The New House, Part One -- E.

One of our biggest tasks in Malaysia so far has been to find a house to live in.  The place where we've been since May was always a temporary thing.  Now it's time to move on.

So, over the next week and a half, we will be moving into this place:

Would you like to take a look around inside?  Let me show you a bit of what it looks like.  Keep in mind, we are not moved in yet!  This is how the house came to us, partly furnished.  We've got a bit of work to do before we are ready to live here.

The view as you step in the front door: a nice cozy living room, with the kitchen through that door in the back.

The kitchen.

There are three bedrooms.  I won't show you all three because they all look like this.

And another look at the outside.

Unfortunately, the house also has a bit of this...

... so we'll be giving it a lot of this.

It's nice, isn't it?  We're certainly happy with it.

So, this week, in addition to the cleaning, we'll be doing some shopping for stuff like fridge, stove, washing machine, beds, and probably an air conditioning unit or two.  And hopefully we can show you some amazing before-and-after pictures after we're moved in!  Check in on us again soon.

Grandma Alene's Chicken Corn Soup--in Malaysia! --QM

Do you remember that chicken foot peeking out of the pot in the last post? The chicken was sold to me with a head too! To the shopkeepers' credit, I think they did offer to chop the 'extras' off before selling it, but I thought they were offering to chop the whole thing into bits! Time to learn some Malay, or more Chinese...

 

That bird inspired me! Thursday's fellowship meal was going to be at our house, and I decided to serve some of my Grandma Alene's chicken corn soup.

What to do about the ingredient list? I had seen some produce stalls selling corn-on-the-cob, so I had the fresh corn...but no limas. Fresh green beans made an adequate substitute, and I had Maggi ramen noodles for the seasoning packet Grandma usually uses. Ramen noodles are a big deal here.

 

 Did it pass the taste test? It wasn't quite the same--nor do  I imagine it ever will be--but our guests seemed to love it! Watch out chickens, I'm coming back for you another day!

A movie still from a clip of Grandma reading to James and Dorie just before we moved.

 Grandma, you are loved and missed across the ocean!
For those that want to attempt her soup, here is the recipe, as she gave it to me a few years ago:
Grandma Alene's Chicken Corn Soup Recipe 
(For the authoritative version, ask her!) 
Spices:
Cumin
onion powder and/or onions
celery salt and/or celery
ground coriander
ramen noodle seasoning packet

Vegetables:
1/2 c. carrot, for color
Lima beans
corn

Chicken:
cook in enough water to cover--simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hour
debone and deskin

Egg noodles-- add and cook at the very end

She also used some kind of chicken base, which I never figured out. Also, I always saute the seasonings in the onions and celery.

Thank you Grandma! I got sick a few days after making this, and was SO GLAD to have had leftovers!

Staying Cool -- E.

It can get warm in Kuching.  Air conditioning is available here but expensive to run.  What can you do?  We've learned a few things so far:

1. Stay in the shade.
   It's much cooler here than in the sun.
   
   
   
   
2. Visit the South China Sea.
   Obviously.
   
   
   
3. Have a little ice cream.
   This shop does a nice mango flavor soft serve.
   
   
   
   
4. Use the mop bucket. 
   James figured this one out all on his own.
   
   

In other news, Queena promises to write a post soon about her amazing chicken soup.  Grandma Alene's recipe!

    

Taman Sahabat (and other glories of my life) -- QM

This morning Ethan and James went out and about and left Dorie and me at home. While I was on the computer in our office, Dorie appeared in the window and said, "Come here Mom, I have something for you"!

Look at that lovely cake that my daughter had made for me! Yum. After this feast we decided that since Dad and James were out having fun (paying for the car and shopping), we would go out too. So we packed snacks and drinks and went for a walk to Friendship Park. Here is our walk, in pictures:

That's Dorie, in front of our house (We live on the left side). Today her umbrella was a parasol--shade is much coveted around here!

Friendship Park (or Taman Sahabat) is a recent gift to Malaysia from China. The Chinese Malaysians are a minority here, but it seems everywhere I go I hear the local Chinese dialect spoken. I love trying out my little bit of Mandarin here! Our temporary house is about three blocks away, and I love to jog there in the mornings.

Our picnic spot overlooked the reflexology path; many believe a walk over these stones is good for your health.

Anyone barefoot and ready to try it out? I like it, but can only take a few minutes of the 'massage.'

What a fun morning!

 Here are some random pictures taken sometime during the last two weeks:

Ants are everywhere! From the fire ants that swarmed all over Dorie when she climbed their tree, to itsy-bitsy ants that will find any speck of food on the floor, these little creatures are a force to be reckoned with!

Dorie found a friend at a nearby food-court. Incidentally, this little girl's parents make the best Singapore Chicken and hot sauce we've had! Her dad even gave me the recipe for the sauce!

James and a snail behind our house. It wanted to get away, as you can see.

 And now, for your parting shot...

Dorie and James hanging out in the wet kitchen. Yes, there was some risk involved.

Oh, and Happy Father's day! Dad, I realized that with the time difference, I could wait to write you a Father's day email until Monday morning and still be on time, and that is probably what will happen because we are going to the beach tomorrow. :)  Love you lots!

To Do -- E.

• move into temporary house
• buy car
• find new house/apartment
• begin to learn Bahasa Melayu

As you can see, our initial to-do list is coming along okay.

A video of the temporary housing is on Facebook.

A picture of our new car (hopefully not so temporary!) is right here.  I am so happy with our little 2001 Perodua Kelisa.  What you can't quite tell from this photo is that the Kelisa is narrow.  Very nice for city driving and city parking.

 

Now that we have our own vehicle, it's time to start looking around for a place to rent.  Say a prayer!

As for Bahasa (Malay language): the idea is that we begin serious language learning after we've taken care of the basics of moving in.  I guess that means that finding a home is more urgent than learning to speak Bahasa. 

For the time being, we are getting by with English and Queena's Mandarin Chinese, as most of our neighbors can speak at least one of these languages.  But there are exceptions!  Last Saturday, the lawn service guy showed up at our gate, and this man knew no English at all.  When he had finished trimming our lawn and was hitching his weed whacker back up to his motorbike, I tried to pay him.

Well, I did pay him -- but probably too much.  I knew I wasn't in a good situation when I found myself standing outside my gate with my wallet open, pulling out 10-ringgit notes one by one and saying, "This much, or more?"  He didn't know the word "more", but he got the idea.  He finally held up four fingers so I paid him 40 ringgit.  I'm pretty sure that was a little steep, but I was in no place to argue.

After he drove away, I went inside, grabbed the English-Malay dictionary, and turned to the 'Numbers' section.  Satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima . . . .