We've decided to stay a few extra days here at Sutera in Kota Kinabalu. No real reason other than it's a nice place with ample places for getting supplies and provisions. Nothing(so far) has broken that has caused us to stay just being a bit lazy I guess.

Yesterday it was back into town to get more veggies at the big open air market and do some walking around the malls waiting for the shuttle bus to come back. We grabbed the 1310 shuttle with there being two hours(lunch for the driver) before the next one came in. We've been in some malls in our travels but this one (KK Plaza) was full of small stores many selling the exact same thing. I've noticed that the most amount of stores sell electronics. Phones, phones, and more phones!! These places were everywhere in this mall, some side by side all selling the same phones. If you need a Samsung Galaxy note pad, let me tell you, they are everywhere in every shop and store. I know that Apple is suing them so maybe they are trying to get as many sold as they can before the courts take over and stop them(if that is what happens). As Tracy was getting online this morning, we found that she had used all her 10 gigs that were charged on her dongle on the computer, so we will be heading back into town this afternoon after the generator gets the batteries charged back up.

It's with a great deal of sadness that I must announce the passing of one my most valuable crew mates. He has served me faithfully for years even before we set foot on Zephyr. Throughout the refit in Port Townsend and clear across the Pacific he was there faithfully giving me exactly what I needed, time after time. I know I pushed his buttons but he still came through for me. When we rewired the boat, he was by my side again giving me what I needed, time after time. I'm sad to say that my Brother P Touch label maker has passed on. I pulled it out of it's nice safe cubicle and pushed the "on" button and the screen stayed blank!!! I ripped off the back cover and pulled out the old batteries and shoved in new ones. Surely this will get him up and running. He just needed volts to get his heart pumping again. NO--he was dead! I searched high and low for a power cord to try that. Sadly, none I had would meet his needs of 9.5 volts. It was with a sad heart that we pronounced him dead at 1145, December 12. It has taken me a long time to come to grips with the fact that he is gone. Label after label, he was always there for me. Every 18 inches, he put forth a new label as we rewired Zephyr. Every part got labeled as it came aboard and went into a bag so it could be identified later. You name it, I labeled it. I've searched KK high and low looking for another with no luck. I can't even find an office supply store here. Oh, the pain!!! Now I'll be forced to hand write labels and for those of you that have ever seen me write something, you will understand why my friend was so important to me. He is sorely missed.
The picture for today is of the menu in one of the restaurants we ate at the other day. How's your Chinese?