O'Neals in Penang: Pinang Peranakan Mansion Tour

July 21, 2010

We also took a tour of Pinang Peranakan Mansion where a beautiful "Nonya" gave us a tour. A Nonya is what Malays call a descendant of a Chinese merchant who married a Malay after they moved here in the 1800's. A whole sub-culture developed out of the Nonyas, with amazing food both spicy Malay and Chinese, combined.

We saw an old, restored mansion that had been owned by a Chinese merchant who married a Malay, leaving behind in China his unhappy mother (see photo above), skinny wife (since he didn't send her enough money), and his kids. Since he was a merchant, he had antiques in his home from all over the world -- Netherlands, Spain, and more.

See above that there is a bride who came to take photos for her wedding. And, there is a picture of a bat, among the many, on the ceiling. Bats symbolized wealth and luck. We all thought the bats peed a lot on the floor, symbolizing "Run! You're about to be peed on by a bat!"

O'Neal Family in Penang: Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Temple

July 21, 2010

Our Malay Chinese tour guide of Penang took us to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy temple where we prayed for mercy from all the smoke. They burn money and other incense as offerings to the gods. They also make offerings of donuts, ice coffee and flowers.

Add in some ice cream, and I'd definitely give mercy if I were the goddess.

Penang: Spice Garden Tour for Colleen and Nanny!

July 20, 2010

Where do the spices we eat come from? Torch Ginger? Cinnamon? Cloves? Star Anise? I had no idea.

The spice garden in Penang, Malaysia holds the answer and more. Turns out it also holds peace and intellectual stimulation for the curious, like Mom. Mom deserved a therapeutic break after a stressful time with Dad's health crisis. And, out of sight of Dad, might be out of mind for her caregiving self. So, she and I went further up along the beautiful, rocky coast of Penang to the famous Spice Garden.

A Chinese Malay man gave us a tour of the spice garden, with much ancient Chinese herb healing knowledge in addition to many claims that modern science also supports the healing herb properties. For instance, he said that an herb called "king of bitter herbs" cures malaria and dengue fever, but pharmaceutical companies would rather us pay big bucks for their anti-malarial pill malarone. We were so taken by his careful, articulate stories of each herb, that we accepted whatever he said as gospel...only after the tour was over did we recover enough to speculate over whether or not the cinnamon we have in our kitchen cabinets was "toxic," as he argued (for the curious, he argued that cinnamon is made from cinnamon tree bark which he said was toxic...I guess Mom's been slowly poisoning herself by dusting her daily oatmeal with cinnamon).

Needless to say, the garden was beautiful and fascinating -- in the pictures above note that the sign of the spice, like cinnamon precedes the tree that it grows from. And, I took pictures above of insect bats, a red bark tree that is so strong and fire-resistant that it's used for the structure of Malaysian buildings, and of a huge fern that towered over Nanny.

We ended our spice garden tour with a solo lunch for just me and Mom, overlooking the spectacular South China Sea. Such a rare, quiet chatting moment for the two of us, usually followed by 3 grandies in tow. We both realized that we wouldn't see each other for a year, after they leave this Friday. It made us both so sad that we cried and held each others' hands over lunch. Then, again, we held hands on the bus ride back to the hotel, tearing up a bit, while the bus hugged the coast.

O'Neals visit: Penang, Malaysia beach time!

July 19, 2010

Note: The first picture above is of Dad getting a massage on the beach...his first ever!

We whisked Dad straight from the hospital to the beach, as if he'd broken loose from jail. Dad was thrilled to be free of the hospital, and the hourly poking and prodding. Finally, he could get a good night's sleep. It was hard to restrain the kids from sleeping in his and Nanny's room, though, that first night.

We took him to Penang, Malaysia, known during the British West Indies days as the "Pearl of the Orient," back when it was an international port run by the British colonizers, located at the Strait of Melacca and South China Sea. We stayed at a resort, with no other Americans in sight. But, there sure were loads of families from Australia, Hong Kong, and the Gulf States, in full body burkas. These burka'ed women were riding the atv's avidly across the beach, riding horses, and reading their ipads. They seemed like they did so much we women did, just having to follow their husbands when they did it. And, the mosque was right next to our hotel, waking some of us promptly at 5:45 am in the morning. Tonight, Griffin accidentally climbed over the mosque fence, landing smack dab in the middle of the mosque call to prayer.

Griffin loved the freedom of the resort, after being confined to a glass and marble apartment in KL. He would disappear, taking off to swim, play soccer, or foosball with his many new friends. He's developed "my best friend in Malaysia," an 8 year old from Hong Kong named Thomas. They play every sport, especially soccer, in fact they want to do everything together, even taking a bath together. Griffin yesterday afternoon and all day today with Thomas and his family, often trailed by their Filipino nanny. His Hong Kong family was incredibly generous with Griffin, serving him lots of pizza, ice cream, and soccer play. They may give us a tour of Hong Kong when we visit Hong Kong...we, at least, were originally planning on visiting Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Disney. I didn't tell Thomas' mom that's the only reason we were going to Hong Kong.

Dad's recovering more and more each day. It's a wonder and relief to watch the miracle of medicine and solid sleep helping him back to normal. I'm sure all the love and attention doesn't hurt either. See the picture above of an "ancient Chinese masseuse" who gave Dad his first massage of his life. Patrick treated him to it, and he put a smile on Dad's face. Dad's a massage convert now.

When we walked to our nightly street hawker stalls for dinner tonite (see fave "Singapore" food above), Dad refused to have any of us guide his arm. Boom watched us argue with Papa to let us guide him, then Boom grabbed Dad's hand and guided him himself. It was an offer Papa couldn't refuse.

Papa's Illness and Recovery

July 14, 2010

Papa had to go to the hospital a couple days after we arrived. It was a real scare. He was very confused, disoriented, and distressed. We took him to the hospital, with Patrick doing an amazing job of distracting him from his confused and panicked thoughts by showing him pictures and videos of his grandies on his camera. We went to the ER and they immediately sent us up for a neurological consult with Dr. Julia, as she is called in Malaysia; Dad would be called Dr. Ed here.

She broke to us that she thought it likely Dad had had a mild stroke. We quietly freaked out, waiting the results of his MRI. I sobbed with relief when his MRI showed that he had not had a stroke. Dad was still just as confused and now having trouble walking, though. She continued many tests until the eeg finally showed that he was having mild seizures affecting his frontal and temporal lobes that affect info-processing and emotions, explaining a lot. It was actually a relief to get such a result since it was treatable.

After many days of travel without sleep, he was checked into the hospital and immediately passed out asleep, completely exhausted. And, the anti-seizure medication took effect immediately with Dad's thinking more clear. It was wonderful to watch him recover. He was in the hospital for a few days til he completely stabilized.

The pictures above show how happy the kids were to see him, released from the hospital. Turns out, us adults weren't the only worried ones.

O'Neal Family Visit to Kuala Lumpur! Papa, Nanny, Brendan, and Patrick!

July 9, 2010

Mom, Dad, Patrick and Brendan came to visit us in Malaysia! They were our first visitors. The kids were thrilled. They are staying through July 23. We hit the Kuala Lumpur tower with them, with a zip line reminiscent of Costa Rica. You could zip from the base of the tower to the parking lot! Not quite like zipping through the jungle, but Griffin was very brave anyway. His grandparents' jaws dropped.

We all went to our neighborhood restaurant called "Pelita," famous among the locals, especially the "teksi" drivers who love it. It's Indian food, in all its spicy, yogurt-marinated glory.

We also tried a dim sum place around the corner, loving it. And, we spent an afternoon at Patrick and Brendan's hip hotel, with the longest, windy-est pool in SE Asia! They reminded us how to have a drink by the pool, as only Californians can.