Out of the Rut

Sunday Morning Breakfast!

My parents' recent visit reminded me to enjoy the things that are available here that I take for granted. I get stuck in a rut and am appeased by the easy rather than making just a little more effort to enjoy what's at my fingertips. Like tropical fruit. Why be satisfied with lengkeng only when I could enjoy lengkeng AND a few pieces of jackfruit? Or why not take the time to cut up some pomelo and mango?

Because of my parents we found tempe and dried shrimp chips. We discovered a market we hadn't been to before and watched a beach sunset we wouldn't have stopped long enough to enjoy. We played a lot of Scrabble. People should take the time to play a lot of Scrabble. I learned the word bivouac. I am ashamed to say that I didn't know that word. We played corn hole and frisbee and 42. We watched movies and laughed. We ate at the oldest restaurant building in Penang and I learned all about Hainanese food by reading the menu. We met a funny man who runs a Minang restaurant and we got up early to eat breakfast served at a neighborhood food stall. Who knew they served yummy breakfast? I picked out the cake I want for my birthday next May and I learned I could buy nuts at the nearby market from a lady who mistook me for a Chinese. Ha! That's a first.

Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to appreciate what is all around us. I loved living in Penang all along. But I think I love it just a bit more now.

If we take the time to try something new, see something different, consider something out of our usual routine, we just may find a treasure or two, right where we live!