My wife and I moved into our new place, a nice double storey detached house. It's got a built up area of a bit over 2000 sf and a land area of about 6000 sf. It's just nice for a couple of pets and a little garden. We decided to rent out our old condo instead of selling it. Who knows, when we're older, we might want to live in a smaller place that's easier to maintain, and therefore, could move back
Breaking from tradition, this time, we completed all renovation before moving in. However, some friends have asked us to take a look at their places and see if we have any ideas. So that takes care of our decor projects for the year.
In terms of hobbies, well, I really want to give cooking another try. There's lots to try here in Asia, especially if you like Spicy stuff. Since Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures, there menu list is ridiculously varied.
In the bigger cities like Georgetown and Kuala Lumpur (KL), there are lots of foreign food choices. Surpisingly, 'western food' is quite popular here. Portions are smaller than what we find back in the states. Portions in Singapore is closer to what we are used to back home.
My wife and I stayed at a hotel at Bukit Bintang Road in KL a couple of years back. It was like being in little Turkey or Morocco. I vividly remember having some sort of lamb stew which was cooked in a tagine. It was absolutely divine. I swore I'd learn to prepare that dish. I Googled it. Got the cooking tagines from a this site http://www.berbertrading.com/cat-cooking-tagines.cfm but until now, the tagine is still in it's box.
Thailand is Malaysia's northern neighbors and just a few hours away for me. But some of their standards can be a tad too spicy for me. My wife lapped everything up without much fuss.
I've also had the chance to sample some Indonesian cuisine which is spicy and tasty. Excellent stuff.
I'd also like to run another marathon or ten. I know I said I'd just like to do one but I had so much fun the first time - even with the crazy cramps kicking in after 30k - that I think I'd like to do a couple or more yearly, but at different locations.
Since I'll be spending a couple of years here, I plan to run a few local Marathons and at least one in Thailand.
I'd also like to climb a decent mountain. Since I'm staying in Malaysia now, I thought I'd give Mount Tahan (2,187 m) and Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m) a shot. I've been told that even though Mt. Kinabalu is higher, the climb up Mt. Tahan is way more challenging.
Aside from learning to cook, I would also like to learn a few languages. The people here speak at least two languages. Malay is the language of the federation and is spoken by everyone. Then you have Mandarin, English, Tamil and a number of dialects.
Looks like I've got 2013 pretty much outlined, which means it will pass just as fast as 2012.
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