Duck tape... a (woman's) best friend...

So a few weeks after I arrived here, the pipe in my shower started multiple leaks... hence sprays everywhere... so what do I do? Duck taped it. Then about a month ago the pipe from the toilet tank into the wall sprang a leak - no worries... duck tape to the rescue. Last night, I went to put a load of laundry into my washing maching... hmmm you guessed it.. the pipe that drains the water totally broke off. Water everywhere. Duck tape once again saves the day. What would I ever do without my blue duck tape?!!
(Note: duck tape WAS only a temporary solution.. The maintenance staff here at school are VERY good at coming and fixing household stuff! All it takes is putting in a request, and it gets done in a day or two.. Let's hope it's the same for the washing machine.. I'm running out of clean school clothes..)

Time for a few knocks..

Yesterday right after school, a bunch of us staff took off to go knock out some pewter! We went downtown to Georgetown to the pewter factory, where we were shown how pewter is made, and then got to make our pewter bowls! One of the things Malaysia is known for is its pewter. Pewter is a type of metal made of three different metals together - tin, copper and something else..(can't remember!) We all went into this room, got to don a fancy apron, and were instructed how to hammer out our own pewter bowls! It started off as a flat round piece of pewter, and from there we had to literally knock it into shape with a mallot! Talk about getting your frustrations for the week out!! It was quite a sound when we all got going! After "knocking it out", you file the edges down, and then polish it with a scouring pad! At the end we all got certificates for graduating from the "school of hard knocks"! All very fun:)

















After all our knocking, we decided to go for dinner at this thai restaurant, "Cherry Sweet"- mmmm! Thai green curry is still not my favourite, but pondon chicken and chicken with cashews definetely is on the top of my list!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For all those Canadians (or wannabe Canadians..) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Although it doesn't at all feel like it's Thanksgiving, given that everyone in Canada has the DAY OFF... there is no cool, crisp air, autumn leaves falling to the ground.. I can go on...! But it is good to be around at least a few Canadians this year to celebrate!
One of the staff organized a Thanksgiving meal at the hotel (next doorto the school) for all the Canadians.. It was a fantastic meal, better than last year I heard... See, it's hard for Malaysians to know what a traditional turkey dinner is all about and how to cook it! Apparently, in years past, instead of pumpkin pie, they made bits of pumpkin wrapped in filo pastry!! And last year the turkey wasn't even cooked through! It's like asking a westerner to cook a traditional Malay dish! We wouldn't have a clue! Thankfully, this year an ex-pat on the island (he's actually American) went in and helped out in the kitchen! (He used to be a chef) So yes, the turkey was done to perfection, the sweet potatos were awesome, and the pumpkin pie was ... actually pretty good! So, what am I thankful for? Wow, where do I start... Great friends here and abroad... a wonderful home.. here and abroad! And just knowing that I am in the right place - "for such a time as this."

I'll post some pics soon...