Joel's Visit part 1 12.27.2010

We are pleased to have our son Joel visiting us in KL for Christmas. He arrived on 23 December via London Heathrow. Go figure, the one snow event that Heathrow has had to be when Joel was heading overseas for the first time. Fortunately, he made his connection and arrived here only three hours late. We have been having lots of fun hanging out and doing lots of things together.

Joel and Eileen heading up to the orchid and hybiscus garden at Lake Gardens Park

At Lake Gardens, we found a coconut that had already sprouted into a tree. We took it home and planted it.

Christmas morning at church, L to R...Joel, Adam, Sivin, Eileen and me, with Jamie in the foreground.

The taxi ride from church

Christmas afternoon at our apartment. Htet Aung joined us as well.

Jamie's reaction to receiving Glee Karaoke for Wii from Joel and Bri

Christmas dinner...yes, they have turkeys in Malaysia!

Ready to eat!

We went to Cosmic Bowl after dinner on Chrismas night

Batu Caves. We brought bananas and tangerines to feed the monkeys!

Another monkey video!

Our Christmas Tree! 12.12.2010

We never thought about bringing anything to decorate for Christmas, so Eileen has been doing some amazing stuff to decorate our apartment.

She made a Christmas tree by wrapping garland around an 8-litre water bottle and made a star out of paper. She strung the lights and then hung candy canes. The base of the tree is a speaker for our TV. It doesn't matter where we are, Eileen always seems to make it home!

Jungle Walk 12.7.2010

We celebrated Islamic New Year (a National Holiday in Malaysia) by going on a jungle walk at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Eileen's driver Rafiq picked us up at our apartment and surprised us with a traditional Indian breakfast which was enjoyed on the way to FRIM.

Eileen isn't too happy enjoying her Idli (slightly sour steamed cakes made from a fermented rice-flour batter) with tomato chutney and coconut chutney.

Prior to entering the jungle, we stopped at this little store to buy some bananas in case we encountered some wild monkeys. We unloaded half of the bananas on the way up the mountain as they were getting too heavy to carry! I only spotted one monkey from a distance and didn't get the chance to feed it. Sorry Abby!

The trail that we hiked took about two hours to complete and was very challenging. It was like hiking the gorge at Robert Treman several times!

The canopy walk was closed for maintenance

The trek continues...

One of the streams we passed along our way

A local family having a picnic near the mountain top

This roof was just covered!

More jungle scenery

We happened upon the Malaysian Tea House. It was really amazing and we we'll eat here next time!

More Monkeys for Abby!

Abby wants more monkeys!

Ferringhi Beach 11.26-28.2010

If this wasn't the best weekend of our lives, it certainly was one of them. Eileen, Jamie, and I rented a car on Friday morning and drove five hours north to Batu Ferringhi on Penang Island to celebrate our anniversary and just have a weekend away. We stayed at a resort on Ferringhi Beach and it was absolutely amazing...the whole weekend!

We arrived on Friday night in time for happy hour. After a long drive, a cold one was just what we needed. Satu lagi (one more) was mentioned to the bartender a few times!



One of the highlights for me was renting this catamaran on Saturday morning. It is a German performance boat and it had some pep to its step. I have never sailed faster in my life than on this boat! What a hoot to sail. I had to walk about 10 minutes up the road to pick up the boat and then sailed it down to our hotel to pick up Eileen and Jamie. Very easy to sail single-handed.

Jamie hanging out waiting for me to beach the boat

Eileen getting her feet wet...literally!

The boys hanging out!

The wind was picking up and we were sailing at least 15 knots! Take notice of the port side pontoon coming out of the water on the video...

Jamie had dinner at the hotel as Eileen and I had a romantic evening planned. He had wood-fired pizza and it was really yummy!

Our night out was at the Golden Thai restaurant, next door to our hotel. This little hut on the beach was our table! It was so so romantic, with a sea breeze and waves crashing on the beach. On the way into the restaurant, we passed several fish tanks containing all sorts of live fish and shell fish. We picked out a 1KG Grouper to share. A guy came over and netted it and the poor little guy paid the ultimate sacrifice for our enjoyment.

And here he is...all cooked and ready to eat! Along with the fish, we had braised peanuts, fresh Thai veggies, and seafood fried rice.

Jamie having hot cocoa on Sunday morning. We had breakfast and hit the road. What a good family time we had. I am most thankful to Eileen for pushing me to take time for myself. It was a much needed weekend away and we really had the time of our life.

Thanksgiving 11.25.2010

This wasn't a typical Thanksgiving holiday for us, but it was our wedding anniversary! Eileen and I went to Batu Caves to have some alone time. After a fun-filled afternoon, Jamie and his friend Adam joined us at a western restaurant for some American food, but no turkey on the menu!

This was actually after our visit to the Caves. It was rather hot out and we both just had to have a cold beer, so here we are at 7-11, the only place near the Caves that sold beer!

The entrance to the Caves. It is amazing how the camera flattens the 272 steps!

Inside the Caves is an Indian temple

A close up of the entrance

Wild monkeys everywhere!

Before we made the trek up the stairs, we stopped to buy a bunch of bananas to feed the monkeys. Enjoy the show!

Jakarta 11.24.2010

I had to fly to Indonesia for a meeting on Wednesday. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and has a population of 10 million people. It was really difficult to see the level of poverty and poor living conditions in this country. Along the Jakarta river, there were thousands of huts built out of anything that could be found. Most of the huts had tarps for a roof with few or no walls. Some of the better ones had tin for a roof. I am constantly reminded how fortunate we are to have what we have and to be born where we were born. For this I am thankful.

View from the Grand Hyatt

We went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. I tried sashimi and it wasn't too bad...really!

This is an enclosed motorcycle which are plentiful here

Barely a two lane road. Motorcycles which outnumber cars, split the traffic. It's insane!

This is our school in Jakarta, Inti College Indonesia

Jamie's 24th B-day 11.18.2010

So Jamie is 24 years old...WOW! Where did all of that time go? We celebrated Jamie and did some fun things together...

Thet Aung and Adam helped us celebrate by singing Karaoke at Red Box

Adam and Jamie in pre-celebration mode

Of course there was homemade pizza...

...and a homemade cookie cake!

...and we sang Happy Birthday to Jamie Malaysian style (Selamat Hari Jadi)

Clinton visits Malaysia 11.12.2010

Today, we received a visit from our 42nd president, William Jefferson Clinton. He is the Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities, my company! It was an honor to be invited to hear him speak. He really had some good things to say and it was very much focused on the young people, our students that were in attendance, and watching live at all 8 campus locations of INTI University.

Dr. Sia, Associate Vice President, INTI University. I have played squash several times with Dr. Sia and she is an accomplished squash player!

On my left is John Vermaaten, our Asia Region CFO

Look past the heads!

Left to right...Graham Doxey (CEO Laureate Malaysia), President Clinton, Doug Becker (CEO Laureate International Universities), Dr. Tan Yew Sing (Founder, INTI University). After his address, our CEO read questions from the students to President Clinton in a more casual format. Today was a little slice of home and reminded me how proud I am to be American!

Saturday Fun 11.6.2010

We started our Saturday with another bike ride. I think I am actually getting into shape here! It feels really good to get some exercise. Afterwards, we took Jamie to the bird park. It is actually the world's largest free-flight walk-in aviary and only about a 10 minute drive from our apartment. Another great day of adventures for the Rizzos!

We stopped for Spanish coffee at La Bodega

Met a pack of wild dogs along the way!

When do you see a sign like this in the States?

A Montessori school along the way

One huge pelican! This park was really neat because most all of the birds are relatively free and they are everywhere!

A male peacock in full spread. First time I have ever seen this!

Here is a female peacock going after Jamie's ice cream cone!

This was outside the aviary. A wild monkey!

Also outside the aviary, here is a mother monkey with her brand new baby! We saw about 20 monkeys and it was the highlight! We even saw a monkey take a bag of bananas out of some guy's backpack and run away with it. Truly a cheeky monkey!

Jamie with a hornbill on his shoulder and and a McCaw on his hand.