Bird Park

This weekend we went to KL Bird Park.  It was quite impressive with very large open areas under netting so that it was not too obvious you were in a cage.  It was also large enough that it did not smell bad (except for the ostrich!) and there was no messy places.  In the Butterfly Park, it was Sarah that attracted the attention of the Butterflies.  In the Bird Park, it was Rebekah's turn.  They seemed to take to her easily.  Other than peacocks, we didn't see too many birds that were familiar.  The birds ranged from beautiful to monstrous.  No longer do I think the buzzard is the ugliest bird created. 

Half way through the park, my camera battery was dead, William's battery was dead, and Rebekah's was full.  I guess we should have paced ourselves. 



Once they had the birds rested on her, there were flashes from every direction, not just me.  There were not too many kids her size willing to let the birds hold on to them.  For adults, they would put 6 or 7 birds on them but I guess they were afraid she would panic.



Reptile Cave

We took a trip to some more caves this weekend.  In one of the caves they had a reptile zoo.  It was a little scary.  In the water jug shown below, there was actually a very angry cobra, head raised and flat.  The top of the jug was covered with only some mesh with a rubber band holding it on.  What was more scary was the empty cages we saw occasionally...where were they?

Fresh Coconut

Weekend in Singapore

We needed to leave the country for the weekend so we headed to Singapore just before Christmas.  The cleanliness of the country matched its reputation.  We did not realize they would decorate so much for Christmas, though.  It was not exactly traditional Christmas decorations, but the entire city was covered.  The hotel where we stayed was next to a park, surrounding an old fort that predated the British colonial era.  The fort gates were still intact.  There was also an underground bunker that was the final holdout of the British before surrendering to the Japanese in WWII. 

On our 2nd night we went to Sentosa island.  There was a very nice beech there.  However, you could not get a clear view of the sea because the harbor is continuously filled with ships supplying Singapore.  The kids only cared that they had sand to play in!

Our last night there we went to Hard Rock Cafe.  They had a live band that was great and played only classic American music.  The food was good and just for a little bit it made Kristen feel like we were back in the USA.  Singapore is not the most freedom loving place, but it was very clean and very nice.

Christmas in Malaysia

This is our first Christmas away from home.  The kids had one goal...to go swimming on Christmas.  It was rainy in the afternoon but they go to go this evening so they were very happy.  The kids have been watching Christmas Story and wanted to remember this as the Christmas they were introduced to Chinese Christmas Turkey.  So we dressed up and went to a nice Chinese restaurant.  The duck was good and the waitress was kind enough to take a picture for us.

I got Kristen a power supply so she can use her US waffle maker here (can't buy local waffle makers).  Technically this is her gift but I will probably be the main beneficiary.  For breakfast we had the first waffles we had in 4 months and they were great.  Lunch wasn't exactly traditional but it was all American so that was nice.

Christmas is different in Malaysia.  However, our housing area had lots of decorations and a giant Christmas tree.  On Tuesday, a local church sat up a little stage and sang Christmas carols.  It was nice.

Now it is bed time on our first, and hopefully last, Christmas away from home.

K'nex Award Ceremony

What an adventure this turned out to be for a little 9 year old. I had a $2000 cap on the trip so I had to be a little creative with the travel itinerary. In the end, the trip looked something like:

To K'nex:
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (over night) to Tokyo to LA to Chicago to Pittsburgh (over night) to Philadelphia.

From K'nex:
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (over night) to DFW to Vancouver (over night) to Tokyo Narita to Bus drive across Tokyo to Tokyo Haneda to Singapore to KL

That is 12 flights in 7 days. All on time with no lost luggage. My expense report ended up being in 5 different currencies. It cost me 200,000 airline miles but I was able to get the whole trip under the $2000 limit.

We spent 3 nights in hotels, 2 nights in terminals, and 2 nights on an airplane. For both terminal stays combined, we probably slept 2 hours. The stay in Singapore wasn't much better at 3 hours. So, we were pretty tired. William handled it well, never complaining or even saying that he was tired. The only problem was that every time he got still, he would fall asleep and I could barely wake him up. On the last day, he fell asleep at the table where we were eating breakfast. After waking him, he would be certain that he was never asleep.

We were only in airport terminals until we reached Philadelphia and were able to get out and drive to Hatsfield where the ceremony was. It was a cold miserable rain and we had no warm clothes since we came straight from Malaysia. We were able to get there in time to do some shopping for Kristen and get some good Italian food. Most of the next day was spent at the ceremony. The folks at K'nex did a great job. They were very generous with their time in showing the kids the K'nex facility as well as the manufacturing facility. William even got a large check. I never thought I would actually see one of those large checks. Since we could not carry it back with us, they said they would mail it back to Texas. At the end of the day, they let the 3 winners fill a bag with any K'nex pieces they wanted. This was the highlight of the day for William. On top of that, they gave him some more pre-filled bags of K'nex. After some quick rearranging, we were able to fit all the K'nex in our carry-on luggage and all of the extra clothes in the checked luggage. William thought it was a little too risky to store the K'nex in the checked luggage. This helped pass the time at the terminals anyway.

On the way back to the airport after the ceremony, we had a couple of extra hours so I drove down to Independence Hall. William has always wanted to see the Liberty Bell. We were able to get there 5 minutes before it closed. Unfortunately, Independence Hall was under construction so you really couldn't see it. We saw some other neat things like the 1st US bank, the location where the 1st Continental Congress met, the building where the 1st US Supreme Court met and a few others. It was very neat but we had to make it quick because it was pretty chilly with no coat.

The next day we went to Vancouver where we had a 24 hour layover. To make the most of it, we got a hotel in downtown Vancouver. It was a beautiful place and very well decorated for Christmas. That was a welcome sight after being in Malaysia. We were so tired we spent almost all of our time in the hotel sleeping, but it was a great relief from the travel.

From there it was 4 more flights and back to Malaysia. I have finally adjusted to driving in Malaysia but driving in PA and Canada has messed me all up again. I keep putting the windshield wipers on when I want to blink and vice versa. William was the GPS navigator for the whole trip. That is pretty good considering it was in 3 countries. In PA and Canada he would tell me, "Stay on the right, Daddy. Stay on the right." Every time we came to a turn. That was very helpful and the trip was too short for it to become annoying.

All told, it was a great adventure and I hope William was not too tired to remember it. For sure, I have never been so glad to be back here!

The local paper was at the ceremony and they have an article you can read here:
http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2010/12/03/news/doc4cf82a6cc9cec401458631.txt?viewmode=default

We spent a few nights sleeping in an airplane terminal.  Here you can see our accommodations.

A trip to the jungle

A few weeks ago we took a trip to a place called FRIM.  It is a jungle preserve that includes the mountains that bound KL on one side.  When you climb to the top of the mountain, you can overlook the entire city.  Surprisingly, it is only about 6 miles from our house so we can go there very easily.  Once there, you can take hiking trails through the jungle and up the mountain.  When I was told about this place, no one mentioned that it was a mountain.  I ended up having to carry a backpack and Rachel all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom.  I was exhausted but the kids had a blast.  So far, I think William still believes that the jungle trip is the best trip so far.  Mostly because they were able to get outside and run out in the woods.  I think they were the only kids on the entire mountain.  For some reason, it was only adults climbing. 

When you get to the top, there is a small rope suspension bridge that you can take out over the jungle.  It was scary, but pretty neat.  William was ready to get off immediately, but afterwards said it was fun.  The girls were completely fearless.  Coming down the mountain, you follow a water fall...pretty neat.

The pictures do not do justice to how far in the air we were.  It was from the bridge that you could look out and see the city. 

After the trip to the jungle, we cleaned up and went out for a meal.  This is the night we found a nice German restaraunt and ordered a suckling pig.  I did not know what a suckling pig would be but it sounded good.  Sure enough, they brought out a plate with an entire pig on it, head and everything.  Between the 6 of us, we ate the entire thing!