Ben and Sarah visit

Boy and daughter-to-be time--yay!

with friend on Beach Street, downtown Penang

At Tom's school

going up Penang Hill

Two peas in a pitcher plant pod

monitor lizards on the hike to Monkey beach

trying out some reflexology in a Penang park

Huh?

A new local favorite smile opportunity, a close second to    Wong School Bus:

Loh Child Specialist Clinic

And then there is this, a Japanese item for sale in Malaysian supermarkets:

Alopecia--a test from the universe

March 20:  Guy cutting my hair frowns and looks perplexed, looking at the back of my head.  I think it is because of my poor home dye job and I grin stupidly, and think—maybe next time I should have it done at a salon.

April 5:  I notice it the first time: a bald patch at the crown of my head on the right, an inch and a half or two inches in diameter. Horrors!  I mention it to T, who says he first noticed it a month ago. I am touched that he spared me a month of knowing.  And mindful that he no doubt dreaded experiencing my reaction to the news…

I decide that since I'm going bald I might as well go gray at the same time. The terrible chemicals can only exacerbate the problem. Most of my good friends, especially those in the States, don't color.  I've felt before that it would make me invisible, that strangers treat gray hairs with less interest.  Now I am ready.

Mid-May: Conscious realization of the now-familiar gesture of brushing a stray hair from my arm; pleasant surprise when tickle on the arm is a dangling thread rather than a hair.

The trials of trying to get it up from the floor! Sweeping, Swiftering, mopping—pesky truants still there, picking them up with difficulty off the tile floor by hand. Plucking them from the broom. Knowing the broom, swifter, mop will be full of them

End of May. I really can’t go out in public now without a barrette effecting a comb-over. Size of hairless patch is about 3” diameter.

Ah, vanity. 

Folding laundry, Tom’s socks have a couple of my hairs stuck to them, having made it through the wash and lighted there.

June 2. Catching a falling hair, knowing well how bothersome it can be to try and flick it into the trash or other receptacle, sometimes giving into temptation to fling it off the balcony. 

June 4.  I attend a presentation on medical Qi Gong and am very impressed. The treatment has shown much success with autoimmune conditions. I’m in! The Qi Gong master is in town for the opening of a Qi Gong clinic, and will see 20 patients the next day. I sign up.

June 5. First Qi Gong treatment. I abandon my barrette for the visit to Lam Wah Ee Hospital’s Chinese Medicine Center. I sit for the treatment, and close my eyes.  The healer moves energy around me, touching the base of my spine briefly. I start to cry.  Well, I am a cry-er.  It is emotion from the energy flow: the beauty and power of it, gratitude for his care, a jumble of other feelings that have been bottled up, releasing.  It lasts only 5 minutes or so but is powerful. After, I feel both relaxed and energized, and think I am sitting straighter, taller.  He recommends weekly treatments. I won’t be able to go back for two weeks because I will be busy with visitors, but I definitely want to continue.

June 6. I must be getting used to it, or maybe it’s the Qi Gong. I meet some new people and very early in the conversation bring up my decision to go gray AND my hair loss (Hi I’m Kristine and I have Alopecia). Well, it was a white-haired woman who shared her skin cancer details with me almost at once…

mid-June. Second Qi Gong session.  Same luscious feeling of energizing relaxation. I want to go back next week but they are full. Next opportunity: late July.

I learn that the insurance company will not cover my return trip to the dermatologist in a few weeks. it is considered a cosmetic issue.

The offending area about 4" diameter now.

Twin time in Penang

Brother Tim and wife Cathy stopped by to celebrate T&T's birthday.
we are getting the Penang tour down :-), discovering something new each time.

Penang street art

anchor, anyone? from the blacksmith shop

On one of the Clan jettys

on our balcony

Tom entertaining Cathy with card tricks

From the temple at Penang Hill

A really lovely birthday dinner at sunset on the beach, at Uncle Zack's in Batu Ferringgi. They went all out to make it special.

Great visit and east coast trip

This is long overdue...  The first in a string of recent visitors were our dear old friends, Greg and Laura, in April. We hit some of the Penang sights before heading east to the Perhentian Islands.

Friends in the jungle--hiking

At a Hindu temple atop Penang Hill

Cooling off in the pool waaaaaay down there

On Perhentian Island

Greg and Tom

In our flat

We hit two different east coast islands, Perhentian Besar and Pulau Kapas.  The snorkeling was incredibly good, just steps off the shore.  The Perhentian islands have a ban on fins, which is no doubt a contributing factor to reviving the marvelous coral beds there.  Too bad Kapas hasn't followed suit.  Your author managed to forgot to bring the camera which purports to be waterproof to 3 meters and would have provided some fab shots...Alas, we will simply have to come back. We snorkeled several times each day, seeing perhaps three dozen different species of fish.

dusky leaf monkey

Why is she smiling--her vest says "SHARK BAIT"

We hit the city of Kuala Terrenganu  inbetween the two islands.

Yummy food--many dishes unique to the east coast

Made a new convert to world's best drink (after coffee, that is, of course)

others,do not enter 

Squid jigging, anyone?

Milo Dinosaur (the drink!!)

Tidbits from Penang department stores

In either of the two sizable department stores in downtown Penang, it is not possible to buy a single/lone sheet. They only come in sets, with a fitted bottom sheet, a duvet (quilt) cover, and a pillow case.  Oh and in BOLD patterns.

In one store, the one rack of heavy coats for sale is, logically, in the travel department, next to the suitcases.

And seen at the supermarket:

tell it like it is

Labuan stop

On the way back to Penang from Borneo, we stopped over in Labuan, an island off the coast of Sabah (Borneo). Labuan is currently known for its offshore banking and duty free status, but we soon discovered its historical significance as well:  it is the site of the Japanese surrender of North Borneo to the British in 1945. Labuan was the gateway to Borneo and was strategically very important.

Labuan has an island feel, laid back.  There is not much for the tourist to do. It is quite unlike its much more touristy fellow duty-free island off the west coast of Malaysia--Langkawi, which has numerous resorts and a party vibe. Labuan is much more residential, with a substantial port. Two notable incongruencies are the two building high-rise financial center, and the low-rise slightly seedy bar area, frequented by sailors in port and folks from alcohol-free Brunei who want to let their hair down. Brunei/Borneo is only an hour long ferry ride away.

We took a minibus to the top of the island.  The features listed on the tourist bureau map for the northern half the island are: Surrender Point, Bird Park, and The Chimney. We chose the latter, which is variously claimed to be a remnant of the coal industry that first attracted British involvement in 1847, and simply a landmark for approaching ships. In any case Labuan coal did fuel the Royal Navy for years.

The Chimney

Meanwhile, back in Labuan town,

tastes kingly!

plaque  in a downtown square marks the "possession" of the island by the British in 1840. Another, nearby (sorry no photo) marks the passing of Japanese commanding general Maeda, who died in a 1942 air crash as he was coming to Labuan, and the renaming of the island in his memory.
Later it was un-renamed by the British following the Japanese surrender.




We chose a hotel listed by Lonely Planet as appealing to the low end business traveler. Our comfortable room is had a flat screen TV and minifridge. In the bathroom a modern shower, with a modern, wide shower head but also a large plastic bucket and scoop for those who prefer the more traditional Asian style splash bath.