masterwordsmith-unplugged

It is rare that I get along with someone with whom I have never met; someone with whom I have only exchanged two e-mails. When my cousin Hoy emailed and later called me to play host to his friend and colleague Amy plus her husband, my initial reaction was - anyone who is Hoy's friend is mine as well. Without any delay, I emailed her and passed her my schedule and contact details.

This evening, I met Amy and Andrew for the first time in my life and really had the time of my life. Amy is a flight attendant with United Airlines while Andrew works for the US government in the parole department (juveniles section). They have two daughters - their older one is applying for a place in either Stanford, Northwestern and other Ivy league universities. It was awesome to discuss juvenile issues with Andrew and to see how certain problems in the education industry are universal in nature. Amy was a teacher before she became a flight attendant so you can imagine the type of discussions we enjoyed tonight!

We had our dinner at Red Garden Food Paradise which is located right in the middle of the town at the end of Penang Road, beside hotel Malaysia and near Upper Penang Road. Andrew, who loves seafood ordered black pepper crabs...





I ordered cuttlefish kerabu....


Amy ordered spring-rolls, fried oyster and vegetables...(something went wrong with my camera settings tonight and turns out that my Sony Ericsson K800i Cybershot produced better shots!)


Over dinner, we exchanged views about the Obama and Bush administration, Republicans and Democrats, the escalating financial meltdown and how it affects public administration expenditure. The outlook in California seems to be dismal and with so many cutbacks and the slowdown in many sectors, I am wary of what the future holds ....As always, Asia may not get the full brunt of the meltdown until maybe six to eight months later so the worst is yet to be seen.

Andrew speaks fluent Spanish and gave me a history lesson about the role of Spaniards in developing California and the impact of Hispanics in American culture and society. Most informative and stimulating. If not for the fact that they were both quite jet-lagged, I am sure we would have been chatting endlessly over more drinks! Truly, I had such a lovely time with Amy and Andrew and it is a real pity as I will not get to see them again unless I visit San Diego.

Bon voyage Amy and Andrew! May you have an unforgettable time in Penang, Langkawi and KL before you fly off to Singapore!