Temperature: 33 Degrees Celsius and HUMID
Track of the day: "Fall for Anything," Blue Monday
"That's them," I say grabbing Alecs' arm excitedly, "Mom, Dad and
Sam - over in the corner." After a 9 hour flight to Bangkok, a 12 hour layover, 2 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and a 1.5 hour wait for them to arrive they are finally here. I hold up my handmade 'Green Family' sign and start feeling jittery all over. An emotional reunion and about 20 minutes later and we are all headed in a taxi van towards H
eritage Hotel. Alecs and I have been awake for nearly 39 hours at this point (stopping for a 4 hour nap at the transit hotel in the Bangkok Airport) but a second wind of excitement has me wide awake. We chat the whole way to the city - a 45 minute drive from the airport and before long are checked into our gorgeous hotel. Okay - gorgeous needs to be elaborated on a little bit. The outside is stunning - a converted railway station with gorgeous detailing - a tourist attraction in itself. The inside however - well it leaves a little to be desired as we all examine the less than desirable carpets. "It's only for 5 nights and the hotels get nicer as we go along," Mom says almost apologe
tically. "We're not here for the hotel anyway," Alecs says, "we're here to see Malaysia." We wander over to Chinatown - a short skip and a walk from the hotel to find a little place to eat. Settling on a quaint candle lit eatery inside the central market we talk some more exchanging travel stories and catching up on nearly a year apart.
"You up?" Alecs asks nudging me awake the next morning. "I am now," I say yaw
ning and stretching. "We should get ready if we're planning on making it to the Petronas towers this morning," he adds already showered and dressed as per usual. Arriving at the massive twin towers an hour later we quickly find out they are in fact closed on Monday's to the public. Content to spend some time shopping in the mall, catching up, hitting the large underground aquarium and walking around the outside of t
he towers we easily fill up the day. "A Christmas Carol in 3D is playing," I say, suggesting we might all go to it. A quick consensus is drawn and we are now donning goofy looking 3D glasses watching the marvels of Jim Carey. "This is perfect," Alecs whispers over my shoulder, "we always watch A Christmas Carol at Theater Calgary at this exact time of year for your birthday - at least we're watching a version of it this year." The movie ends we book a couple tours grab a delicious pizza dinner and head back to the hotel for the night. "We're finally here," Alecs says the next morning after a long bus ride out to the ancient city of Melacca, a UNESCO world heritage sight unto itself. Melacca sits opposite of Sumatra about four hours from Kuala Lumpur. We are led down the twisty roads of China-town past a Buddhist temple and a m
osque before reaching the Red House area which was so named for it's red colour. We visit Christ Church before Sam decides to have a photo taken with a white and fairly large snake. Then we are off to the Francis Xavier Church, a Gothic church built by a french saint back in 1849. It's a far hike up the 200+ stairs to the top but the view is well worth it. Sweeping across the ocean and showcasing the city in all it's glory we take a few moments to reflect on the fact we are actually here in Malaysia. Lunch, a couple more sights and a long 4 hour bus ride has us tucked away in our beds once again.
"Happy birthday to you," Alecs sings the next morning moments after I wak
e up. Indeed today is my birthday and it's sure to be one to remember. We spend the morning at the Kuala Lumpur bird park which proves to be quite an interesting endeavour. Aside from the vast array of colourful birds, there are plenty of hands on opportunities. I follow Alecs
into the parrot enclosure where we purchase a cup of milk to hold in the air for the parrots to swoop down and feed from. Suddenly however every bird in the enclosure frantically flies screeching to the corner of the enclosure and begins flying back and forth over our heads. A park employee tells us an eagle just flew overhead causing the parrots to panic. It's quite the entertaining moment until Alecs looks down to his shirt to find a gooey white stain. "I don't think that's ice cream," Alecs says, his face distorted. Once we're all cleaned up we grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to the hotel where Alecs promptly changes his shirt. By the time we have all cooled off sitting under the a/c a knock on our door informs us that our tour van is ready to go. A couple hour drive ou
t of the city has us at our first destination perched high atop a mountain, surrounded by lush rain forest, overlooking the great ocean we depart the van as our guide continues to explain about the monkeys. "They know if there are beans in your pockets," he says like a father would a child, "if they jump on you bend down to let them off, don't push them." After the lengthy warnings from our guide Dad heads over to a stand to buy bunches of green bean to feed the monkeys. There are droves and droves of monkeys, peeling off the trees and the moment they see us with bundles of beans they swarm us like ants at a picnic. A
monkey grabs Sam's leg and as Sam bends to hand him a single bean the cheeky little monkey leaps up to snatch the whole bundle. Everyone tries their hand at feeding the monkeys which seem to come at us from every side. I offer Alecs some more beans but he reluctantly shakes his head. "I don't like monkeys," Alecs say, "Apes, chimps, orangutans - those I like, but monkeys, monkeys are just mean and mischievous." Just as he says this we look back to see Dad walking down the street with an entire bag of beans. The monkeys start leaping from their trees and heading straight for him. There is nothing any of us can do except watch as he struggles to get them off his shoulders. Sam, Alecs and I laug
h while mom shouts out the instructions she remembers from the guide and before too long the hilarity ends and the monkeys have left with all the beans. Some dark clouds come rolling in and moments later (quite literally) it is pouring buckets down on us. We all hop back in the van and head to our dinner destination, a wooden restaurant on the river where we are served a variety of Chinese and Malay food as well as some fresh seafood. The rain subsides and a calm silence washes over the water and we are then whisked away to our final destination. Donning life jackets, we board a small boat and silently make our way up the river enclosed on all sides by bushe
s and trees teeming with fireflies. The boat captains turns off the engine and lights and we silently drift through the water at millions of twinkling firefly's glisten off the trees. A single firefly lands on Alecs' shoulder and the light of the moon filters through the sides of the boat. "This is amazing," I hear Mom say in front of me. We all nod our heads, silent as the faint sound of crickets fills the air. "That was by far the best thing we've done in Malaysia so far," Sam says as we drop our life vests off and head to the van. "I agree," says Alecs, "I've seen fireflies as a kid in the Philippines but never like that." We drift in and out of sleep for the duration of the trip back to the hotel where I get some birthday presents including a lovely necklace, a great book, some American
$$ for Cambodia, Thai Bhat and a swimsuit from Victoria's Secret that I had been eying for quite some time - a perfect end to a perfectly unforgettable birthday.
Sam - over in the corner." After a 9 hour flight to Bangkok, a 12 hour layover, 2 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and a 1.5 hour wait for them to arrive they are finally here. I hold up my handmade 'Green Family' sign and start feeling jittery all over. An emotional reunion and about 20 minutes later and we are all headed in a taxi van towards H
eritage Hotel. Alecs and I have been awake for nearly 39 hours at this point (stopping for a 4 hour nap at the transit hotel in the Bangkok Airport) but a second wind of excitement has me wide awake. We chat the whole way to the city - a 45 minute drive from the airport and before long are checked into our gorgeous hotel. Okay - gorgeous needs to be elaborated on a little bit. The outside is stunning - a converted railway station with gorgeous detailing - a tourist attraction in itself. The inside however - well it leaves a little to be desired as we all examine the less than desirable carpets. "It's only for 5 nights and the hotels get nicer as we go along," Mom says almost apologe
tically. "We're not here for the hotel anyway," Alecs says, "we're here to see Malaysia." We wander over to Chinatown - a short skip and a walk from the hotel to find a little place to eat. Settling on a quaint candle lit eatery inside the central market we talk some more exchanging travel stories and catching up on nearly a year apart."You up?" Alecs asks nudging me awake the next morning. "I am now," I say yaw
ning and stretching. "We should get ready if we're planning on making it to the Petronas towers this morning," he adds already showered and dressed as per usual. Arriving at the massive twin towers an hour later we quickly find out they are in fact closed on Monday's to the public. Content to spend some time shopping in the mall, catching up, hitting the large underground aquarium and walking around the outside of t
he towers we easily fill up the day. "A Christmas Carol in 3D is playing," I say, suggesting we might all go to it. A quick consensus is drawn and we are now donning goofy looking 3D glasses watching the marvels of Jim Carey. "This is perfect," Alecs whispers over my shoulder, "we always watch A Christmas Carol at Theater Calgary at this exact time of year for your birthday - at least we're watching a version of it this year." The movie ends we book a couple tours grab a delicious pizza dinner and head back to the hotel for the night. "We're finally here," Alecs says the next morning after a long bus ride out to the ancient city of Melacca, a UNESCO world heritage sight unto itself. Melacca sits opposite of Sumatra about four hours from Kuala Lumpur. We are led down the twisty roads of China-town past a Buddhist temple and a m
osque before reaching the Red House area which was so named for it's red colour. We visit Christ Church before Sam decides to have a photo taken with a white and fairly large snake. Then we are off to the Francis Xavier Church, a Gothic church built by a french saint back in 1849. It's a far hike up the 200+ stairs to the top but the view is well worth it. Sweeping across the ocean and showcasing the city in all it's glory we take a few moments to reflect on the fact we are actually here in Malaysia. Lunch, a couple more sights and a long 4 hour bus ride has us tucked away in our beds once again."Happy birthday to you," Alecs sings the next morning moments after I wak
e up. Indeed today is my birthday and it's sure to be one to remember. We spend the morning at the Kuala Lumpur bird park which proves to be quite an interesting endeavour. Aside from the vast array of colourful birds, there are plenty of hands on opportunities. I follow Alecs
into the parrot enclosure where we purchase a cup of milk to hold in the air for the parrots to swoop down and feed from. Suddenly however every bird in the enclosure frantically flies screeching to the corner of the enclosure and begins flying back and forth over our heads. A park employee tells us an eagle just flew overhead causing the parrots to panic. It's quite the entertaining moment until Alecs looks down to his shirt to find a gooey white stain. "I don't think that's ice cream," Alecs says, his face distorted. Once we're all cleaned up we grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to the hotel where Alecs promptly changes his shirt. By the time we have all cooled off sitting under the a/c a knock on our door informs us that our tour van is ready to go. A couple hour drive ou
t of the city has us at our first destination perched high atop a mountain, surrounded by lush rain forest, overlooking the great ocean we depart the van as our guide continues to explain about the monkeys. "They know if there are beans in your pockets," he says like a father would a child, "if they jump on you bend down to let them off, don't push them." After the lengthy warnings from our guide Dad heads over to a stand to buy bunches of green bean to feed the monkeys. There are droves and droves of monkeys, peeling off the trees and the moment they see us with bundles of beans they swarm us like ants at a picnic. A
monkey grabs Sam's leg and as Sam bends to hand him a single bean the cheeky little monkey leaps up to snatch the whole bundle. Everyone tries their hand at feeding the monkeys which seem to come at us from every side. I offer Alecs some more beans but he reluctantly shakes his head. "I don't like monkeys," Alecs say, "Apes, chimps, orangutans - those I like, but monkeys, monkeys are just mean and mischievous." Just as he says this we look back to see Dad walking down the street with an entire bag of beans. The monkeys start leaping from their trees and heading straight for him. There is nothing any of us can do except watch as he struggles to get them off his shoulders. Sam, Alecs and I laug
h while mom shouts out the instructions she remembers from the guide and before too long the hilarity ends and the monkeys have left with all the beans. Some dark clouds come rolling in and moments later (quite literally) it is pouring buckets down on us. We all hop back in the van and head to our dinner destination, a wooden restaurant on the river where we are served a variety of Chinese and Malay food as well as some fresh seafood. The rain subsides and a calm silence washes over the water and we are then whisked away to our final destination. Donning life jackets, we board a small boat and silently make our way up the river enclosed on all sides by bushe
s and trees teeming with fireflies. The boat captains turns off the engine and lights and we silently drift through the water at millions of twinkling firefly's glisten off the trees. A single firefly lands on Alecs' shoulder and the light of the moon filters through the sides of the boat. "This is amazing," I hear Mom say in front of me. We all nod our heads, silent as the faint sound of crickets fills the air. "That was by far the best thing we've done in Malaysia so far," Sam says as we drop our life vests off and head to the van. "I agree," says Alecs, "I've seen fireflies as a kid in the Philippines but never like that." We drift in and out of sleep for the duration of the trip back to the hotel where I get some birthday presents including a lovely necklace, a great book, some American
$$ for Cambodia, Thai Bhat and a swimsuit from Victoria's Secret that I had been eying for quite some time - a perfect end to a perfectly unforgettable birthday.Until next time so long,
Alecs and Meg (and family) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ps. Unfortunately there are no photo's to upload as we somehow managed to loose our camera at the airport. Luckily we had a spare waterproof camera and Lorrie/Kevin also had a couple camera's and of couse took photo's so we were still able to steal theirs.
I'm so glad you started the blogs. You forgot the firefly that landed on my nose and I didn't freak!
ReplyDeleteLorrie