We Moved and Other Things

So, somehow it’s been a month and a bit. Jill started teaching. We moved into a real apartment. We bought furnishings, well, we are not finished buying furnishings. The weather hasn’t been as rainy or typhoony lately but there is a typhoon scheduled to affect us on Saturday. I’ve settled in here, I study Chinese and Cantonese everyday or so. I make Jill supper when she doesn’t want to cook.… Read the rest

Hungry Ghost Festival

The other day a tiny-house-sized object appeared in the park we can see from our window. It looked officially sanctioned with a fence around it. We went for an evening walk and discovered a bamboo scaffold set up on the neighborhood soccer court. the scaffold wasn’t for a construction project, it created a stage and a whole court of spaces. On the stage were brightly colored dancers and singers making a lot of racket, no sorry, Chinese opera music, Screechy, trilly, unintelligible, gong-punctuated songs.… Read the rest

Settling in to Our New Space

March 7 2020 Malaysia has a total of 93 cases so far.

March 5, 2020 It was the final day in our little airbnb condo. The next day we move to the big beautiful cave like ground floor apartment. We spent the 5th walking around the neighborhood, tasting mangoes, preparing for my new job, and preparing to move. 

After we got into our new house I set up my studio in one extra bedroom and then moved into the next extra bedroom because it had better lighting.… Read the rest

We Go Up a Hill and Back Down Again

Written on November 18, 2021

March 4, 2020: Covid situation China has 80,270 cases, Malaysia has 50 cases, and the USA has 159 [Wikipedia]

Well what are we going to do now. Would we get this new apartment, how would the internet be, when were we going back to Shenzhen. We were in another wait-and-see pattern. Of course, it was time to follow our friends’ advice and go to Penang Hill and the A&W fast food restaurant there.… Read the rest

Going with the Flow

November 16, 2021 Blog

March 1, 2020 COVID: The USA confirmed the second death (CNN). Malaysia nfow had 29 confirmed cases (Malaysian National News Agency).

I was thinking about things. We weren’t comfortable going back to China on March 6. We trusted Jill’s school’s recommendation more than my school’s. Therefore, it might be a while before we could return.… Read the rest

What Will Tomorrow Bring

November 15 Blog

Well it’s been a bit. I finally have some time on my hands. 

On February 29, 2020, the USA confirmed it’s first death from COVID-19. 37 countries confirmed a first case of COVID-19 in February. [Wikipedia]

In my last post I said that we were moving into a condo. We booked it for a week because the current plan was to return to China on March 6. … Read the rest

What Happened to Plan B?

Written on August 6, 2021

I’ve been busy lately so I apologize about the lack of updates. I’ll try to keep updating this irregularly for a month or so, then maybe I can get in a predictable routine again. This is a short summary of our first week (Feb. 23-28, 2020) in Penang, Malaysia at a hotel.

Covid-19: By 28 February, the USA had 66 confirmed cases.… Read the rest

Hello Malaysia

Written on July 19, 2021

COVID-19: February 21 and 22, 2020, South Korea reported a second death. Cases were still slowly rising around the globe. Singapore had 86 cases but Malaysia still seemed relatively safe to us. [Wikipedia]

It was Friday, February 21, 2020. We arrived in Penang, Malaysia extremely excited to visit George Town, the UNESCO World Heritage site and former British colony.… Read the rest