Travels with Lar – Penang – Post 3

April 1 – 9, 2011
Wednesday
Woke up, went to work and taught all day.
In the evening, Kelly flew home and Ian had to go to dinner with a sales team. So Patti and Kazuyo and I went to the Queensbay Mall – which is just like any other big mall – and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. We took the shuttle from the Hotel to the mall, but they forgot to come get us, so we called our favorite taxi driver and he came and got us. So not a whole lot happened that day.

Thursday
Woke up, went to work and taught all day.
We are getting tired. Patti and Kazuyo and Ian and I just stayed at the hotel for a fancy dinner with all of the courses – salad (I could have used that salad bar for dinner – shrimp, squid, oysters plus a lot of other things – by the way I did try all of those things). We had cream of carrot soup. We had a sorbet to cleanse our palette and then dinner – I had a fish thing. We skipped dessert because – well we just couldn't eat any more. The restaurant was called "The View" and see the pictures to know why (actually my room was above The View so I had this view every morning and every evening). Just how fancy was it? Well Ian came in shorts – and they made him go change.

Evening View - Cloudy but it only rained once while I was there.

Evening views from "The View"

By the way, Penang is on an island on the Indian Ocean side of Malaysia. It is connected by a long bridge – which I never had to cross because the airport is on the island also. Many people have a family home on the mainland and a work apartment on the island. They come to the work apartment after work on Monday and go home to their family after work on Friday, so traffic those two days is pretty heavy. How do they do it? Well a nice condo in Penang would cost about 100,000 Ringgits – or about 35,000 dollars. If you are getting paid the technology wages, you can swing this kind of life style.

Friday
Woke up, went to work and taught all day. It was the last day of class and Ping Ping and Tony took us to lunch at a Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai restaurant. Again it was more family style and Tony ordered. It was great. They were all amazed that an old American like me could handle the spicy food. Most of it wasn't that spicy, but there was a grass and shrimp soup that could curl your toes. The class went well and they are excited to try to get me back in July – but that hasn't been approved yet.
Friday evening Kazuyo had to fly back to Singapore where she lives. Ian, who is a Formula 1 racecar fan, flew out to a Malaysian race that was happening on Sunday. So Patti and I went back to the mall for dinner. She is staying another two weeks to help with implementation.
Saturday


I woke up early and flew home. Same route back – but only a 3 hour layover in Hong Kong and only a 12 hour flight to San Francisco because we had the jet stream helping us along. And I picked up the day I lost going over. But believe me, it was still a long day – or day and a half – or how ever long it was.


Final notes:
I didn't see any monkeys – but I saw a sign that said don't feed the monkeys.
I didn't see any snakes.
I would never drive in Penang. They drive on the wrong side of the road and most laws are treated like suggestions. At times it was a little bit scary.
Malaysian people are small and "pretty". I swear some of the girls in my class were in middle school, they looked so young. But the climate is just so good for their skin.
International travel still makes me apprehensive – but I flew home all by myself and didn't get into any trouble. I figured out immigration and customs with no problems.
I was glad to get home.

Travels with Lar – Penang – Post 2

April 1 – 9, 2011
Monday
Woke up and had breakfast and went to work at Intel. We used Taxis all week long – we had the number of one taxi driver who took care of us all week. Evidently taxi work is really slow in Penang right now and he was very happy to work as our driver.
The class was at Intel. There were 12 very attentive and happy people. It went well. I will make a general statement that this was the best Intel class I have taught. Another Mentor person, Ian, spent time in the class also. He, like Patti, is part of their global support team. The picture is outside the Intel entrance of the training building.

After class, all of the Mentor people – all that are in town – went to a place in Georgetown (the old part of Penang at the north end of the island) for dinner. It was a "choose your own fish" type of place called Bali Hai and again, the more local attendees ordered for us. It was good food. It was right across the road from the ocean.

On the trip home, we did not take the highway, but drove through a downtown area just to see – but it was night.
My problem today is that I am really tired. My body is 14 hours off.


Tuesday
Work again.
Weather has been nice, but today was hot and humid. I expected rain, but no – just hot and humid (heat index was over 100).
In the evening, Patti, Kazuyo, Ian and I went to Little India for dinner. We drove about 30 minutes (it is also up by Georgetown) and when the taxi stopped for us to get out, I looked around and said "Really? You want me to eat here?"

Well I really didn't say that, but I thought it. The streets were narrow and the shops were small and a the road was cobble stone and it was old. Rajad, the taxi driver had taken Patti and Kazuyo there over the weekend and they said it was wonderful. It really was. Best Indian food I have ever tasted.
We shopped a little – for scarves for Mar – but didn't get them after we ate (Patti went and got one after I left and brought it home.) I wish I had a good camera to show the area at night. It was a truly unique place. Did I feel safe? Well sure.

http://www.bestpenangguide.com/little-india-penang.html

Travels with Lar – Penang – Post 1

April 1 – 9, 2011
Penang, Malaysia
This was a work trip, but being a real international trip, it probably needs more of a write-up than the normal "I just went to Tempe" trip. So here goes. Keep in mind that this is my very first ever international, oversees trip. I have been to international Canada, but overseas makes this different and a little bit scary. Luckily, for my first overseas trip I was not alone.
The Trip There – Friday - Sunday
It is a long way to Penang, Malaysia. I left home I the evening on Friday, April 1 and flew to San Francisco. There I met the first traveling companion, Kelly and we flew 14 hours to Hong Kong. I slept and ate and read and watched two movies and wiggled my feet so the blood didn't just settle down and make clots. 14 hours is a long time. It was Sunday when we got to Hong Kong because we crossed the International Date Line and lost a day – not to worry, I got it back coming home. We had an 8 hour layover in the Hong Kong airport. We tried to get out for a short boat tour, but the lines through immigration were so long we didn't make the tour. At 3:00 PM we flew three more hours to Penang – my first real overseas destination.

That evening we met with other Mentor people who were there that week to do presentations and demonstrations for Intel and Agilent. We all went to dinner together, which was nice because two of the local people did the ordering and we ate family style. Of importance is the fact that Patti and Kazuyo were there. They would be helpers in my class.
The motel was the Equatorial, a five star resort overlooking the south part of Penang. It was nice but there were few other amenities around it so we had to do a lot of traveling by taxi to get where we wanted to eat or shop.

Jet lagged real bad – and I burnt up my computer power supply. More on that later – and thank heavens I was travelling with suave, well experienced people.

Book on Tape / CD

April 24, 2011

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

And by the way . . .

I started listening to Tom Clancy's Without Remorse.  I didn't get very far before the language and adult situations made me stop.  Call me a tee-totterer if you will, but it was more than I wanted to have in my mind.

Books on Tape/CD

April 17, 2011

The Flight of the Phoenix by Elliston Trevor

April 16, 2011
Removing the Stump and the Testosterone Tool
The weather is nice so Mar and Lar have been doing a lot of yard work. We really like doing it because it is outside and generally you get to see results right away – I love instant gratification. However, our last project was a little bit frustrating. When we first looked at our new home during the search process, we noticed that there were a couple of dead trees on the property. Luckily, the former owners took them out without our even asking. All was well in dead tree land.
However, this weekend we started digging up a place for a garden and right there in the middle was – a stump. As we dug we realized that the stump was providing large roots, so in our vanity we choose to remove the main offender – the stump itself. Task one was dig around it , and around it , and around it and fight with the myriad of roots which the stump had sent out. We figured that if we cut enough the stump would loosen and we would begin to see movement and eventually we would be able to yank that big, bad baby out of there. An hour later and a pretty big hole dug and the stump was winning. It didn't wiggle in the least.

We called it an evening with a humbled heart and a hole – still ruled over by a stump. I pondered and fretted over this for the evening. In the morning I had a plan. I went to the home improvement store and bought "the tool". It was a six foot, 18 pound digging bar with a sharp point at one end and a 2 inch cutting head at the other. I figured this would not only allow me to dig better, but also work as a pry bar when the offensive stump started to wiggle.

 

Morning and I am digging again. Pick, bar, scoot out the dirt. There is another big root. Let the bar handle it. Two hits and it is gone. Pick some more. Use the bar some more, scoop some more. Another root. Whooee, that root was broken with just one swing. But alas, after all the sweat and swinging – the stump still wasn't moving at all. Not at all.

 

Frustration set in and I lifted and jammed that digging bar down on the top of the stump. Inspiration. If I can't dig it out, I'll just chop it up. And that is what I did.

I just split and broke the top 10 inches off of the top of that stump, and then buried the rest. Me and my bar were finally victorious. (Well at least we buried the sin.)

Reading list

February 18, 2011
 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This is a book on the 501 Must Read list. I was at a used book store in Longmont (Barbed Wire Books) and saw this one. Realizing it was on the 501 list, I bought it and started reading it. Alas, after I had read it I found that we already had a copy on our bookshelf. Okay, so now I have two copies. And the second copy was not in vain because Mar's Book club is reading Wuthering Heights in April, so I had an extra copy to loan out.
Wuthering Heights is the name of house on the moors of Northern England. Wuthering is a word for gale, blustering winds, so the name indicates a forlorn, cold and isolated place, which it is – not just in the environment, but also socially and metaphysically. The antagonist of the story is "Heathcliff", who is really one of the most despicable, unlovable and cruel villains I have ever read about. He is wracked by an unrequited love, and swears vengeance on all who stood in his way of attaining that love after the object of his love dies. The metaphysical nature of his "beyond the grave" love, and how it warps his soul is the basis of the story.
It is a classic, the only classic written by Emily Bronte because she died soon after it's publication. It is not easy reading. One character speaks in an English dialect that I could not decipher (luckily my copy had footnotes which "translated" those passages. It is a good book to read, but it is not light reading. If you wanted to do a character/plot/scene evaluation of a book and goo deeply into theme and symbolism, this would be a good but challenging book to attempt.
I enjoyed it. Many people wouldn't.

Reading List

February 12, 2011

 Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This is a book on the 501 Must Read list. It is also a book that we had in out bookshelf (thanks to Breanne). So I took it and read it.
For anyone who has not read this book, I highly recommend it. Anne does change in the book – she matures and learns some valuable lessons. What is interesting is the way other people change I the course of the book, making it a really well written story. And in addition to all of that, it is just fun to read. You develop compassion and understanding of all of the characters. And it is just fun to read (yes I said that already.

Travels with Lar

March 13-18, 2011
Tempe, Arizona

 This was a business trip to teach a class in the Mentor Tempe office. It was specifically for one customer – Intel. I have been teaching a lot for Intel as of late. It was a customized class. The class went well.
On Wednesday I went to visit Ed and have dinner with him. It was just him because Michelle was in Southern California and Sandy and Jonathan were in Washington D. C. We had a good talk and a good dinner. I like going to Tempe so I get a chance to visit with my brother.
On Thursday I went to the Mesa temple.

My flight home was delayed over two hours. It was good weather in Tempe, and good weather in Denver, but the plane got delayed in San Francisco so everything down-stream got messed up. Still, it was a Friday night return, so I was happy.

Travels with Lar

March 6 – 12, 2011
Dallas, Texas

 This was a business trip to teach a class in the Mentor Dallas office. It was specifically for one customer – Raytheon. It was a customized class. The class went well.
The Mentor office in Dallas has changed locations. It is no longer in Addison, but is in Dallas – but still only about three miles from the last office building. The new building is associated with a mall, so at lunch there is a good place to go walking. It is a nice office with a nice training room. The hardest thing about the office is the parking lot – you could get lost in the parking lot. In fact, one time I did. I was trying to get out and suddenly I was going up in the structure rather than down towards the exit. One of the students gave me the best advice. "Just park on the first level and then take the elevator up to level five." That made it much easier because you could see the exit.
The only other thing important about this trip was that I got to go to the Dallas temple on Wednesday night.

And then I flew home on Saturday morning.