KOREAN ICE CREAM
So, heading up the escalator on my way to the health club, I spy a strange looking food stand. Hanging above the stand were all these curly-cue pipe-like objects and on the floor a rather obscene, phallic looking decoration. And surprisingly enough, a long line of people queued up to make a purchase. I vowed to investigate after my workout.

An hour and a half later, I make my way back down to find it is a Korean Ice Cream stand…Jipangi. Instead of a conical cone like I’m used to, Jipangi uses a hollow, j-shaped “pipe-cone” made out of corn. The ice cream is then pumped all the way through the cone and a small rosette is left at each end. You select between vanilla or chocolate, combo of the two, or the “flavor of the week”. (today it was strawberry but they had run out)

I selected a “junior” size vanilla. A little hesitant at first, I cautiously licked the ice cream….smooth, rich and delicious!!!! The “cone” tastes a lot like Captain Crunch cereal. Because the cone is hollow and the ice cream is pumped all the way through, you never run out of the ice cream…it is there for every bite. So imagine ice cream with Captain Crunch…GENIUS !!!!

I am addicted. As long as I work out really hard, sweat a lot, and “think” I lost 5 pounds or more, I don’t feel guilty splurging now and then.

FLEXIBLE FURNITURE
I am so lucky to be at a well resourced school. In our planning for our new school we are experimenting with different types of flexible furniture…try them out to see what works, what doesn’t, what impact does it have on instruction. We have standing desks, sit-on-the-floor desks, desks with white board surfaces, etc., etc. Most of the furniture is so moveable you can transform the room in a quick minute from tables groups of four to a large square or circle for discussion, push them to the wall to open up the room to allow movement…furniture is light and moveable, easy to control the educational setting. Take a look at some of this…kids LOVE it!!!

As this is my last year here in Malaysia, I thought I would add a section at the end of each post….WHAT I WILL MISS

For my first WHAT I WILL MISS….Driving. If you read our earlier posts you will probably remember how timid I was at first to get behind the wheel. Quite honestly, how frightened I was. And nothing made sense…the signs, the exits, the stop lights…nothing was the way it was “suppose” to be. But that ended long ago….I absolutely love driving on these crazy roads with all these crazy drivers doing crazy things. Have you ever been at a red light and no one is coming and you wait, because it is a red light? You are law abiding and responsible. Not here…you get to go. I’m sure it is against the law but if you don’t go, everyone will go around you. I feel like such a rebel !!!!

Merging is an art form. I use to wait patiently to merge into a lane and it would take me forever waiting for an opening. And when I would see one, the space would immediately evaporate as the car behind sensed I wanted in. Well the trick is to just stick the nose of your car into the crease between two bumpers. Presto…your aggression is rewarded and you are afforded a spot in the lane. There doesn’t seem to be a bit of road rage in this country.

If the three lane highway is chock a block full, no problem, you start a fourth lane on the shoulder. One way streets are usually one way, unless of course you need to go the other way to get to your destination. If holiday food stands pop up along the highway, don’t exit, just stop in the left hand lane, purchase your food, chat for a bit…the other cars will adjust and go around. No hard feelings for they might want to do the same thing down the road at their favorite stand.

I laugh and laugh when I drive here. There is always something funny that happens. Unfortunately, there are a lot of accidents in this country and one of the highest percentages of motorcycle deaths. So I will remain cautious, occasionally run a red light, and live the rebel life for a few more months!!!