Mama's Banana Cakes

The summer before last, I spent some time on the Perhentian Islands in the South China Sea. Every morning, Peter and I would walk to an outdoor restaurant on the beach called Mama's (run by an ancient Malay woman) and I would order banana cake for breakfast. The following recipe is my  healthy take on banana cake (muffin style). Scroll below the recipe for a few pics from my stay on the Perhentian Islands--the most beautiful and relaxing place on earth that I have encountered so far (aside from being stung by a jelly fish!) ...

Mama's Banana Cakes

1 1/4 cup whole grain spelt flour

1/2 cup large flake oats

1/2 cup ground flax

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3 large mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp lemon juice

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat oil, sugar and add egg. Mix in bananas, milk and lemon juice. Add wet to dry with chocolate chips and stir until just mixed. Pour into muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes at 375 oF.

Turtles and Fish

I thought you might appreciate some artistic shots I took of the fish pond and turtle pond at the Malaysian Buddhist Temple.

Just heard from friends whom we met in Malaysia that went on to the Perhentian Islands after us. They said Malaysia just enforced an all out ban on diving/snorkeling off the islands in the South China Sea as the coral was dying too rapidly (this includes the Perhentians). This I am happy about. Yes, we did some amazing snorkeling, but I would say that at least 75-85 % of the coral we snorkeled above was dead. And the tourist are so careless. Despite it being a marine park, I witnessed a group of Asian snorkelers near me pick up a big sea creature from the sea floor (it looks like a giant Elizabethan collar) and bring it to the surface to look at it. I was horrified and snorkeled to them to shout "You can't do that! Put that back! You're destroying the environment!" They ignored me completely. I was very upset but as we were far from shore in deep sea, and since they were snorkeling in life jackets and I was commando (no life jacket just my snorkel equipment), I decided to leave the situation as I thought how easy it would be for them to hold me underwater and no one would suspect a thing except a snorkeler drowned in the deep sea.

Back to Kelowna: Got a little too much sun at the beach today. A good day out though. My girls and I met up with Mist's buddy Ashley and cousins Nem, Artemi and their nanny Amy at Hospital Beach, aka BJ Beach--for reasons you can imagine as Miranda had to call the cops on her cell the other night to break up a couple carrying on on the sand right beside her family.

Very hot and dry in Kelowna. Fires break out daily and so far have been snuffed out quickly.

Mistaya passed her Bronze Medallion and we are very proud of her as she is a strong little swimmer. She went camping this past weekend with a friend and her family to Beaver Lake (in the mountains above Kelowna).
Tabs is happy as a lark to have so much time to play with her favorite cousin Nemi, and enjoying swimming lessons as well.

Pip is happy getting to play with her sisters and Artemi each day and taking swimming lessons with Artemis as well.
Pip likes to watch her sisters play a video game on the computer and she shouts out cheers for them nonstop. It sounds so adorable. It makes me laugh when I hear her little voice ringing through the house nonstop, "Cheer for Tabi! Cheer for Tabi! Run like the wind, Bull's-Eye! Run like the wind, Bull's-Eye! Cheer for Tabi! Cheer for Tabi!"--Bull's-Eye is the name of the little boat in the video game that Tabs races in the game.

Still much work to do on the degree front.

Goodbye Perhentians, Hello Penang!

Photos of the Perhentian Island babies: the darling monkey baby in the rafters of the restaurant. And the other of a baby Monitor Lizard on our front lawn. The next two show the resort and how it is plunked on the beach with nothing but thick, virgin jungle all around it.

Arrived in Penang after a long Banana van ride with 5 Germans and two Americans--all very pleasant people.
Penanag is gorgeous--The Pearl of the Orient--to be sure. Jungle covered mountains and hills in the middle of the ocean. Georgetown is a wonderful mix of typical old Malaysia (almost Caribbean looking with their one story and two story wooden buildings in shades of pastels) with stunning colonial era buildings mixed in.
Our hotel is Huge with a great gym and fitness classes, a giant pool with a waterfall, many top notch restaurants and sweeping 360 o views of Penang. It will be interesting to be surrounded by many Buddhists here in Penang.
Three women were recently caned in Kuala Lumpur--two for extramarital sex and one for drinking beer!!!
Wow--Glee on TV is just singing Iz's "Over the Rainbow"--reminds me much of KW :)
I am resting in our Penang room while PJ checks out his conference.
Yesterday I was stricken with a nasty bacterial infection in my intestines. I felt pretty rough and spent the afternoon flat out in bed in our Perhentian Chalet. I started a dose of Cypro and feel much improved now. However, the van ride here was touch and go at some points.
It is hard to say goodbye to the Perhentians. Where else on earth is there absolutely nothing to do but become one with the sea? There was no night entertainment, no music playing, no bars, no TVs, no snack food what so ever. Breakfast never before 7, lunch at 12:30-2:30, dinner never before 7:30 pm. In between nothing to eat.
So you spend your days not wasting time on trivial pursuits such as snacking and watching teli, drinking beer etc. Instead you completely become ZEN. Peter spent many hours simply floating off our beach in starfish position in his sunglasses. He did that for hours! The sea is filled with more excitement than one can imagine--so one can snorkel, kayak, dive or starfish.
Every morning we had our "free" breakfast buffet at our resort in the outdoor restaurant (everything is outdoor on the Perhentians except the sleeping chalets). Lunch and supper: Peter and I would stroll down the Island, through many beaches and around the tip to eat at either Mama's or Coral view.
Oh how I miss that simple, simple tropical dream!
I had a weird experience yesterday morning. I was sitting on the beach in my bikini as Peter "starfished" and a Malaysian guy stood right beside me and got his friend to take his picture (he was pretending to point at the jetty but it was obvious he just wanted a shot of him with some woman in a bikini). He finally got up the courage to ask if he could take a picture of himself with me. I said sure, so he sat down right smack beside me on my towel and put his arm around me. His friend from down the beach rushed in and sat on the other side of me--and there you have it, the three of us posing for a photo session-- me  in my bikini and huge floppy hat, sandwiched between two guys with cigarettes in hand. They thanked me afterward and shook my hand lol.
Weird things about Malaysia: the plastic. They package their chips, toothbrushes, laundry detergent--you name it, it comes in typical looking plastic packaging. But try to open a bag of their chips--sure they want you to buy them but no one in Malaysia gives a damn if you can actually eat them or use whatever is inside of the wrap! It is super, indestructable, unopenable plastic.
Sugar--the Malays love it. The pop is syrup and their chips not only are salted but they are sugared too.
Missing my girls hugely! I can never last more than a week without profoundly missing my baby girls XOXOX.

Beans and Rice, Ain't that Nice!

Happy Anniversary!

Beans and rice, ain’t that nice, happy anniversary! Yes, we are celebrating 18 years of marriage today. Not a bad place to celebrate in.

Forgive the vanity shots. I had to put some in—and it is our anniversary after all ;)

This is no place for serious vanity though—I have a red, shiny face and wild, uncontrollable hair at all times. No makeup possible and why wash one’s hair? It only gets filled with salt water, sweat and sunscreen all day long. My face is pink with humidity and heat and wet with sweat and sunscreen at all times. My hair is getting more bleached from the sun and salt water. I pile it on top of my head for snorkeling and to keep it off my sweaty neck. I fear my head looks like a cherry with a dollop of whip cream on top.

One thing that is unique about the Perhentian’s and Taman Negara is that in the night when I have to get up to use the washroom, I like to turn on the light because I am nervous a snake has crawled in the room and may surprise me in the dark. Last night I made record-breaking bathroom trips—I ate some Diavolo pizza for supper—filled with diablo peppers. I had to drink several liters of water to cool down my mouth!

Our room is always home to many geckos chirping away. And bats and monitor lizards roam our front garden—so one must be careful in the dark!

We take the boat back to the mainland tomorrow morning and then on the Penang in a Banana Van. Seriously, the fleet of minivan taxis are called Banana vans.

Will take it easy—I want one day not filled with terrifying activities!

Once Bitten—Twice Shy

Last pic is of Little Tommy Cat--runs the Perhentian Island Resort with an iron paw.

Yesterday we went snorkeling to 4 different spots for about 1h each. I was snorkeling in the deep blue sea for over 4 hours yesterday! It proved to be tiring by the last spot. However, I swam way out in the open sea with sea turtles—just like the one’s in Disney’s Finding Nemo. The largest was huge—it had to have a shell about 4 feet across and six feet long. I followed it as it swam and surfaced for air beside me. The sea is so turquoise and so calm and warm like a bath. The boat parked in the middle of the deep sea when the driver spotted turtles and told us to “jump in quick, quick!”—the only English he knew. There are no currents to take one far off course unexpectedly so it is easy to forget one is swimming in the deep blue sea.

Entering the water is a dream for snorkelers—Uber Snorkeler Theresa would love it! Smooth white sand and calm water—no rocks, no current to make it difficult.

The coral is fire coral and some of it is the most beautiful pink colour—like strawberry milk. There are so many stonefish here! Snorkeling in shallow water over coral always makes me nervous because I spot so many and I don’t want to brush up against one. Swam through many, many schools thick with 6 inch silver and black-stripped fish. They take little bites of me. I have tiny chunks of skin missing from the hungry little creatures.  They swim right at me with eyes wide and mouths open! And there are invisible sized jellyfish that cause needle like jabs occasionally that sting for about 10 minutes.

Saw another giant monitor lizard right on the beach walking home from an outdoor restaurant. They are like crocodiles! And the giant fruit bats are amazing to watch in flight also. And the snails are big with beautiful long shells.

Now onto the worst news: my last snorkeling trip. I borrowed a large T-short to put over my bikini from Peter as my bum was scarlet and painful from being burnt (morning snorkeling) despite 50 sunscreen. We snorkeled way out, looking for some big sharks. No sharks and I was getting tired—I snorkel on my own steam but Peter wears a life jacket in the deep water because he has always felt uncomfortable in deep water. As I headed to shore I felt a stabbing, searing pain on my torso below my chest. It hurt so much; I ripped off the T-shirt to see what was on me. I found nothing but a large patch of burning red (4 x 2 inches across). The pain was such that I wanted to cry. And then a big welt formed in the centre. We walked back to the resort and asked the snorkel guy what could have stung me—it hurt considerably. He said jellyfish and to put lime on it. We walked to the restaurant to get some lime. The juice relieved it momentarily but it till stung and was growing in size. I took a Tylenol and a antihistamine and waited it out. I felt nauseous and my bones ached for hours afterward. Now, I am slightly hesitant to go back in the sea. I know I will, but I am not wearing a T-shirt again for it to swim up! The jellyfish are rising in population thanks to global warming and hunting of sea turtles and sardines that dine on them.

-Next Day:

Peter and I took a two seater kyack out to some private beaches and bays. A workout! Snorkeled in the bays—just Peter and I. The water is so turquoise and clear. Saw a few more leather back sea-turtles and lots of clown fish and anemones. The turtles always have a few small but long yellow fish swimming right with them, practically attached to them where ever they go.  We spotted about 4 really big fish 6 feet ish—either sharks or tuna—but they made us tres nervous as we were the only ones swimming in the bay—so we stayed away. A lightening storm was cracking in the distance so we only stayed in the bays for about an hour and headed back to our beach. One can kyack all around the island and explore all of the coral reefs and bays in private.

No need to where deodorant here. The humidity is so high, my hair is in ringlets and I sweat of the deodorant and sunscreen in minutes.

They do make yummy banana cake J

PLEASE scroll down as I posted 2 posts today. Pics are pretty amazing of the sea and resort.