It's a HO HO HO night.

I meant to post this two weeks ago, but a move to another apartment, a short trip to Phuket, Thailand, and no internet for a week got in the way!

Alice Smith Christmas Bazaar

I was a bit worried the first hour and a half of the Bazaar.  My table was out of traffics way.  The person on the right of me even noticed that as well.  Oh poor me..

When David and Erik arrived I had only sold a few cards. I asked David if he would babysit my table while I made my rounds.  I spoke to a local artist and she asked me if I wanted to sell my cards at her shop in Damansara.  She also suggested a couple of galleries that would display my art work.  I have to say, the artist community is really great here in KL. I love they don't act as if you are their competition, but as fellow artists that are there to help out. It's wonderful. 

After I finished my big circle, watched kids run around the school,  and bought Erik his first Malaysian chicken sate with peanut sauce, I went back to my table and it was packed with people surrounding my art and chatting with David.  I believe it's David's good looks that attracted all those people and from now on I need to convince him to come with me every time!  The remainder of the evening continued to stay busy and I even saw a couple of my Gaelic Football mates. So all in all, I would say it was a successful night! 

The Shopping Cart

Moving.. It's a slow process. 

Inspiration and action

 "If only I had the sober ambition to follow through with my drunken ideas." -Anonymous (you know who you are! he he)

 In a small country town on a cool November night a brother and sister decide to catch up with a late night out of town. They drink beers at a local bar by the lake and play a few games of pool. The sister really tries her best to beat the brother but it's not her night. They play a few songs that remind them of the days of driving to High School together in their old pick-up truck. The night continues and they move on to the local Irish Pub. The bar is smokey. Tonight's juke-box music of choice is hard-rock.  It's a busy night and a group of college kids are playing a game of darts. The brother recognizes a group of old friends and they play fours.  The brother and sister beat the old friends and the sister is happy and asks the brother. Brother would you like to visit me sometime at my new home? The brother says "yes, I would really like that". The sister smiles and they continue their night out in that small country town.

And here we are two weeks later. Poor jet-lagged Erik has poison oak all over his body, but still makes an effort to smile for the camera. 

Malaysian-Indian lunch at Lucky Garden's. Dee-lish!

Minor Details

Yesterday I met up with our realtor, Adrian. He's been a great help since he found us an apartment the day before we left for The U.S.   Part of the handing over the keys process we had to look over every single item in our new place. It's a list of three pages long. It took us a while, and as I waited for Adrian to change the batteries to the A/C remote controls I discovered a few things that you might not notice at first sight.

Most Malaysian's don't have ovens in their homes. So, when they built our condominium they didn't realize that most foreigners do like to use their ovens. Pizza, duh!
Our owner obviously had to change this for his Western tenants a while back. The funny thing is that they obviously didn't care about details and just cut a square and stuck the oven in. As long as it works, right?

Then we got to the living room. On the list of items to check it said, blinds behind desk. I asked Adrian, "what do they mean with blinds behind desk? I don't see anything". He looks at me surprised and says, "blinds, you know, those things that open and close!" Like I'm stupid for not knowing what they are!  Then, after that comment, he decided to tell me there is an actual window behind the desk! I'm really lost on this one.

Finally, this really made my day. The largest and only ashtray I've ever seen in a kitchen! Maybe I can make use of it and put a plant in it? he he

Christmas Bazaar

 Alice Smith School Christmas Bazaar is coming up this friday and I'll be selling my cards and watercolor painting there. This is the same school where I also did a week long workshop. 

A room with a different view

Tomorrow we get the keys to our new apartment. It's not the fanciest of places, but I do like how it's closer to the ground and it feels very peaceful when you walk in. We will also be paying half of what have been, so the remaining money will go to our future dream-house piggy bank. 

 Living room

 Living room

Guest bedroom/ studio/ offices

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 Kitchen

Bedroom

The Return of Durian Delights

I can't believe it's been a year since our last post!

Yesterday morning David and I returned home to Malaysia from our lovely trip to Houston, Texas. My favorite highlights were tamale making day with the Kaisers, a 30 minute chat in the HEB cheese section with my sisters, long walks with Ma and my sweet dog Katie, Thanksgiving in the rain with 5+ different families, chicken soup at Oma's and Pumpkin cheese cake with my best friend.

Since David's work contract ends in 6 months I thought I would start up our blog again so we can share our dreams, another move to another apartment 15 floors down, and our list of places we still would like to visit while we are still here. Hope you enjoy!

-Kim