Summer travels...and I've been told fall is approaching

Jungle canopy at the forestry research preserve

Today I tuned in to a shady live sport streaming website for sporadic buffering, low definition video and the first U of Oregon football game of the season. It always makes me a little homesick to watch the games 8,077 miles from friends and family,  huddled together enjoying it as a social event. This is one of the only ways to tell that the calendar is progressing. The weather does not change here, nor do the daylight hours.

This will be my 8th football season endured abroad. But hey, during the early years in Ukraine, there was no live streaming - spotty or not. In fact, I once waited to learn the score of a bowl game for 2 full months as a VHS tape sent by my dad made its way across continents, through customs and into my eagerly waiting hands. Try that in the Facebook era...



Since I've last written, we had Anya's mom visit us for a month. Much of the time was spent as family activity around KL, but we also took a week in Phuket at a luxury-but-family-friendly resort, complete with waterslide within view of the bar. Perfection.

Lev is now a fully trained Jedi knight

We also flew up to Hong Kong to celebrate Lev's 5th birthday at Disneyland Hong Kong. I know I know, its a rough life. We've wanted to visit Hong Kong for a while as we have some dear friends who live there - so a place to crash and locals to have fun with. Hong Kong was fantastic. The city itself is purely vertical - mind-boggling narrow buildings of incredible height, perched on hillsides. But the city is also lush. 40% of Hong Kong land is reserved parks. Only 25% is actually developed. So it's easy to be standing next to a huge skyscraper and also be next to a lush jungle hillside.

That light sabre has been next to Lev as he's slept...every
night since we've been back. (Alemedans: note the local T-shirt!)

As  I type this, I'm sitting in an Irish bar sipping a beer as Lev sits quietly beside me, bribed with a newly downloaded game on my phone. No judging, please. Anya's been in Cambodia for a ladies' trip for a few days, so Lev and I are going bachelor style. On weekends without special plans, we've taken to heading to a forestry reserve and research center not far away. There are acres and acresof old growth jungle and trails. 

Pushing grandma Valya on the swing...Phuket

I don't know that I want to live in it forever, but I do truly love the tropics. I'm still amazed to be walking through a jungle, perfumed with exotic flowers and damp vines. Today we came upon some (I assume) iguanas. The largest was easily 4 feet in length. A bit further down the path we found a family of monkeys.

Our posh hotel lobby, Phuket

Since we've been to Malaysia, we've had a monkey slap Lev on the head when Lev tried to take back a playground slide from the local troupe. I've had a monkey crawl up my leg to my head and then stand frozen as it proceed to pee down my back, filling my sandals.  Anya had a monkey take her hat. When we tried to get it back, it grabbed her leg and gave her a warning bite - not breaking the skin, but far from pleasurable. Still, it's interesting to see them. Their intelligence is a menace though. They know exactly where they stand, that we are afraid of them and they can pretty much do as they please. But still they are exotic and remain novel. As does tropical living.

As a whole, the family is good. I often comment that personal life is fantastic, but work life is a challenge. It still holds true. But I'm managing the stress better. The air quality is up and down here and that, plus the work stress I think, has me visiting the doctor far more often than I'd like. Sinus issues are the main culprit and my doctor things there are allergies at play. I'm starting to believe him. What I don't want to believe, despite some evidence to the fact, is that beer might be a culprit. Shock. Horror. I'm ignoring it. Surely there are drugs for that. Stay tuned.