Settling in Penang

Several weeks ago in Vietnam I picked up my laptop computer by the LCD display and my thumb went right through the screen. Well, at that that time I was intending to travel to America to join the Renfroe family reunion so I decided to ditch that old HP and buy myself a new Apple MacBook Pro. If you have read some of my past blogs you may recall that the trip did not happen consequently I was left with an iphone and ipad as my means of internet access, both handy and convenient but inadequate as a primary computer.

After weeks of cursing and fretting over what to do about my web-less situation I defied local wisdom and checked on computer prices here in Malaysia and found that the cost is actually hardly different from in America. I am now proud owner of MacBook Pro. All this is prologue to my resumption of blogging.

As you have probably figured out the above photos are my new digs here in Penang, Malaysia. My view is $1,000,000 overlooking the Andaman Sea; the furnishings, adequate for short term but not very comfortable. You could describe my decor as Asian Goodwill meets college dorm room.  My easy chair is a pool lounger, for example. I have been trying for over a week to get some sort of TV connection but I have to adjust to island time here and wait until it happens. I figured I can use my telephone as internet hotspot and that is quite satisfactory.

The kitchen has a small refrigerator and a gas cooker. On the other hand I have a rice cooker which gets plenty of use. I am delighted to have a kitchen of my own for the first time since I left Williams Street, and I have even hosted a dinner party already. I served a Malay version of Shrimp and grits minus one main ingredient, grits. Rice works! Oh, and I did not serve wine. Malaysia holds the title for second most highly taxed alcohol in the world after the country of _______ (Try to guess what country.), but I did have equally overtaxed Tiger Beer, one six pack costing about $15. Needless to say there are fewer beer guts on the entire island of Penang than in Perimeter Road Super Walmart.

In case anyone chooses to thrill me with a call, my new Malaysian telephone number is 60(country code) 194.135.574

and my mailing address is

Eden Seaview Condominium

Apartment 6-7-6

11100 Batu Ferringhi

Penang

Malaysia

Now that I have a new computer I will improve my blogging frequency, I promise.

Give up on the above quiz country with the highest taxation?  Here is a hint:  think Scandinavia.