Our plans, decisions, and adventures
After our fun-filled house sit in Metchosin, British Columbia, we returned to Vancouver to celebrate Ken's Mom's 90th birthday. It was a balloon- and flower-filled affair with many friends and family--including a granddaughter from Spain and a son from The Bahamas--sharing memories and laughter. The lovely honoree Our next location was to be a 3-week... Continue Reading →
Most of our posts are focused on the locations we are visiting rather than on the details of our accommodation. We are now in the beautiful village of Metchosin, just outside of Victoria, British Columbia, but it is our accommodation that is the adventure, thus the focus of this missive. We are house sitting here.... Continue Reading →
We aren't able to join every year, but we try to be in Washington for the annual family gathering at Millersylvania State Park. As always, it was a wonderful 4 days with a group of about 50 amazing family members and pseudo family members (AKA friends) hosted by Norma, the 91-year-old matriarch who oozes energy,... Continue Reading →
It was hard to leave the warmth of Southeast Asia at the beginning of March. We had only been there for 3 months, which seemed much too short, but we had medical commitments in Calgary, so leave we did. After an overnight near the Vancouver International Airport, we hopped into our car (which had kindly... Continue Reading →
Singapore was our last stop on this Southeast Asia tour. We had planned 5 nights--only 4 full days--to get to know this island city-state so we knew we would have to use a different strategy from our usual slow-and-easy travel. Singapore is one of only 3 city-states in the world (along with Monaco and Vatican... Continue Reading →
We had read about Malacca--that it was a pretty town, a seaside town, a town full of history--so we added it as a stop on our way from Penang to Singapore. I won't dispute any of these adjectives, but I will add one more to the bottom of the list. Pretty town The Malacca River... Continue Reading →
Kuala Lumpur (often shortened to KL) was full of surprises for us. First, its size. We hadn't been in a big city for a while and hadn't really researched this one before we arrived. So our first view had us jaws agape as we ogled the skyscrapers that populate the city. Second, the view from... Continue Reading →
I knew there were stairs involved and caves, but I hadn't realized there would be so much colour. I also knew that the Batu Caves play a significant role in Malaysian Thaipusam celebrations, which should have given me a clue. At the bottom of the stairs is an enormous Lord Murugan statue; at his feet... Continue Reading →
We spent a month in Penang and had many opportunities to bus or Grab into town and wander (our home was in Miami Green, about 10km from the center of George Town). This post provides a little taste of our month of exploration. For specific activities that I thought warranted their own post, see the... Continue Reading →
For Chinese New Year, Kek Lok Si temple is all dressed up in her finest and the crowds come to admire her. Since we had not seen Kek Lok Si yet, we wanted to explore Malaysia's largest Buddhist temple in the daylight as well as at night. We chose the first official night of lights,... Continue Reading →
Penang is a small island. Though most of the population and activity is in George Town, in the northeast corner, extending south and west from there, we thought it might be a fun day trip to rent a car and circumnavigate the island. Our new friends, Karen and Rick, thought so, too, so we set... Continue Reading →
Just left: Road trip in Artie
Now: Calgary, AB, Canada
Up next: Road trip in Artie
