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Not seeing a lot of KL

14/2/2016

As Barry mentioned in his post, we haven't been getting out and exploring KL they way we really should be. We've spent most of our time in the hotel and at the mall attached to the hotel. The good news is, we've managed to get everyone what they need to cope through our first week (and more) in Seoul.
Today, I broke the shopping spell and felt I really should see something of this disjointed city. George has a cold - kind of ironic in 35C heat - so he stayed in, and Barry didn't want to go...so just Molly and I set out. We thought we'd start with the butterfly park, stroll through the big Sentral Park and then head to Chinatown to buy a new suitcase to carry all our new clothes.
After a short, but rather rough taxi ride, we went inside the mediocre butterfly park. Unfortunately, the carsicknesses I thought I got on the trip over wouldn't pass, probably due to the intense heat, stifling humidity and the pungent odours in the butterfly park. Before long I was sitting with my head between my legs.
We saw what there was to see and headed to the hotel in a much smoother cab. We'll have to get the suitcase later.
Fortunately, the gross feelings passed in a few hours and I was ready to head out late afternoon to see the Petronas Towers, KL's landmark. George wasn't really feeling that perky, but we dragged him along anyway.
We could't get up the tower today (perhaps Tuesday), but we strolled around the big park nearby and saw how families spend their Sunday. We were also blown away by the number of luxury brand stores at the attached mall. This city must have some money to support Gucci, Louis Vuitton and all their friends.
Despite the rain, we're soon heading upstairs for a swim in the dark . It just seems like something we should do here.

Hibiscus - Malaysia's national flower

A rare family selfie at the Petronas Twin Towers

a Sunday afternoon in KL

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Kuala Lampur

12/2/2016

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I feel like I don't have a lot to share with you about the past few days. It's been exceptionally hot (35 degrees today) so we've been staying indoors or swimming on the rooftop, but even today we avoided the sun midday.

We haven't even explored much of KL. The first day we were here, we pretty much stuck to the pool and the mall - we're on a bit of a mission this week to get some practical, everyday, clothes for all of us.I've gotten jeans, and Molly has new boots and tops. Even tonight after dinner George got two new pairs of pants and three shirts. I don't think it's cool to wear zip-off travel pants in Seoul. Barry may need some more coaxing to shop given it is his least favourite activity.

Today's highlight was learning the traditional Malaysian art of batik painting. There's a shop at the Central Market where they have pre-waxed outlines on cotton and customers can paint their own pictures. Molly posted some photos on her blog. It was a fun art project, and it was nice to get our hands a little dirty. Molly continues to dream of finally getting some art supplies in Korea to have around whenever she feels inspired. I've got to look into art classes when we get there.

We all agree that we aren't in love with the Malaysian food we've had so. It seems to lack the spice and flavour of so many other foods. Oh well, they have a lot of Western foods to keep us happy.

This is the Central Market - a tourist zone for Malaysian handicrafts and other goods.

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Made it to Kuala Lampur

10/2/2016

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We enjoyed our very pleasant 6 hour bus ride from Singapore to KL on a luxury bus today.

We spent the late afternoon and early evening enjoying the hotel's great rooftop infinity pool. I'm too tired to load any photos or write anymore, but just wanted to say we made it here safely.

Goodnight.

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Super Impressed with Singapore

9/2/2016

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Singapore is super coo! Not in temperature, but in it's urban design.

This city - this country - has embraced such impressive design feats that it's not surprising so many people want to come here to work, live and explore.

Today we strolled from our hostel along the river towards the Bay Gardens. Along the way I continued to be impressed at the way this place has woven together such industrious history with today's modern financial and globalized needs and wants. We walked by a statue honouring Sir Thomas Raffles, the British man who is credited for "founding Singapore in 1819" and his "genius and perception changed the destiny of Singapore from an obscure fishing village to a great seaport and modern metropolis." Obviously, this Brit led the way in developing something that has certainly not given up it's desire to be great. I'm also impressed that there doesn't seem to be a stench of resentment towards the colonizers here (or maybe there is and I don't see it).

This modern land of opportunity has the most impressive building I've ever seen. It's called Marina Bay. You can pay to take the elevator up to see the city, but it wasn't a priority...maybe it should have been.

Marina Bay and the Merlion - the mythical Singapore creature

I'm not sure if I'm more impressed by the design of the building - three towers with a ship on top, or if I'm more impressed with the fact that some city planners actually approved it. I'm sure there are thousands of imaginative architects out there, but not as many creative people in city offices who are willing to see ideas actually completed.

Anyway, once we were done being impressed by this, we walked to the other side of it and visited Singapore's top rated attraction, Gardens by the Bay.

I have never been more moved by a park. The contemporary geniuses of Singapore have found a way to beautifully blend human creation with Godly creation. Plants, water, stone, steel, lights, plastic, and throngs of visitors mesh together into something really graceful. It's like the Haliburton Sculpture Forest on steroids. Super steroids!

The light today was incredibly flat, so the pictures lack a lot of colour. The scale is also a challenge to capture, but here are few images anyway.

These tall structures are called the Super Grove - human made "trees" covered in real plants. They might not look like much, but they are really cool.

I won't bore you with more photos, but I will say I'd really like to come back here to fully explore the park, including the indoor section and the skywalk which were too busy due to Lunar New Year national holiday today.

This evening I saw some more beautiful sculptures in the city when I had a private walk.

Anyway, I'll be sad to leave Singapore tomorrow because I feel like there's still so much to explore here.
We'll be back.

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Bringing in the year of the Monkey

7/2/2016

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It's Lunar New Years Eve, and the Singaporeans know how to celebrate it. The main ethnic group in Singapore is Malay, but there's also a large number of Chinese (and Indian) people here, so Chinese New Year is a big deal. The city has been nicely decorated all week, and the kids were given chocolates at the hostel reception today. It's a fun atmosphere.

We had a pleasant day strolling the main shopping district and having a tasty lunch in one of the malls. Singapore is known for it's good, cheap international cuisine, and we've yet to be disappointed. Barry asked the questions if people even have kitchens here because it seems there are restaurants everywhere, and they're always full.

After our shopping we rested up in our room till 7pm then ventured over to Chinatown to find dinner and see how the locals celebrate. We found some yummy street food, and miraculously a table to eat it at, and some nice people to share a table with.

Just for the record, Ted, the big bottle of Tiger was $8...and that's pretty good here.

The crowds were certainly out, and some of the streets were packed with more people that I thought could possibly fit on them. Molly asked what the plan was if we got separated, and I said I didn't have one - we'd have to stick together. She didn't seem satisfied with that answer so the hostel (3km away) became the meeting place. Anywhere else would have been too chaotic. It'd be like trying to meet a salmon midstream in spawning season. Luckily we all made it back to the hostel safely.
It's 11:25, and I know we'll be missing a fine fireworks display in half an hour, but we just couldn't hang in there.
All in all, it was fun to participate in a celebration that a huge portion of the world's population considered the biggest night of the year.

Happy New Year!

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Orchids of Singapore

6/2/2016

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Singapore feels like an orchid hothouse everywhere, so its not surprising that they have a gorgeous orchid garden here. It's found within the Singapore Botanical Garden, which is huge and full of lots of variety, but, to me, the orchids were the highlight. There are between 25,000 - 30,000 orchid species in the world. Imagine!

I just finished reading the novel, Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert where botany is discussed at length, including many variety of orchids. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the orchids anyway, but the book whet my appetite for it.

Here's a small sample of what we enjoyed today....or I should say, Molly and I enjoyed, Barry enjoyed for longer than he would have chosen mostly due to the extreme heat, and George would not have used any form of the word 'joy' in any description of his garden trip...well, he did see a meter long monitor lizard which was kinda cool. At least everyone was a good sport about the long, slow-paced visit.

As it turns out form the photos, George did appear to have some fun today.

Molly's toe infection continues to heal, so we were able to walk a little further today. Hopefully it'll be ready for the water park on Monday and the Lunar New Year celebrations that the city seems to be getting ready for.

Someone else likes the flowers here. Look what I saw on the side of building while out for a quiet morning walk.

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Enjoying Singapore despite the rain

5/2/2016

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I like a hot sauna. We grew up with one in our house, so perhaps that's why I find the steamy weather in S'pore is so comforting. Molly prefers dry heat, and seems to be wilting in the humidity. George is dragging himself around the city reluctantly, though I'm not sure if that's because it's hot, or if it's because he's 13.
We had to stop for Slushies and cold beer at the 7Eleven to rejuvenate the troops in Little India. Regardless, I love the weather. Not one part of me is cold...and that's exceptionally unusual.

Molly in Little India

It's getting harder and harder to get a photo of George

The Slushies helped beat the heat

Now with the heat comes daily rain. According to a woman in a shop, today's rain was significantly longer than usual; it lasted about an hour. When it rains here, it usually does so efficiently by pouring hard for 10-15 minutes then ending abruptly and the city is left to steam itself for the remainder of the day.
Today, however, it came so relentlessly that my 15 minute anticipated break on a shopping street turned into an hour of killing time.

the rain

The rain caused me to really slow down. I had thought I'd use my hour or two alone to rush through the Arab quarter where the rest of the gang left me and work my way along the street towards the hostel, trying to see as much as possible. Instead, I was forced to wait out the rain on Arab Street on a block with a covered sidewalk that was home to fabric shops, Turkish carpet and lamp shops, beads and sequins for sewing and headscarf stores. As it turns out, the pace was nice. I had good chats with a few merchants, which I would have missed had I been hurrying, and I enjoyed the smells brought out by the rain too. I ended up buying Molly some beads to make some simple jewelry out of. It's a simple small craft that's easy to carry and keeps her occupied during our down time in small spaces.

As the call to prayer rang out on the loud speakers just before 5:00, I realized I'd eventually have to work my way back regardless of how wet I was going to get. Luckily, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started. I hopped on a bus to expedited the trip, but got off early to see St. Jame's church. This large, but simple building looked liked a pretty cameo inside with it's colonial ivory white colour with an alter backdrop of wedgwood blue. Simple can be so pretty.

Barry, George and Molly were enjoying their afternoon rest when I arrived. We're not supposed to have food in our hostel room, but I smuggled in two cold beers to chill with. Such a rebel.

Singapore's old buildings along the river with new ones behind. We're staying just behind the small buildings on the river.

Dinner was George's choice and we ended up having Mexican along the river in a busy nightlife neighbourhood. A nice after dinner stroll let us see the lights of the city.

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We've arrived in Singapore

3/2/2016

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Arriving in Singapore - I've never seen a busier port city

We had a minor delay leaving Perth, and we had a candy-filled flight north to steamy Singapore. We keep the kids happy on the flights by letting them buy candy - it's way cheaper than expensive flights that have movies!

Our flight was uneventful, our arrival went smoothly, people watching during the customs line was entertaining, our bags came out as we arrived at the carousel, the bank machine gave us local currency without a glitch, and the subway ride into the city was smooth sailing - how nice.

It appears that the rumours about Singapore's cleanliness obsession is true: check out the sign on the subway. I told the kids if they were caught littering in this city, they'd have to pay their own fine themselves. I hadn't thought to discuss smoking and using flammable gases....

After getting settled at our hostel in the tiniest room yet, we headed for dinner across the street.
The attendant at our hostel is exceptionally helpful and even walked across the street to help us order. If I've learned anything on my travels it's that chilly peppers and hot sauce are not the same everywhere. I carelessly dumped all the provided spice on my noodles and found the only way to get each bite down was if it was chased with a cold beer. I'm lying in bed an hour after dinner, and my lips are still burning...and I may have a headache tomorrow.

Travel days are always tiring. I always think they're going to be easy...just sitting on our bums for 5 hours, right? But, every travel day we are all exhausted, usually a little irritable with one another: there are even tears sometimes.

Today we didn't have the latter until we discovered a nasty blister/infection type thing on Molly's toe. Poor thing! Her toes is the size of a grape. Hopefully it won't keep her up in the night and it'll be better in the morning. The blister fed her exhaustion, and she barely had the energy to eat. Of the four of us, Molly consistently finds the transition to the new places the most overwhelming.

Do you recognize the beer glass, Lorry and Ted?

We're snuggled in our beds for the night enjoying the lovely Asian internet!

I'm looking forward to exploring this very cool city tomorrow. Our friend, Lisa Pak, from Canada who has just moved here, will be joining us tomorrow afternoon. How nice it'll be to have someone new to chat to.

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Getting ready to move on

2/2/2016

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I know you've heard us rant before about terrible internet service, but here I go again...when travelling and being so disconnected from our regular life, having a way to connect to the outside world for news, email chats, reading FaceBook and preparing for the next stop all becomes important. When the internet is poor quality or unavailable, it's just so hard to feel connected. Evelyn and Connie celebrated birthday on the 31st, and of course the internet didn't work that day....it may not feel like a big deal to most of you, but not being able to send wishes on the right day matters.
So now we're in Mandurah, and the internet doesn't work in the room, but it does work in the lobby. I'm sitting just outside it - in the shade trying to catch up and prepare for Singapore.

Over the past few days we've seen some sun and heat, and some cool chilly days. We've been on and off the beach, and in and out of towns. We enjoyed Busselton's beach, and we also had a nice stop in Bunbury yesterday at a small, but informative Dolphin Discovery Centre. We all had some informative lessons on stingrays, octopi, sea stars, lobsters and dolphins. We had hoped the wild dolphins that live in the bay by the Centre would come for a visit, as they do most days, but our timing was off much to Molly's disappointment. Perhaps we'll see some in Mandurah today.

Australia has been a good stop. I think we are all delighted we made the effort and spent the money to come. We have enjoyed the familiarity of the culture, language and food after a month in Asia. This will be the last of its kind till next summer when we go to Canada! I hate to say it, but I also feel like we ticked off the Oceania Continent box on the list. I know there is so much more to see in Australia and the rest of the continent, but if I never get back to this part of the world, at least I have had a taste...and it was good.

Today we intend to do fun chores like laundry (we have a washer and a dryer - how exciting), spend our final day on a beach, have a lesson or two, and prepare to leave here early tomorrow morning.

On a personal note, I'd like to wish Doug, my lovely father-in-law, a very happy birthday. He is in Collingwood with June, Brent and Laurie enjoying some skiing, his obsession. Have a wonderful day, Doug and many blessings for the year ahead.

I also want to send birthday wishes to my niece, Maija Beachli. 13!!! Welcome to your teenage years. I'm sure they'll be exciting ones. Much love, brilliant young lady.

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We're outta here, mate

2/2/2016

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We're just waiting for our flight to Singapore at the Perth airport. We seemed to be delayed, but hopefully we'll get going soon....ahhh, they just called us...gotta run.
We're looking forward to Singapore.
Bye mates.

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Not seeing a lot of KL

Kuala Lampur

Made it to Kuala Lampur

Super Impressed with Singapore

Bringing in the year of the Monkey

Orchids of Singapore

Enjoying Singapore despite the rain

We've arrived in Singapore

Getting ready to move on

We're outta here, mate

Author - Ursula

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