been pissing everywhere, then we'll have a problem. I can handle my own pets peeing on the carpet, but not anyone else's pets. Well, as it turns out, the property management company hasn't really been doing their job, according to our renter. Our neighbor, who we trust, backs him up, so I don't think it's a case of whiny renter syndrome. The air conditioner went on the fritz, and it took four days and multiple phone calls from us and the renter for the property manager to fix it. That's just not cool...no pun intended. I know that if I was a renter, and the air con went out in Houston, in June, and they weren't on it pronto, I'd probably be a bit hot under the collar myself. Okay, that pun was intended.

It's hard to manage these sorts of issues from halfway around the world. It's not like we can show up at the property manager's office and demand to have it fixed. We can't oversee the work and make sure that it's quality work. So we kind of just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. We're lucky that we have a great neighbor who keeps an eye on things for us. We're not doing back flips over having to spend several thousand dollars on a house that we don't live in, but welcome to being a landlord I suppose. Houses cost money, and it's due to be replaced, so it's just one of those things. Hopefully, this is the last major house expense for a while. We had the roof replaced and the house painted before we left for Malaysia. Pray for our foundation...

**UPDATE:** Hubby just got home and he had a good discussion with our property manager. As it turns out, he basically did everything by the book, plus the air con is now fixed. What happened is that the air con broke, the renter took two days to get something in writing to the prop manager, meanwhile called his own buddy to come fix it, which lasted a day, then the property manager maintenance person fixed it the next day, which again, lasted a day, and then it was the weekend. I still think that no air con is a maintenance emergency which requires some weekend work, but tell that to the repair people. As far as his other (somewhat petty) complaints, per the lease, they are his responsibility. No, Mr. Renter, someone will not come and pressure wash the back patio. Rent a pressure washer and do it yourself. So at least we can feel better about our property management person.

Vacation Countdown

We are now in the throes of planning for our vacation to the US. I've been ordering stuff online like mad, getting birthday presents to take back with us, doing endless loads of laundry, and trying to get all of the things that need to be repaired in our apartment taken care of before we go. You would think that we would be gone for months with the way I'm planning. But you know what? I love it. I'm The Planner. The kind of person who will add something to her list that she's done just for the sheer pleasure of crossing through it. So things are busy, but good.

This weekend, we went to Chinatown and picked up a ton of DVDs. While we were waiting on them, we wandered over to the Reggae Bar, which is a bar in Chinatown that caters to the backpacker crowd. Honestly, all we wanted was some air conditioning, but as they say, "When in Rome..." so we had a beer while we were there. I would have loved the place back when I was in college, but had we been there when it was crowded, I figure we probably would have been the oldest ones in the place, which would not have helped my "When did I get old?" mindset that I have these days. Interesting to see a place in KL with marijuana stickers all over the walls, though.

Sunday we made homemade enchiladas. Not as good as Chuy's, but pretty tasty nonetheless. So I finally got my Mexican food! Although, since we will be in California for a few days this weekend, I'll probably get my fill there. Wait. What am I saying??? I'll never get my fill of Mexican food.

I've also been getting M's daughter's room ready, since she will be coming back with us from the US for a visit. We are so excited that she is coming! We'd love for her to live here, but getting a sixteen year old to leave her friends, her car and her boyfriend....just not going to happen. It's not like we would get any support from her mom on that front, so unfortunately, that's a battle we are just not going to win. But we are lining up some fun things to do while she's here. We're going to try to go somewhere for a weekend, maybe to the beach or something. So if anyone has some fun ideas, let me know. She doesn't get to come over very often, so we want her to have an awesome time while she's here.

Only three more days until vacation!

We're Back Online

We finally have our internet fixed! It was relatively painless, which means that it only took a week and approximately six phone calls to get it fixed.

Without the internet to distract me, I got so much done this week! I changed out a bunch of framed pictures, sort of redecorated our living room, cleaned out our closets, and did the filing that had been piling up for the past four months. I also tried to read more of the Portable Identity book that I got, but I'm kind of struggling with it, which is really strange for the poster child of self-reflection. But the point of self-reflection is to learn about yourself, and this book hasn't really taught me anything new. M had a similar experience this week. He read a book about cultural differences, and he said that while the book was good, it didn't tell him anything that he hasn't already learned by living overseas. So I'll try to push on and get through the book, because I don't want to be one of those people who bitches but doesn't take any action. So we'll see how it goes. I'm feeling better about things and more adjusted in general though, so maybe that's contributing to my procrastination with the book.

But I'm glad we have our internet back, since our online shopping spree now begins in preparation for our trip back home. M's sister is about to receive a lot of packages at her house - clothes and bras and contacts, oh my!

The Horror!

Our internet is down at our house! The modem is completely fried after the blackout the other night. (Note to self - modems like surge protectors. Keep the modem happy.).

We lost power on Sunday night for around five hours. There's nothing like all the lights, TVs, and air conditioner kicking in at 2am to just about make you wet the bed. It reminded me of when Hugh Grant gets woken up on his wedding day in Four Weddings and a Funeral with all the alarm clocks going off. Just a complete WTF moment.

So, anyway, our modem has passed on. No lights. No nothing. Fried. I have a call into our internet provider, so I expect a call back in a couple of weeks probably. Whatever am I going to do without the internet?? Imagine if I put all the time I normally spend on the internet to good use - can you imagine how productive I would be?

Nah, the TV still works.

KL International Dance Festival

Earlier this week, I saw a commercial on TV about the KL International Dance Festival. Immediately, I wanted to go check it out. It was held at Berjaya Times Square Mall, which isn't far from our apartment, so on Saturday I roped M into going there to check it out. Truthfully, I think he really wanted to go to replace the remote control helicopter that he bought a couple of months ago that met an untimely demise a couple of weeks after purchase. Plastic remote control helicopters don't like tile floors. Especially when they hit them from six feet in the air. But he still watched the festival with me. Now that's love.

It was really great! It went on all week and Saturday ended up being the semifinals, so it was a bit difficult to find a place to watch, but we ended up standing on a bench a couple of floors up and watching the floor below. There were hip hop dancers, ballroom, Latin, all kinds of dancing, all kinds of ages. On of the best was right before we left. About ten couples, all under the age of 12, strutted out and got ready to perform. M and I figured it would be cute and all, but we completely underestimated these kids. They were phenomenal! They did the cha cha and the jive, and they were so entertaining and so good!

But the best thing is that I found a studio called The Dance Space that was a sponsor, so I checked them out online, and they have all kinds of classes that I can go to! Hip hop, belly dancing, contemporary....I'm so excited! Their studios are in Sri Hartamas and Ampang, and the classes are in the evenings, so I'm a little worried about getting there amidst all the rush hour traffic, but hopefully I'll figure something out. This is what I need to be motivated to work out - when I go to a dance class, it's not even like working out, it's just fun for me. I think that's what makes a perfect workout activity.

I grew up dancing and danced throughout college, but I haven't taken a class in oh, about seven years or so. Not too long ago, right? Ha. Hopefully my jazz boots (which I did bring to Malaysia) aren't terribly dated and uncool, and of course I have no idea what I will wear. But I'm still pretty excited. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to get there in the traffic and the classes are good.

Finally! Motivation to get off my lazy ass and work out!

The Art of Conversation

There’s a great saying I’ve heard that goes, “People who want to share their religious views with you, almost never want you to share yours with them.”

I’ve found that the same is true about politics, especially overseas. M and I often find ourselves the unwilling recipient of various diatribes about what a piece of shit country the US is. Usually these unsolicited comments come from someone that we just met, who to their delight, has just found out that we are Americans. So they take their opportunity to explain to us how their country does things so much better and how they could run the US if only they had the chance. But as the saying goes, they really aren't interested in hearing our opinion, they simply want to share theirs.

Before I go on, I just want to mention that I won’t engage in political debates here. This isn’t even a political post, but rather, a post about respect and common courtesy.

Some people are generally just curious, or want to have a respectful, two way discussion. That’s fine, regardless of their opinion, and that’s not what I’m referring to here. I’m referring to the “Oh, you’re American? Well let me give you my opinion about how crappy America is” monologue that starts the moment that someone finds out we are from the US.

I think having an opinion is great. I think that when it’s an educated opinion, it’s even better. Sometimes I may even agree with some of what they are saying. But here’s my first point - I didn’t put a quarter in them and ask for their opinion, so the appropriate thing to do is to keep it to themselves. It's like if I were to walk up to some stranger in a restaurant and proceed to tell them how ugly their outfit is. It seems that there is some sort of unwritten rule that common courtesy and respect aren’t necessary when talking to an American about their own country. It’s like they feel that they have free license to share their dislike about the US, since we are American and all, and quite frankly, that’s just not what M and I signed up for when we walked in the door of the pub.

It’s not like we think America does no wrong or anything like that. There are certain things that America does well, and certain things that America screws up. Sometimes we agree, and sometimes we don’t. It's the same with any other country. Which brings me to my second point - I would never, ever, in a million years presume to tell someone what a shitty country they are from. How tremendously rude. I’m sure most people would be offended, and rightly so. So why don’t the same rules apply for the US? It seems that once people find out we are from the US, it’s an open invitation to criticize our government, our lifestyle, our food, whatever. I struggle with how people think that this is acceptable behavior.

There is no way I can win in these situations. When this happens, people aren't interested in having a real discussion. They aren’t asking questions, or trying gain an understanding...they’ve already made up their minds. It’s a lecture cloaked in the appearance of a conversation.

Sometimes, I wish we could just talk about the weather.

My TV Addictions

We don't get a lot of US TV shows in Malaysia, and the ones we get are typically a season or so old. But there are a few that I have been getting into, such as...

"Grey's Anatomy" - Okay, I'm a little late to the game on this one, but I love this show. We just finished season 2 here, so don't tell me what happens on season 3! (Although, given my ongoing subscription to People and the recent addition of E Entertainment as a channel here, I already know how some of the questions are answered.) Plus, I love the music on the show, and it's become one of my main sources of new(ish) music to download from iTunes.

"Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations" - This comes on the Travel and Living Channel here, and I really like this show. He goes to cool places and eats some far out foods. I want to drink beer with Anthony Bourdain. "Globe Trekker" is also really good.

"Everest" - This comes on Discovery Channel. I got sucked into it because of M, but it's actually pretty good.

And don't laugh about these:

"One Tree Hill" - I can't help it. I think it's good. Totally unrealistic, but good teeny bopper drama. It's a show about teenagers pretending to be adults, which is kind of silly sometimes, but the show is also a source of some pretty good music. We just finished season 2 here (I think), so don't tell me if the teenage marriage ends with Nathan drowning his sorrows in a river of Purple Passion and Boone's Farm.

"Falcon Beach" - A total teenage soap opera, Canadian style.

(I can't believe I watch these shows. I didn't even watch teen dramas when I was a teenager - except for 90120, and who didn't watch that? - so I'm not sure why they are appealing to me now. They are kind of lame, but they are total brain candy for me.)

I've also kind of gotten into Heroes, and we love 30 Rock and My Name is Earl. Of course, they won't show Family Guy here (and I'm not sure it's even still on the US), so we have have to buy most of the seasons of that on DVD.

When I was in Singapore this week, I got to see "So You Think You Can Dance?". I'm out of the loop, so I don't know if the show is still on in the US, but what a great show! I was totally sucked in.

Any suggestions for TV show DVDs that we should pick up while we are in the US later this month? We can get some of them here, but to get the unedited ones means a trip to Chinatown, checking each DVD to make sure it works, etc., so we are just planning to pick some up in the US since we will be there soon enough.

What TV shows are you into?

Does He Want to Go Home With the Armadillo?*

M snapped this photo near a temple that was just down the beach from our hotel in Koh Samui. He showed it to me and I asked him if the monk saw him taking his picture, because I'm not really sure of the etiquette of all that and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to offend.

M said no, he didn't notice, because he was too busy messing with his iPod. I thought that was kind of interesting. But what was even more amusing was that his iPod was playing...get this...Bellamy Brothers. Priceless. I wonder if he has any Jerry Jeff Walker on there?

* The post title is from the song "I Wanna Go Home With the Armadillo", which is by old school Texas country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, who also sings "Sangria Wine" as well as a personal favorite of mine (and Texas bars across the state), "(Up Against the Wall) Redneck Mother".

An armadillo is an animal found in Texas. Sometimes seen alive, but usually as roadkill given that they don't see well in the daytime and they tend to skitter across country roads right in front of Billy Bob and his Ford Dually. A teacher of mine thought it was a little dinosaur when she saw one for the first time. I guess it kind of looks like one. But still. A dinosaur? You teach Honors English, woman.

Image:http://www.everwonder.com/david/armadillo/

Honda, the ADD Elephant

Friday morning in Koh Samui, we decided to go for an elephant trek. We arrived at the park and were promptly introduced to Honda, the ADD elephant. Of course we got the elephant in need of a massive dose of Ritalin. The elephant trek itself was pretty cool. They had a big bench on the elephants, with cushions between the bench and the elephant's back. They treated the animals very well, aside from forgetting the ADD medication and all. During our ride, Honda kept drifting off course, munching on leaves, gallivanting through the jungle, over bushes taller than she was, and generally being blissfully unaware that there were three people riding her - me, M and the guide, who sat on her head. All the other kids were minding their teachers, raising their hand, following the rules, and Honda was the kid at the back of the room eating paste. Oh, did I mention that Honda also had the shits during our ride? That's always romantic. Our guide kept laughing and saying, "Honda, shit! Honda, shit! Hahahaha!"

Have you heard an elephant fart? Is it wrong that M and I giggled like junior high kids while Honda kept phff, phff, phffing along? Who knew that elephant poo was so funny? But it so was. My eight year old nephew would have loved it.

After Honda finished her business, she decided to wander into the stream to munch on bamboo. Then something spooked her and we were off for a gallop down the river. Is gallop the right word? Do elephants gallop? I don't know, all I know is that Honda was feeling sprightly after her major weight loss, and we discovered that elephants can run pretty damn fast.

After the elephant ride, we walked up the stream a bit (upriver from the dumping ground) and swam in a beautiful swimming hole at the bottom of this amazing waterfall. It was the perfect temperature and was a gorgeous sight. Very cool indeed. Much needed relaxation after our elephant adventure.

Adventures in Koh Samui

Whew! We are back from Koh Samui! After a weekend of sun, sand, Thai headbanging and errant elephants, we finally made it home around midnight on Sunday night, thanks to a flight delay out of Koh Samui.

Let's see, where to start? We arrived at the hotel in Koh Samui around 8pm or so on Thursday night. We ventured down to the bar, where we were serenaded by a Thai lounge singer singing all the best cover tunes. Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Simon & Garfunkel...I was in karaoke heaven. Of course, it wasn't karaoke, but that didn't stop me and M from singing along. "Sweet Caroline...bah, bah, BAH..." Yes, we are obnoxious Americans.

Friday we got up and decided to go for a little elephant ride. Our ADD-challenged elephant deserves a separate post entirely.

Later that evening, we ventured down to the main village of Lamai. Koh Samui is laid out for a party. Beach bars, little roadside bars, lots of restaurants and great sightseeing. After visiting a couple of bars and grabbing dinner, we found a great roadside bar called the Longhorn bar, complete with burnt orange stools and cheap drinks. It was just like Texas, well, except for the transvestites and all. (Wait! Austin has its own resident cross dresser by the name of Leslie. I think he ran for mayor at one point.) We sat by the road, people watching and playing the "Is it a man or a woman?" game. We finally got ready to go and wandered down the street, where we ate the best hawker Nutella and banana crepe ever. Then we heard the music coming from a bar nearby.

We wandered into the bar, where this great cover band Ovada was playing. Black rocker outfits with one of the best lead guitar players we had ever seen - and she was this tiny Thai chick. She was hot. I'm just saying. The chicks would swing their hair in a circle in time with the music, and I think she played the guitar with her teeth at one point while sitting on the dude's shoulders. That, or I had too much Jaeger. (Jaeger!!) They were playing Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Queen...M was back in his mullet days. We noticed a couple sitting near the end of the bar, and when they were not simulating sex at the bar, they were sucking each other's fingers. Seriously. Blondy McCheerleader wasn't digging the old school jams, but shit, the minute they played Bon Jovi, she decided it was time to daaaanncccce!!! So she got up in front of the stage and put on a show for everyone. Too bad she was the only one dancing. Even worse that it was the white girl dance. Step together, step together, clapping her hands over her head and that whole bit. Between their soft core porn, her dancing, and the great music, we were thoroughly entertained. Of course, the band had to play Stairway to Heaven. Sigh. Is this the best Led Zepplin song you can play? I think not.

The next day, we went down to the main part of Lamai beach, which was prettier than the beach where we stayed. We found a great little beach bar that made boozy, Windex colored drinks, and decided then that we were going to chuck it all, move to an island, open a beach bar and start a papaya farm. The Swedish guy that owned the bar was living the dream, man, living the dream. Later that night we went back and the sky decided to pour all night, so we hung out in this little bar with the owner and the gang from Cheers, aka his bar buddies. We drank many, many adult beverages and then the owner whipped up some Swedish pancakes for all of us. I'm telling you, we are opening a beach bar. Anyone want to join us?

The last day we hung out by the pool and recovered from our weekend. I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Why do I delude myself into thinking that I am still 20? But we did have a lot of fun, and even though I’m in Singapore on business now, my suitcase still has sand in it :)