When I returned, nothing was sweeter than the hugs I got and seeing the kids smiles when they got the Malaysian dried mango, crab flavored crackers, and souvenir shirts. It's not that the token gifts made up for the trip, just that they represented the joy of reuniting after a necessary parting. Emily even forgave me (like she has done each time work calls me away) and not just because I brought some cheap clothing. :) Another joy was sharing with the kids the pictures I brought back. Even though 90% of the time there was spent auditing suppliers (which isn't really very exciting to talk about), the kids loved seeing the pictures I took on the weekends. And although I couldn't help but feel like a cad posting these after that last post (what kind of Dad goes to a tropical island while his wife struggles with 5 kids), they wanted to share with cousins and friends as if they had been there too. So with that guilty preamble, here are some pics of my work trip.
Penang is a small island in Malaysia that used to be the center of the British Asian colonies. Because of this, it has always been very multicultural, with large European, Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Armenian influences.
The town has lots of art projects in unexpected places, like this bicycle.
Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country. This beautiful mosque was built in the early 1800s.
This sign on Armenian Street documents where the Armenian community used to live. The Eastern & Oriental Hotel is a beautiful old hotel begun by Armenian brothers.
There is a small community of about 75 houses belonging to the Chew clan who moved to Penang in the mid-1800s but didn't have land. They built their village on stilts over the harbor. It is now a UNESCO Heritage site and still lived in by the family.
Penang has a large Buddhist community.The top temple is a Chinese style temple with a Lao style pagoda. The middle one is a huge statue dedicated to Goddess of Mercy (kind of like a huge sea maiden). There are lots of plaques throughout the building with names of generous donors. The last one is a Thai style temple.
About 15% of the population is ethnic Indian (mostly Tamil from southern India). I walked through part of "Little India" in this clip.
I went up to an overlook area to see the city from above. It is a little smoky because of massive intentional burning in Sumatra by Indonesian farmers clearing jungle for farming.
I was a bit surprised to see Mater in Penang. He is apparently leading a spy training school or something.
It is common in Penang to see scenes like this with a mixture of architectures and ages. 
One of the major legacies of the British era is a lot of tremendous architecture in downtown Georgetown (the state capital). The Mormon chapel is an old British mansion, one of many throughout the town.
I hope all of you have learned a bit about this cool spot in southeast Asia. I was grateful to have the chance to go, but sad that I couldn't take the whole family. Next time maybe it won't be 90% work.
