Tourists for the Day

 When you live in a place that has a lot of foreign tourism, it's actually pretty easy to miss a bunch of the fun local touristy stuff.  Not sure why, though!? Maybe in a place like this where the predominant culture is Muslim,  going to the high-traffic tourist areas and seeing the very (to the locals) inappropriately dressed foreigners walking the streets, and being lumped in with them just for sharing the same skin color kinda makes you not want to be "part of the crowd." Also, tourist area stuff tends to be more expensive and when you LIVE in a place, well, you don't spend money everyday like you do while on vacation.  However, last Saturday we ignored all that and went to downtown Georgetown (a British Colonial City if you can't tell by the name) to see some of the sites!  We of course brought PB&J sandwiches from home and spoke the local language if we bought something to make sure we were getting the best price... no reason to pay full price if you don't have to!

Didn't actually go inside the fort this time... but it makes for a good picture!

Instead we played in the little park beside the fort (free!) You can see the walls of the fort in the background. 

I know it's just a pic of a little boy on a slide. But I'm posting 2 of them anyway!

It was HOT! We decided to head toward Little India... (Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun)

Cool tiles!

The man I've vowed to sweat on the equator with for as long as we both shall live. :)

Chinese Tea House doors!

This one's for Andrea... Bangles! You know you're in little India when you see a wall full of bangles!

Stop for a limo-ice...

"Cheese!" But he was waaaay into it and didn't want to take the straw out.

We let Isaac keep the spoon that comes with every drink.

Mama chillin' out too!

Scantily clad. Not what you were expecting right? Still... way too much skin for the locals!

More cool doors. Wonder what they store in there that they need to be that tall?

LOVE all the fabric stores in Little India. Even found a deal on some sari material. I won't be wearing it as a sari though :( I'll have a traditional dress made out of it in order to wear this year for Hari Raya...the BIG holiday here.

Here's my sari material.  My bucket list contains wearing a sari in India (and wearing it to a wedding if possible)

Anthony wasn't crazy about this pic... but one street away from Little India and there's a Chinese Buddhist Temple... this place is so diverse I tell you!

All of us!

My New Kitchen

So while looking at the Before-and-After pictures of this, it doesn't really look like a whole lot of change in the photo, but I can assure you my feelings toward cooking and being in the kitchen in general have improved dramatically since our little additions. The huge rubbermaid containers belong to our landlady and so unfortunately have to sit around inside.

We added a big stainless steel counter top, a shelf, some hanging racks, the random stand-alone florescent light we found in the house now has a very helpful place to be, and we put a shelf under the counter top...

Before: Aluminum foil taped behind the oven, ZERO counter work space.

After: Moved the oven to another wall, put up a "back splash" and now have somewhere to prepare meals!

Before: Basket with brooms, rubbermaid containers, and a plastic rack to hold the electric appliances.

After: Look at all that space to work on! Kitchen gear stored neatly below with room for electric appliances on countertop. The action packer below holds other kitchen stuff (like Christmas items and a cake stand) that I'm not taking out til we move into our "permanent" house. Though it does serve as a perfect step for the boys to stand on to help me cook!

 Over by the washing machine we added a shelf and some holders on the wall to put the broom and mop type tools up and out of the way (they were in a huge basket in the corner of the kitchen before). Under the sink I also made some curtains to change the black/white/red motif of the original ones to a more white/blue/gray to match the blue tile and white walls of the kitchen.  We also painted the walls white. None of these pics show how dingy they were, or mismatched. Since it was for a temporary house, we just did the cheapest...which is white! It looks a lot cleaner though!

Before: Clutter. On top of bathroom wall, on top of fridge and everywhere else it felt like! We couldn't open the backdoor without having to move the laundry basket and trashcan.

All things off the bathroom wall, brooms secured to the wall, and the door can be opened now with ease to let a breeze in!

After: New curtains under sink, all clutter off the little dish cabinet, and trashcan out of the way of the door!

 Just a couple months left in this kitchen, but a counter top to work on sure makes the heat, the early pregnancy symptoms, and the stress of language learning a little more bearable!

A Simple Woman's Daybook...

 I copied this from a friend's blog a few months ago... fun to see the differences and similarities!



Outside my window... It's raining. And mercifully every few seconds I feel the cool breeze coming in through the windows.

I am thinking... "I really want to get a blog up by Sunday night so I don't end up taking time out of language study time on Monday to do one.  My language needs me, my public (all 5 of you) needs me.  I could be drifting off to sleep right now reading "Harry Potter dan bilik rahsia" so really, language loses anytime I blog. I'm ok with that though because blogging helps me clear my mind and feel connected."

I am thankful for... quality medical care. This past week Isaiah got sick with "Intususseption" which is when the small intestine telescopes into the large intestine. We took him to the doctor, she knew immediately what it was (confirmed by ultrasound) and he had the procedure done to fix it within hours, slept peacefully all night in the hospital, then was checked again the next day just to make sure it was all corrected and released.  Absolutely amazing.  Children die from this if it's not diagnosed and treated. 

From the kitchen... there is now a 2nd light over my new work station.  We bought a stainless steel countertop at IKEA a couple weeks ago, installed a shelf and some organization stuff and stuck an extra light under the shelf.  I have basically a brand new kitchen. I made hummus and salsa this week, just because I had a countertop to spread it all out on!

I am wearing... A tank top with a shirt over it and some capri pants. Barefeet of course because I'm inside and it's Asia.

I am creating... a baby in my belly.  The Lord breathed the life of course, but I'm thankfully and gladly letting my body play host to this little guy or girl for the next few months.  What a privilege. I don't take it lightly.

I am going... to Bali in June.  Just booked the rooms last night. My parents will be here as well.  Sharon the Floridian just may get her tan preggo belly afterall.

I am reading... as if it needs to be restated... "Harry Potter dan Bilik Rahsia" (the chamber of secrets). I'm about 2/3rds done with it, but I lost interest. Not because of the language challenge, but because a couple weeks ago Anthony wanted to watch the movie. So we did.  And now I feel like I'm just having to watch the movie over again, but at a much slower pace, in my mind. 

I am hoping... That tomorrow my all-day morning sickness won't bother me enough so I CAN get the language done I want to.  Last week with Zay in the hospital and the week before with all our traveling language time has stunk around here.  I'm ready for tomorrow to be more focused!

I am hearing... Rain on our tin roof.

Around the house... it's quiet except for the rain and the fans. All the Rivers' men are asleep.

One of my favorite things... right now is having pregnant friends. I have 2 actually that are due within weeks of me. Best part they are both living in Asia too.  One due before, one due after me.  All within about 11 weeks of each other. 

A few plans for the rest of the week: Language, language, language.  Cooking dinner for my family each night. Trying not to puke- I haven't yet, but fighting it all day long isn't a walk in the park either!

Here is a picture I am sharing.... me at 8.5 weeks pregnant.  Here's me with Isaac pregnant early on.  I don't look relaxed in this pic and it totally shows I think.  I usually NEVER EVER go outside with "just a tank top on" for fear my neighbors would think me immodest.  But the inside of our house (minus my new countertop from IKEA) really isn't cute and I didn't want the first belly pic of Baby #3 to be inside. So I hurried Anthony along and went back inside to put some more clothes on:)  I'm also, I guess, growing my hair out.  I really hate it though. Short is so much easier.  When I get time I'll go get it done (maybe after a couple good weeks of language study, it'll be my reward) but I'll probably just cut it off again. I don't have time!  But about the belly. I'm definitely having to unbutton my pants each evening (those of you who have been pregnant know your belly gets bigger as the day wears on) and I didn't even come close to that til about 12 weeks or so with Isaac.  But I figured even though there's not much there, in a few weeks it'll be good for comparison!  Also, this is a maternity tank my mother-in-law sent for my birthday (along with a ton of other clothes too!) ...but the green felt fresh and fun. :)