This morning(Saturday), I made a call to a dentist office in Johor Bahru to make an appointment to get our teeth checked. Tracy has a chip out of one of her's and I just need a general checkup. We last had them checked and cleaned when we were in Fiji a couple of years ago. It's time for a checkup. I called the office this morning to make an appointment and after the girl took our information, she told us she would call us back with an appointment. Now that's something novel. Four hours later, I called the office since we hadn't heard back and basically got the same run around only this time I told her I needed an appointment and didn't want her to call us back. I again, told her the specifics of what we needed. Again, she offered to call us back. Again, I said I wanted an appointment and not to call back. She asked our names(for the third time) and again what we needed to have done(again, the third time) and after telling me to wait, she came back with Monday night. Monday NIGHT? I guess they stay open late for people that work. We told her that we needed an appointment during the day as buses don't run at night. Next offered was Wednesday at lunch time? Sure, that works fine by us. So, after two calls and standing firm that I didn't want another call back, we have our appointment.
Tracy made Tom Yum Gai Soup for lunch today. A bowl of goodness. Chicken, Lemon Grass, Birdseye chili, Kaffir leaves, Galangal, Shallots, Palm Sugar, Lime juice, bean sprouts, tomato, and coconut milk all mixed together. It was not only tasty but very colorful. As for the Birdseye Chilis, they are quite potent so they simply got pounded and added them to the stock and then removed then a short time later. We got the flavor and some of the heat but not the nastiness of it's full potential ove viciousness. We had a side dish of the left over black rice from a few days ago when I served it with the Spam concoction. A great lunch on a rainy day.
It started raining just after 0900 and it poured and then the winds came and it really got going in the marina. Everything was flying around and it was worse up at the hotel with retaining curtains coming down.
It's now Wednesday so let's get the latest.Monday, we headed back into Johor Bahru using buses to get around. We're trying to avoid the cabs so we can be more independent. From bus to bus, we made our way all over town the several different shopping centers. I had to go the Mac repair facility. They had called and told me that they couldn't get the parts to fix it so it will be coming back with me to the US when I came so a real Mac store can have a go at it. We bought a bit more food at several of the grocery stores since every shopping center has one as their anchor store. On the way back, I headed for Gelang Patah to pick up our alternator. They fixed if and added a regulator for about $90.00US. Tuesday would be installation day. While I was at Gelang Patah getting the alternator, Tracy got off the bus at the Marina and had a coffee at the new coffee joint. Old Town While Coffee. We now have FOUR coffee places in the small strip mall at the marina.
Tuesday morning, I had to make a quick trip to Danga Bay Marina. When we came in to Puteri Marina, we followed a boat that we had met earlier as we came down the coast(Admiral Marina). Steve was expecting a package and I had agreed to watch for it as he was heading for Danga Bay Marina. He'd left me his email address so I could let him know when it showed. I, of course, lost the note it was on so I grabbed a bus to get the boxes to him. Out of here at 0940 and back just after 1300.
We started in on replacing a very old hose in the engine room that goes from the engine to the water heater to heat the water with hot water from the engine passing through tubes in the heater. Works great but the hose was so old it was soft and over the last year, it had gotten some holes in it that I'd wrapped with silicon tape. It was time to replace it since the drain to get the water out of the engine was right beside the "start" alternator. With it being out, it was the perfect time to do it. Off came the hose clamps and out came the hose. We threaded the new one through the bulkhead wall and over to the heater. On went the hose clamps and brackets we reinstalled to hold the hose in place and the job was done. Next, we installed the alternator. We grabbed two containers of coolant that I'd had in storage in the stern locker and we poured it into the water holding tank and then added distilled water. Well, we came to the conclusion that we didn't have enough coolant so we stopped and I grabbed the shuttle that goes to the Tuesday night market. I knew there was an auto shop there as I'd bought by batteries there and had the alternator fixed also. I bought two liters of coolant at about $12.50US per liter. Seemed a bit high but when you need it, you need it. I also got an 18 liter bucket of oil for the engine. It's time to change it so what I don't use, I'll pour into old empty containers for later use. Time permitting, we will be back in the engine room this afternoon. We both have dentist appointment for this afternoon. Gee what fun.