Okay the rest of the story from the day of 3 km. So we left the Ijen Crater in the morning and started our journey towards the coast of Java, where we would take the ferry across to Bali. We really had a good time with our new friend who we named Ben. As we neared our stop, we asked for some advice on where to visit and stay tonight in Bali. Patty really wanted to see the beaches and we would travel to Ubud the next day to visit some of the rural areas and culture. Most people who travel to Bali go to Kuta, but we were hoping to save that for the last days as it is near the airport, so he said a beautiful and less busy beach and area that we should visit is in Pekutatan. It sounded good to us and would be a great place to rest away from the crowds and tourists. So we went off towards the ferry with our map, some advice and a general idea of what we were going to do for the next couple of days. We were excited even though it was raining, because Bali has a reputation as a beautiful and romantic place. Finally, I was going to get it right and meet Patty's romantic expectations.

The ferry ride was around an hour long and quite peaceful, except for the numerous times people came to sell things or provide services for us. That is the one thing about Indonesia that can be a little overwhelming. There are always people hounding you to sell things (and it was only going to get worse in Bali). We docked with our two backpacks on, our windbreaker coats around our waist just in case it really started to rain as we had forgotten our umbrellas in China and our rolling suitcase trailing behind. Now to get a bus to Pekutatan. It should not be hard as all roads in Bali seemed to either loop around the top or bottom of the island (we wanted the bottom loop). it should not take long as my friend said Bali is only 25km long which was another misconception.

The bus station was not far away, so as we walked a number of people came to help us find the "right" bus. Oh Pekutatan, take this bus, so we lugged our bags up and onto the small bus and waited to leave. When they came around to sell tickets, ours cost 50,000 for the two of us which seemed quite high for such a short travel, especially when people going to the end of the line paid less, but maybe they were going to take us into the city or drop us off somewhere special. but it was only $5. It was at least cheaper than the people who tried to sell us tickets aboard the ferry and they did not even know where Pekutatan was either.

So the journey began and it continued to rain as we picked up additional passengers until everyone was stacked in snuggly with packages and bags piled in the aisle. The rain got stronger and stronger as we went on, which wasn't much of a worry since we were being dropped off in a town. We would find a hotel by the ocean and wait out the rain to enjoy the beach at night, maybe even catch the sunset. All of those thoughts seem to be erased when they stopped the bus and pointed at us--Pekutatan. From the fogged up windows I could not see many houses and it was now pouring. I stepped off the bus into a river racing down the road with my big camping backpack on my back and holding our carryon suitcase above the flowinng water.

Something was wrong, this could not be the town we wanted to visit, because this was not a town at all but just two houses. We saw an overhang with an older couple huddled under it and thought this was a worthwhile option for the time being. Maybe the rain would stop soon and we could find where we were really supposed to be--so much for the extra money we paid them. After a few minutes of disbelief and questioning of our initial plan, we asked the couple--Pekutatan?? pointing at the area we were huddled in. After lots of blank stares and them looking at our now drenched paper with the name on it, they pointed over a hill and signaled with their hands that we needed to go over two hills and we would be there. As the rain did not seem to be slowing or stopping anytime soon, we decided to put the liner on the camping backpack and head out into the pouring rain. We put on our windbreakers as that was our only defense against the rain and headed towards the hills and Pekutatan. I reassured Patty that it would not be too far, only two hills and we could get a nice hotel, if there were any there.

So we crossed the river forming along the roads edges and headed up the first hill and found as we expected another hill in the distance, this was not going to be all that long of a walk after all. We mounted the second hill, now totally soaked, with anticipation and found yet another hill in the distance. Maybe I got his symbols wrong and he meant three hills or it could be many, many hills before we get to Pekutatan. This was unnerving--hopefully we were going in the right direction. As we made it up the third hill, we had a chance to find out as people came up wondering what we were doing and where we were going. I said Pekutatan expecting them to say it is very near or just over the hill, but they looked at me in disbelief as though they did not know Pekutatan. Were we in the right place, did the bus driver just let us off in a random place and say good luck. What a raw deal and horrible way to treat the foreigners!! We were used to all kinds of traveling problems in China, but we were not in China anymore. We did not know where we were and my Bahasa was quite limited to small talk and the numbers for bartering.

So as we saw a sign that pointed to a spa and resort, we decided to go towards it, even if the sign said that it was 3 km away. We walked 3 km this morning straight up a mountain so this could not be so bad and we were already soaked anyway. Couldn't get anymore wet, so off we went towards Puri Dejuma Resort. We were soon joined in our journey by a group of three women traveling home from working in the fields. Between them, they had an umbrella, a banana leaf, and a hat to keep them from getting wet. The banana leaf seemed to be doing the best job, so as we traveled along, I found a huge leaf and tied it atop the rolling suitcase to protect it to which the women got a big laugh. We asked them about Pekutatan and they pointed that this is Pekutatan. What?? All I saw was a road that seemed to go on forever and a few houses strewn around it. I sure hope this is not right, because nothing here resembles a hotel but the homemade houses of the farmers.

As we came to the houses, it was as though we were the main attraction in a parade, as all of the kids and people stopped what they were doing to say hello. Many of them were out taking showers in the rain so it was a big awkward and Patty stopped to rest next to a cow who looked at her with the same question that was on everyone's mind--what are you doing out in the rain?? The cow looked so perplexed by us as it hid under its palm tree. It brought a laugh from our rather somber walk. After if felt like we had traveled our 3 km, we had our next encounter, a man and his family who came out to see us as we were traveling by. He was a teacher and his English was pretty good, so he gave us all kinds of advice and wanted to take us by motorbike to a hotel. At last, we asked about a hotel and he said it was 3 more kilometers away. Seeing that there was no way we could all fit on the motorbike with all of our bags and Patty did not want to go alone, we decided to continue walking. But 3 more km, ahh!!

We rounded a corner and for the first time we could see the ocean. I was sure that if we could see the ocean, we could find a hotel. So I ran down the dirt road towards the ocean as Patty waited...nothing but a quaint farmhouse and more children excited to see foregners and use their one word of English, hello. So continued on and came to a break a break in the road, two ways to go. So I went and asked a woman, pointing in the direction I thought was right, Pekutatan?? She shook her head and I felt good about being able to find the right way, until we traveled down this road for another eternity. Then I remembered one of the cultural practices common in Asia, if people do not know the answer or do not understand they will always say yes to save face for you. Were we actually going the wrong direction again?? This was turning out to be a mess-we needed to get a hotel and we were now quite tired. I was trying to tell jokes to keep a good atmosphere, but we were ready to be done walking.

Then we saw it, the sign for Puri Dejuma Resort and I joked with Patty that it said 3 more km, but it was only one more km ahead. We were almost there so it seemed and made it to the next sign for 700 m more and we could finally see the resort. It was like a dream, a romantic oasis with palm trees and beautiful bungalows beside the ocean. Patty became afraid that they either would not have any rooms or it would be so expensive that we would go elsewhere, but in truth they could have charged anything and I would have said okay. The people met us as though we were the only people there and asked how we were...we felt like drowned rats. They wondered if we came by motorbike, nope, walked. How far was their last question, 1 km?? Nope, at least five. They were so confused why and how we made it there and we told a little of the story and they said we will make a special deal for you. I looked at the prices and they were in Euros 104 for a deluxe room and 114 for the best ocean front room. Only later would I understand the conversions, that is about 1.5 million rupiahs, but they said they would give us the best room for 650,000 rupiahs less than half. Patty was beaming when I said yes. This would be the honeymoon she always imagined. It appears that I accidentally made this romance thing happen after-all.

Our room was amazing with everything that a woman thinks of in a fairy tale plus more, the four-post bed, bath with flower petals, a porch where we drank tea together overlooking the ocean, and an outdoor garden shower. What an amazing place. We set out all of our clothes which were drenched, even with the leaf as a protection. Our moods were instantly elevated and we were at peace. They had umbrellas and we walked along the beach, had supper overlooking the ocean but it was too cloudy to see the sunset. We went to bed early thinking about taking a tour tomorrow to see the butterfly garden, orchid garden, the rural areas a tree top walk and some other places and ending up in Ubud. This was going to work out afterall and we had a great walk in the rain, right?? Patty said never again, next time we will plan it all out to make sure something like this does not happen. But she liked the outcome of the unplanned romantic day. Maybe not planning can be a better way to travel because you get unexpected blessings and adventures.

Here are some pictures of the Ijen Crater in East Java Indonesia. The workers make two treks, two miles up each time, then carry their load of sulfur down the steep path each day. Each worker carries about 70-90 kg per trip. They are paid 600 rupiah (6 cents) for each kg and about $8 per day after two trips. Many of them are also farmers so this is only their morning work. Walking through the noctuous gases of sulfuric acid twice up and twice down.

So after the bust of Valentines Day, I had another chance the next day going to one of the most romantic places (the honey moon capital of Bali). I would title this day the day of 3 kilometers. We had a second chance at the sunrise thing, this time at a place that many people recommended, Ijen Crater, a volcano with an acid lake that people carry baskets of sulfur from. So we got up early again and took a much shorter drive through the rainforest to the crater. It was a beautiful day and we arrived about the time the sunrise was coming, so nice. We started the hike up after seeing the sign that read 3km. That is not too bad, 1.8 miles in the early morning on a path. We started our leisurely stroll with the vibrant colors around us and the mystic mountains in a thin veil of fog and there seemed like nothing that could deter this day.

Birds were chirping and we talked and walked uphill for quite some time and I was sure we were almost there--Patty was ready to say this is good enough let's go back. I reassured her, we were almost there. Along the way, we encountered many men carrying their containers of sulfur down the path (90 kg or so). Each asked the same questions, photo? buy some sulfur? cigarattes, where you from? etc. Did we get up this early to walk to my death was her next comment. I reassured, I am sure it is just over that hill. We made it to the top and yet more hills straight upwards. Finally we made it to an exposed area where you could see straight down the mountain and the only thing that saved her from giving up was that we could see a lodge with workers from the mine. This definitely must be it, so we strode with purpose towards it only to be shown another path that led up another mountain. Was this going to be worth it, if it was only another crater that smelled like sulfur? We had made it so far already so we continued onwards with reluctance and that reluctance turned to dismay as we almost got there.

The first wave of sulfur gases steamed out of the crater and almost knocked us off the mountain. We had not brought a scarf or anything to cover our faces, though we had tried. We bartered with a woman in the market for a 10 cent piece of fabric that she wanted $5 for--I almost died but her friends had a great laugh as we bartered back and forth in Bahasa Indonesian. I always make it a point to learn the numbers in each language just for shopping purposes. So we were only with our shirts hiked up over our mouths and noses trying to endure this horrid smell that instantly gave you a headache and seemed to burn your nose, eyes and exposed skin. But these men do this everyday, so not to be outdone I decided to do it. I was going to go out into the fog and go down to the bottom of the crater. Patty stayed back to watch out for me and worry.

There was reason to worry, as the path across was very narrow and went straight down into the acid lake on one side and off the top of the mountain on the other. Most of this journey across was done in white out conditions (not snow as I am accustomed) but with gagging sulfuric acid fog. Luckily I could follow the men with baskets who knew the path well and made it across to the entrance to the pit of sulfur. From there the walk down was on rocks that seemed to be half-hazardously placed and made me feel like I was going to slip all the way down. Along the way, the fog cleared at times and I was able to see the most spectacular sights of the crater walls, the blueish acid lake and all of the people working virtually right next to the lake of acid. I was going to make it.

As I walked through the fog again, I heard someone call out in abnormally good English, where are you from? I looked around and saw another foreigner and said America and we started talking about travels, which changed to geology and the mud volcanoes in Surabaya and we talked for quite some time until I remembered Patty atop likely worrying about my death in the crater lake. So I continued downwards until there was a ledge and took some pictures, but by now I was sure it had been over an hour and this was supposed to romantic time together, so I headed back. Maybe she had passed out from the noctous gasses, so I rushed up the paths and ran across the narrow pathway and there she was taking and being part of numerous pictures with strangers. One of the tasks of being a foreigner in Asia, many people want you to be in their pictures. At about that time, we found the sign for elevation 3200m (2 miles high). We had walked the entire path uphill.

Surely the path downhill would be much easier and faster. The weather got warmer and the sulfur fog got stronger as we walked down, but we could walk easily downhill. About halfway down, a woman with her infant child tied on her waist grabbed ahold of Patty's hand as we walked past. This started another of the interesting conversations with a little language knowledge on both of our parts. Good thing Esther and Judy had taught me a little Bahasa, so we talked with a little of her language and her little English. She was from Java and her name was Sri from an Indian family though Muslim as a majority of those in Java are. It was a fun, slow walk down but full of blessings unexpected. Her daughter was the cutest thing, so we got a picture together and we gave her our information so maybe she will contact us again. Always fun to meet people along the journey. Maybe today would indeed be better than the Valentines Day fiasco...but it was still only 9 am. Bali was next and that certainly could not disappoint. I will finish the day of 3 kilometers in the next blog--it is a long day, and definitely unexpected.

Valentines Day is supposed to be a day that is full of romance. So this year while we were traveling to Indonesia, I thought i would do something romantic. Usually, Valentines Day means a supper and something made to show our year (no flowers because she doesn't like the unoriginality). This year, we were traveling to Indonesia, so I thought that I would make this something unforgettable. We were leaving Blitar and got a hotel in Malang the night before, so we were very close to Mt. Bromo known for its breath-taking, spectacular sunrises. The only catch is that we must get up at 1 am to make the drive. Our excitement and expectation the night before was unbelievable, so much so that we did not want to go to bed.

So with only a couple hours of sleep, we got up, packed and got into our cab ready to see the spectacular sunrise over Mount Bromo. In the darkness, the only buzz was from street workers and farmers setting up and getting ready for work, but the roads were empty but curvy. I was nearby sick by the time we arrived and it had started to rain. When we got out of the car, there were people everywhere trying to rent us raincoats and heavy coats (I am glad I didn't wear shorts, even though this was Indonesia). We waited with hundreds of other foreigners looking at the foggy and rainy sky, hoping to see a break in the sky and the miraculous sunrise. I had the camera ready and waiting and time was going so slowly in the tiredness of the early morning. I waited and took pictures of trees and my wife and waited; the sky grew brighter and the clouds started to separate, and what did we see but more clouds and fog. It was a bust!! We woke up early and got to see the miraculous Mt. Bromo fog blanketing the valley and covering the mountain. Maybe the rest of the day would go better...

So we traveled onto the second part of Valentines Day trip. We traveled by van to the foot of Mt. Bromo to travel up to the crater on horseback. I knew how much my wife loves horseback riding, so there was no way this could fail. When we made it down to the bottom of the valley, the fog started to open up and we could see the mountains around. This day was going to pan out okay after all. We arrived and we found our horses and headed out on the black sands of the volcano following a stream of other riders to the center of the foggy area. The horses are usually led by their masters, but mine was quite tired so let me go running off--it kept feeling like the saddle was going to come flying off over the bumps while my we climbed the hill. Patty came up slowly led by her horse leading elderly man of the mountain as he appeared. I thought she would be discouraged but she was excited as we dismounted and headed towards the stairs to the top. That's when it happened...

The fog started to come towards us and the realization hit me...this is an active volcano and the steam comes with one of the most powerful scents known to man (well, it compares well to durian)...sulfur. After the cloud engulfed us, Patty was nearly falling down the path we just traveled up and feeling like she was ready to throw up. I was bound and determined to see the crater, so I "encouraged" her to come up the stairs. Halfway up, phase number two of the sulfur fog that burns your nose hairs off sent Patty into another coughing storm. As I encouraged more, I took another step and she did not. I continued and she did not. She did not want to go any more. I was not going to stop now, so I continued up to the mouth of the sulfur spewing abyss. It was horrid to stand the smell, but it all became worthwhile when everything cleared up and you could see the whole crater. An amazing sight, but Patty missed it. I walked down to meet her doubled over on the stairs waiting. Part two of the romantic day had been pretty much a failure. She kept thinking her tiny horse was going to die, so the horseback ride was not quite as exciting. We got back into the van and headed out for yet another part of romance central.

The next part was the drive through the rest of the park, where we got a chance to visit with some of the farmers in the villages, stop at a market to buy some rambuton and another fruit called salay, which looked and felt like snake skin and tasted very sweet. We then continued traveling through the rainforest, which did what it does best rain. Our destination was a stay at a coffee plantation near the rainforest. What we did not know was that it would take endless hours through roads that should not be called roads trying to miss all of the other traffic around the corners. We finally arrived totally tired and ready to sleep, but wanted to enjoy the last attempt at a romantic day.

When we finally arrived it was just before getting dark, so we thought we would go explore the village area. The children instantly ran towards us yelling for pens. We brought out one thinking they wanted us to write something but they took it and asked for more. Not quite like the children who crowd around us looking for pictures or to call us laowai and laugh. We walked towards the bamboo buildings following several people with towels and buckets. Only when we got down the hill did we find out the reason...all of them were taking baths in the steam as men walked out naked. So we diverted our path towards the goats. That path ended up being filled with smoke, so our walk ended prematurely as there was no comfort in walking any other direction, especially towards the naked people again. We headed back to our room, ate food and went to bed. Not quite the Valentines day of romance I expected, but maybe the next day and our trip to Bali would be better. It is supposed to be the honeymoon place.

Okay finally we will write about our experience visiting our Compassion child in Indonesia. What a great experience and something we never thought we would get a chance to do!! So we made our successful 8 hour bus ride to Blitar (told it would be 3), found our room, and met the staff workers who would take us to the village the next day. Great guys (Deni and Yohannes).

The next morning we went out to look around and find some food--getting some Indonesian food that we never ate because it turned out breakfast was supplied with our room. The travel to Wlingi was very interesting and we arrived at the project to meet all of those working and serving there. Their hearts and passion for the children is amazing and we were blessed to see and hear about their work. Then we got to meet Siska, boy has she grown since the last picture we have received. We will post pictures when we get back. Then we traveled to her house to meet her whole family. They live in a simple rural house with brick and plaster walls and the only pictures on the wall were enlarged pictures we sent years ago (it has been 5 years of supporting and corresponding. Her father and mother are workers and she has a brother. They raise chickens to sell at the market and were super friendly. We had a chance to try rambutons (a kind of fruit). Very good!! We later got a bouquet of them.

We shared some pictures of friends and our life in America and China and prayed and talked to them before returning for lunch and then the weekly gathering of children from the project. They worshiped in Bahasa which was amazing and we shared a little because we were told we are the only people to visit this project in all the years. Such amazing children and such an experience that we will not forget, but it was oh so short. We also started out towards going to visit another project nearby but our vehicle broke down. So many feelings and thoughts that are hard to put into words. We are now preparing to head back to China to visit some students and then back to the college for school starting. Many blessings!!

Traveling, traveling, traveling. One would think you could do it forever, but the more we do of it, the more we miss being home and back to a simple life with one or two places to go. But boy have there been the adventures and blessings. Even though it has been a week since our time in Malaysia, I should recap some of what happened...it would take too many pages to do everything (sorry I am long winded). The easiest way to sum it up is by the un-expected blessings.

1. Getting ahold of people and getting things set-up. We went in with no plans just a list of people we wanted to meet and telephone numbers (some wrong we found out). We were able to meet everyone on our list plus so many more. At one time, we had a fiasco because we were expected to wait at the train station until 8pm from noon for a friend to come after work (but we ended up un-expectedly running into some friends from near our city in China (what's the chance of that!!).

2.Chinese New Year with Sherry's family. What an amazing group of people!! We especially enjoyed meeting her Uncle Michael and hearing about the opportunities of sharing faith with the Orang Asli (native people) and hearing about the history of God's work in Malaysia. Lots of good food and fellowship too!!

3. Staying with our friends/family Kok Kiang and Soo Hui. We are so blessed by them. We miss them already and had a chance to see how Clarence (3 years old) has grown and encourage them in the ongoing battle of raising a child and relationships. They also were a great encouragement to us. It was fun to share and hear about their lives and to keep up with them.

4. Visiting Desa Alma Jireh Orphanage again. It was such a great experience to go back and see the kids from 3 years ago. We were surprised to see how many remembered us and how many we remembered. To hear how many have been baptised and professed faith in Jesus is amazing. We were blessed to see their new center and how lives are changing and they are growing. Our hearts are very much still with the kids and their challenges and passions.

5. Visiting the Yap family. It has been six years since I first met and stayed with the Yap family. Oh, how they have changed and grown. Their three kids, Philip, Esther and Judy are growing and looking more and more like their parents. They have become so mature. We enjoyed going biking with them (except when Patty tried to ride on the same bike as me (she screamed the whole way). We played lots of Mah Jong and Esther taught me some Bahasa Malay. It came in handy in Indonesia some. Oh, how God has blessed and brought transformations through Frankie's outreach to the homeless and lonely.

6.Going to a church service. It has been ages since we have been able to go to church, becuase there are no churches as understood in America. We went with the Yap family and to be able to worship and meet so many old friends and new ones was great. We even met your twin Amy Moreland, but with four children.

7. Meeting the pastor and his family (Esther, Eunice, Michael, etc.). To see how God is working in and through them is amazing. It is illegal in Malaysia for Muslims to become Christians and they told of a story of a woman who asked to know more even though it meant losing her children, husband, home and going to prison. We loved their family so much.

8. Going to Rawang again. The first time I visited, I spent most of my time at the church in Rawang and it was great to be able to go back and see how the Father is working there and to share with them and be encouraged in our work. We also got together with some youth friends and Karen and her soon to be husband.

9. Seeing Cap and her family. They were our saviors the first day when we were stuck in the train station and we were guided to safety at their house. She is a great friend that I pray will be blessed in amazing ways.

10. Having a WSU reunion of sorts with WAihon, back in Malaysia for the time being and Cap, Sharon Lau, Kok kiang and soo hui, and us. It was good to hear how people are doing and growing and to remenisce about old times.

Boy do we have the story for you from Indonesia. We have been enjoying it but there have been oh so many unexpected things...blessings too of course. We pray that your life will be blessed through expected and unexpected events and that you will hold firmly to the solid rock and hope found in Jesus.

We have arrived in Indonesia. What an adventure to say the least!! We got up early to take the train and a bus to the airport in KL (kuala lumpur), and found that it was once again super crowded. We had our three bags and had to push our way on and were crammed in, but only for three stops this time. The rest of the travel was good, and we made it to our AirAsia flight, very cheap to Indonesia. We did not know what to expect and did not have anyone to meet us and little knowledge of the country.

We arrived and found that the time was one hour different, and that we had to exchange money--we became millionaires because of the exchange rate. We found the bus to the bus station and got on board to sit around for a long time, and were crammed into the bus with many others (we would learn more about cramming later). The trip was very short for 30,000 Rupiahs. At the train station we got our first real Indonesian experience. There were people everywhere trying to sell almost everything and get us to take their taxi. We went to a counter to sell tickets and the man said 400 and I thought 400,000 with the currency difference and he kept saying no.

We finally found our bus and heaped our bags next to us and waited to leave. The bus filled up full and there were dozens of people trying to sell all kinds of things, from drinks to food stuffs and we were off. Along the road, people got on at different times (some playing guitar or singing songs or selling things). Along the road there were people selling things from car to car and doing whatever to make money. It was a surreal experience!! The trip was a long one and very warm. The bus had no air conditioning and people crammed in everywhere. It felt like we would pass out at times but the entertainment was really fun. It took us about 8 hours to make the trip that we heard was only three hours. We did meet a man from Blitar, our intended place who lived in the US and he helped us find the right place to get off. The bus man dropped us off with our bags beside the road and we got into the rickshaw bike and gave them directions and we were off to the hotel. We did not really know where we were going but thankfully arrived there in 25 minutes.

We met our friend at the hotel but did not recognize them as they were carrying durian (the king of the fruits). We were excited to be able to meet our compassion child in the morning. It has now ended and has been a great experience and one that we will not forget anytime soon. What a blessing and what a great group of people. We will talk more about that later!!

Hello again!! It has been a long, but very inspiring and blessed time since our last blog. We have been in Malaysia visiting friends, but last week was Chinese New Year, so we packed enough clothes for 5 days of traveling to Melaka and Penang and have not returned yet to our friends (going on 11 days now). We will try to sum up some of the great experiences and blessings from our time of traveling. If you are wondering, we have indeed washed our clothes during this time or we would be super smelly (the weather is super hot).

So we got up early on Monday to make our travel to Melaka with our friend Sherry Tan to find out that it would be several hours before we would leave. Her family is amazing--some of the friendliest people. We rode in one of the two cars through the holiday traffic and arrived at a house full of people (her relatives on her mothers side). Usually, we feel like the outsiders as everyone speaks Chinese or another language, but we were happy to find everyone speaks very fluent English and that they love to travel (more than we do). We learned a lot about her whole family, through pictures stories, talking and lots of laughs.

Some things we learned about Chinese New Year: they have a reunion dinner where the family gets together the night before the new year, with lots of symbolic foods (long noodles for prosperity), a salad that everyone stirs together and sends blessings (yee sang), prawns, and so many others.People put out dozens of kinds of snacks for their family and friends to visit them throughout the 15 day holiday. The price of all things goes up, but you get to try all kinds of specialty foods. We enjoyed all kinds of special things in Melaka. It is the key to the history of Malaysia. It dates back to the Portuguese in the 1600's, then the Dutch who took over later and the British. So there are all kinds of famous churches, one devoted to St. Francis Xavier who was the initial M to Malaysia and also to some parts of Japan. Also a variety of houses and food, the long houses from the Dutch (taxes based upon the length of the front, so small front and long building, british schools and Portuguese settlements of fishermen.

We learned a lot about the Chinese culture from our special guide, Sherry's uncle: Uncle Michael who is a historian in the church and city. His family moved to East Malaysia several hundred years ago from China to escape persecution and most of the Chinese inter-married with locals to make Nyonya (mixed culture). They have retained most of their culture but lost the language mostly. I think I could write pages about my love for the variety of foods here in Malaysia...I love it. The weather has stuck to tradition, no rain for Chinese New Year, so that was nice. We were able to enjoy days of traveling and will write later about our time in Penang, a historical and beautiful island in the NW of Malaysia.

We have a few more days here in Malaysia before heading to Indonesia and then to visit students in China before returning for schools start on the 2nd of March. What a great long break, but we miss our students and Patty our puppy.