Week 14-18: Home for the holidays, back for the water emergency

We felt incredibly blessed to be able to go home for the holidays this year. 

The Christmas leadup in Penang was fun though, and included a chance to polish up my HoHoHo for work-santa as well as wise-man skills before we left

Before we got on the plane the night before there was an impressive thunderstorm that just wouldn't quit. In retrospect it seems this was the last gasp of the rainy season that was in full swing in December - since we returned to Penang in January its been remarkably sunny and increasingly warm. I did a time lapse on the balcony to record the frequency of the lightning for the last storm on '23.

Our trip home took us through Singapore with a 5 hour layover - we'd passed through on on our arrival in September but didn't have enough time then to check out the architectural centerpiece they call the Jewel. It's pitched as the world's largest indoor waterfall. Also it's circle.

 The people-watching in the terraced indoor jungle and surrounding the waterfall was off the charts - maybe one of the most internationally represented location I've been to. Also these exotic people...

It extends several floors below - we had lunch with the waterfall behind our table running through a gigantic plastic funnel. We dug it.

Family time in Oregon was exactly what we needed. Refilling prescriptions and hitting up Costco for the things we were missing was also what was needed. After celebrating with family in Portland we headed to our place in LaPine on Christmas eve. The neighboring forest generously provided a tree which we decorated by the fire just like the carol says. 

Abbi and Zack whipped up some sugar cookies for Santa

All that was missing to really nail the perfect Christmas eve ambiance was a little snow on the ground - something we fully had expected in Oregon at 4000' elevation this time of year. We went to bed with zero.

And then - woke up to this in the backyard Christmas day. Perfection achieved.

The remainder of our time in Oregon was spent pretty low-key. I had hoped to get some time on the mountain but Mt Bachelor was advertising a 25" base of mostly ice. The week after we left they got 57" in 5 days. So that's on the list for next winter.

So we got in some hikes and other nature appreciation 

Also visited the last Blockbuster in Bend

Also saw this

And enjoyed New Years with the Lingmans, celebrating with games, pizza in the pizza oven, and the good luck lemon pigs

Penang island has a population of ~900k people, mostly clustered around the eastern coastline. 80% of the fresh water for the island is piped across from the mainland, 6 miles away. In mid December we learned that the primary valves on the pipeline were failing and needed to be replaced - meaning the island water supply would be shut off for 4 days for repairs. Remarkably, everyone here seemed to just take in in stride. 

Intel lined up tankers of water to support the factory

We followed the prevailing wisdom - buying bottled water, filling the tub etc. 

Portions of the island didn't see water for about 36 hours, but in the end, the combination of lots of people leaving the city and the reserve tank in our high rise meant we didn't feel any impact at all at our apartment.

Which left us free to introduce the city to our first house guest. Congrats to Abbi, who finished her bachelors in Wildlife Biology in December! We encouraged her to take advantage of this rare window between school and the working world to explore. And hang our with her parents a bit.

One of our first stops was the ghost museum in Georgetown. Don't go out of your way for this one. But it was good for a laugh

Followed up with dinner at one of our favorite spots that makes a killer mango salad and a buttermilk chicken dish served with mantua that are divine.

Finally, I'll leave you with this pic of a bench we came across on our walk thru the city. Which reinforces my belief that being a VIP is a title that is available to each one of us. Sometime we just need a reminder of how special we are. And a place to sit