A letter from a 4 year old niece anda 16 month old nephew

Yesterday I received a brown envelope in the mail. I opened it and inside it there are 3 separate letters. One from my sister in law saying that my niece has been pestering her to mail her letter. Another is a letter from my 4 year old niece, saying that she enjoyed having me and Aunt Debbie and missing us. She said, there were six in the house now there are only four and she likes having 6 people. In the same envelope, my 16 months old nephew colored and scratched for what I like to think expressing his feeling missing us.
Of course I missed them as well, only those pictures of them and my family in my computer menjadi penawar rindu.

Selingan

When i returned home I checked on my family, namely my dogs and my chicken and guineas. They were doing good, and well disciplined. went into their coop right on the dot at 6:30 pm or hang around the coop by 6 pm. My dogs wagged their tails like they were going to take off. I love them I love those animals which I know sorely missed me.

However, i observed, there were no eggs in the egg cubicles. Perhaps the chicken missed me so much that they did not lay eggs any more. The next day I understood why they did not lay their eggs in their respective cubicles. There were 2 big black snakes curled up there enjoying a big meal. These snakes were smart, they came just after noon when the chicken had laid their eggs. Well, i guess that was the snakes' last meal. Now I have eggs again. Of course there are some chicks that feel more comfortable laying under my steps, in the garage, on Bill's backhoe seats on the boat etc.

here is how you check your eggs

Can You eat that egg?

If not sure you ought-er
then place it in water
if it lies on it's side
then it's fresh, eat with pride

After three or four days
at an angle it lays
But, it still is a treat
so go ahead and eat

ten days, stands on end,
in your baking it will blend
'Cause it's definitely edible
in your baking incredible

But if it floats on the surface
that egg serves no purpose
'Cause a floater's a stinker
Out the back door best fling ever.

Friends came visiting

I arrived on Wednesday 22nd August after a very tiring journey. We had to go through customs because we declared we have food in our baggage. Debbie had to open her baggage because she had limau kasturi with her which was a no no in CA. I asked to follow her since she was traveling with me. My bags were not opened but had to go through the scan again.

Bill was waiting for me at Will Roger's world airport but at a different exit. Had to wait for him to come searching for me. That took almost 30 minutes after the baggage.

Was happy to reach home and put my head on the pillow for the night. Thought I was over with jetlag, but of course not. sleepy at the wrong time of the day.

The next day went to town and when i returned Bill said our friend from Phoenix are arriving ahead of schedule. They were at some ranch vacationing and decided to hit the road earlier. Well, I had to hide my opened baggage somewhere and straightenen out my little house to welcome them. I had also had to put up my Jalur Gemilang and Bendera Pulau Pinang to welcome my friends.

They arrived monday and the next day we went fishing. We had a small catch and i hope they enjoyed their stay at my place.

Pulau Jerjak

Two days after arriving in Pulau Pinang, we went to Pulau Jerjak Resort and Spa. Pulau Jerjak which was once a Leper sanctuary, a quarantine post and a detention camp is now a resort and spa. The place is nice but needs a lot of improvement. There is no real beach except the one that was constructed by the resort.

We booked an adventure package that includes, the swing bridge, the trail, the ride to the old prison site, the rock climbing and the paint ball fight. So, these two middle aged ladies were all geared up for the adventure package. After scouting the area and the "adventure sites", nothing matched the Taman negara. So we decided instead to do the trail. We wanted to go the first evening we were there but we were told that the pre war landrover was broke. Then we postphone the next morning, it was still broke. Then the next morning we insisted we wanted to go. The sports dept of the Resort sent 2 young guides with first aid kits and map etc to go with us. That was after we heard this conversation on the walkie talkie "Pompuan dua org ni nak pi jugak" tak tau matsalleh ni depa nak pi jugak". I wanted to laugh but kept cool. Luckily they did not say "pompuan tua".The land rover was ok then and we took the land rover instead of walking in the humid weather.

The food was ok but the price is a little bit too high. We enjoyed the buffet dinner at RM42 a piece and we ended up stuffing our faces with rojak buah. One night we told the restaurant manager that we paid for the buffet because we wanted to eat the rojak, so he had our dinner bill down to RM10 each. That was very nice of him.

The Resort faces Penang island and it is a fantastic view. Ferry/boat trips to the island is very frequent. If one wants to shop at the mall such as the Queensbay Mall one can take the 10 minutes ride and shopped the kilometer long mall.

I had a good time there swimming in the purple pool on top of the hill near the spa watching air planes landing and taking off. The pool on top of the hill is attached to the spa complex. there is also the jacuzzi, the massage hut and a restaurant.

I enjoyed so much there that i had this idea of having all my family down for a get together. All my sisters and nephews and in laws came to join us the next day. We rented 3 chalets to fit all of us. One chalet (executive) costs RM400 a night and has 2 large bedroom and a big lounge.
That night we had a Tahlil in one of the chalets with my youngest sister's husband as the imam.

Since our chalets were on top of the hill near the spa, we had all the facilities to ourselves. The swimming pool, the jacuzzi and the restaurant. We even had the karaoke hall to ourselves. The dinner was costly and came a little late. The service was slow and the kids were hungry. But we allhad a good time.