Home Trip

We had a great time on our home leave trip. It was three weeks long, but we were running around so much it went by incredibly fast. We flew from Hong Kong to Denver, and spent the weekend there going to a pig roast with Leah and having fun with the parents at Water World. On Monday, Drew flew off to Philly and CT to spend the week working, while I went to Fort Collins to spend the week with my folks. 

Reunited at last!

The second week we both flew to MI, where we started the week off with the McGolf outing, a 9-hole golf tournament filled with family, friends, and fun. Needless to say, my practice in Penang didn't really pay off here, as I only go worse throughout the day, but we still had a blast. The McKays have been hosting this golf outing for 27 years! 

There were carnival like games along the way to keep things light and fun. The prize was Rumchata, a new liquor based on Horchata, the Spanish rice milk drink. Absolutely delicious and Leah's new favorite. 

I am trying to master Brian's waist high putter. 

After golf, everyone returns to the McKays for an evening of fried chicken and laughter. Got to see Drew's brother Adam too; he had just bought a new house!

The winners! Kelli and A Jay! Look at those lovely winners' jackets, a McGolf tradition. 

Another highlight from the MI trip was Drew's birthday. His cousin Emily works for the Athletic department in Alumni relations, so she was so nice and gave us a tour of the private UofM athletic facilities. Super cool, and Drew was in heaven. UofM has the most wins of any football program in the US, so they celebrated this by building a wall of footballs where each football represents a specific win in history, denoted with the opponent, date, score, and location. Pretty cool! 

They also have the program covers from every bowl game they have ever been to. 

We also got to see the weights and conditioning center for the basketball team. This is the area where the basketball team does plyometrics and practices jumping. They had to raise the roof in this area because the players were hitting their heads on it. Those two basketballs on the wall are the records to date, 12'3''. That's two feet above the basketball rim! I was just dreaming about what jumping that high would feel like. 

The Crisler Arena for basketball. Recently redone and fancy fancy. 

The tunnel leading into the Big House! Drew was awestruck. "Think about how many stars have been through here!"

The largest capacity stadium in the US! 109,901 people can fit in here, probably more. 

Saw the new baseball field. Funny enough, they had recently made the whole field turf, including the areas that are normally dirt. I thought this was interesting. It seems like it would give the home team a distinct advantage. Plus there is something about getting dirt on your uniform that I think is an essential part of the game. 

That evening we went out for a fantastic birthday dinner at The Lark, one of the nicest restaurants in MI. Boy was it incredible! A Hawaiian and Asian themed many course meal, it blew our socks off! Drew felt compelled to finish everyone's plates. 

Just look at that menu! 

During the middle of the week, my Uncle Ken was gracious enough to take us out for a boat ride along the Detroit river and into Lake St. Clair for a lovely afternoon. Talk about perfect MI summer weather! 

Third highlight of the MI trip was my cousin Crystal's wedding! What a beautiful bride she made! The wedding was held in Kalamazoo, located about half way between Chicago and Detroit. It was a cute town we'd never been to and fun to explore. There was a Kalamazoo Beer Exchange where the price of the beer was determined by the demand at the bar. Super fun and interesting! Once a night there would be a "Market Crash" where all prices would fall to $2-$3.

The happy couple!

Cousin picture!

For week three, we went back to Denver to each work in our respective offices. You know you're back in Colorado when you find the best home brewing set-up you've ever seen! 

One highlight from the Denver trip was going to see the Big Lebowski at Red Rocks. Talk about a fun time. You've never seen so many people dressed up in bathrobes drinking white Russians. 

We spent our final weekend in Fort Collins with the parents one more time. But, we will see them again soon as they are coming to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving, and Brian and Karen are coming out over Christmas! Yehaw! In Old Town they were having a classic car show. Dad was in heaven this time. 

1917 Fire trucks. 

One last cuddle session. 

And we got our nature fix going on a lovely hike up Tower Road near Horsetooth Reservoir. Nothing beats those Colorado skies! Rocky Mountain High.......

Penang, Malaysia

Before our trip back to the US, Drew and I were lucky enough to have to great Denver friends of ours (well, now they live in Lubbock TX, but that's besides the point) visit us out in Hong Kong. Evan, the husband, had a consulting gig with Intel in Penang, Malaysia, so they stopped by Hong Kong for a few days, and we got to show them around our splendid town. Then, the original plan was for us all to continue on to Penang together. We would only stay there for the weekend, while they would stay on longer so Evan could work. Due to a slight passport snafu, Dani wasn't able to come with us to Penang initially, but she joined Evan a few days later. 

Anyways, the first day in Penang we went to our hotel's sister resort which was outside the center of town and was much more beachy and family orientated. We began the day playing 9 holes of pitch and putt golf, which I must say is my favorite kind of golf! Drew smoked us, of course, but it was good practice for the McGolf outing in a few weeks! 

After our morning of golf, we went swimming in the nice pools and relaxed a bit. After a nap, I woke up to find Drew and Evan full tilt in a game of table tennis.

However, they were soon interrupted by two adorable British sisters who wanted to join in the fun. We couldn't resist playing along.

The following day, we toured around Georgetown, the cute city in which we were staying. Georgetown in renown for having great food, amazing street art, and a cool vibe. The city was built in a colonial style, which they have maintained to a moderate degree, so the city feels old and charming. This was breakfast, a similar dish to something we had in Singapore more than a year earlier called char kway teow. 

Malaysia, remember is a mix of Muslim Malays, Chinese Buddhists or Taoists, and Indian Hindus. So, you can see all kinds of temples around the city. 

The most memorable thing about Penang for me was the street art. There seemed to be a mural on every corner. 

One artist in particular, Ernest Zacharevic, has several murals around the city. They all capture the life of the people while taking advantage of the cool nature facade of the buildings themselves. This "Kids on Bicycle" one below is arguably his most famous one. He always uses a mix of paint and real objects. We made it a scavenger hunt to find all of this works scattered around the city. Some were really hidden away! 

Drew getting kicked in the face by Bruce Lee.

More food! We ate a ton of Indian and Malay on this trip. You know it's a local place when the stools look like they were stolen from a kindergarten classroom. 

This is a great example of a colonial building that has been well maintained. 

This was a famous house called the Blue Mansion because of the beautiful blue plaint used on much of the interior and exterior. It was built by a wealthy Chinese merchant and is a great representation of East meets West. It was built completely inline with feng shui but has Western features such as stained glass, tile floors, and bright chandeliers. 

This was our tour guide who reminded Drew much of his Grandma Pat. Witty, spunky, yet refined. :)

Had to try one more meal of Indian. This was at a very famous cafe, known for different meats cooked in a rich, tomatoey sauce. That evening we misjudged the amount of time needed to get to the airport, and we barely made our flight. Drew actually ran after the check-in lady who was leaving her counter for good, and persuaded her to come back and check us in since we didn't have any checked bags. Whew. Will never make that mistake again...