My Electric Postcard

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – OK, so I guess when traveling you have to experience a few bumps in the road right? About a week ago my computer started dying. For some reason it wasn’t re-charging. I basically used it until the battery ran down and I thought that would be the end of it for the rest of my trip. Well, I don’t know what happened since then, but given that I’m using it now, something got fixed. Perhaps it’s more likely I was screwing something up, but whatever. Comparatively more serious was loosing my wallet at the Park Royale Hotel during the Asian Mycological Conference. Word to the wise, don’t wear cheap ass shorts from Target with shallow pockets, stuff them with an oversized designer wallet then sit down on a over-stuffed lobby chair. It’s going to squirt out of that pocket like you’re stepping on a tube of toothpaste. I didn’t know I had lost it until 2 hours later. Luckily the myco-gods were smiling on me since some kind person turned it in to the reception desk. Perhaps...

Penang, Malaysia – So I’m here at the Asian Mycological Congress that is being held at the posh Park Royal Hotel. It’s good to be back in Malaysia. This signifies an end to what was a pretty challenging semester. To be honest, I can’t think of a better way to end it than on a beachside tropical resort, socializing with friends, both personal and professional, new and old, foreign and familiar. This is my first trip to Penang and I’m glad I made it. My friend Cathy wasn’t so lucky. She was waylaid by storms in New York, ended up missing her flight out of Hong Kong and had to stay an extra 24hrs. I guess it wasn’t too bad since her airline fed her well and put her up in a hotel. I had my own bumps in the road to get here. I flew out of Boston on a Thursday morning and went through Long Beach on my way to Oakland. Jet Blue however decided to ship my luggage from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. I arrived in OAK at around 3PM and my flight for Kuala Lumpur was going to leave out of San Franci...