Petronas Towers

For some reason we waited until Wynn and Bonnie's last day in Malaysia to visit the famous Petronas Towers! They were the tallest buildings in the world for awhile (taller than the Sears Tower) and, I think, still hold the title of tallest twin towers. There's a bridge connecting the towers about halfway up, and despite Wynn's bravery to tackle it, the tickets were sold out for the day. Anyway...there's a splash pad right outside of the mall at its base, so it made for a few great photos!




And here's a night view of the towers (and the KL Tower) from our front porch...



As for Wynn and Bonnie ("Gallie and Grandy")...we miss you already! Now we'll just be counting down the days till we make it your way this summer. Thanks again for such a memorable Christmas in KL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to our dear friends and family...we miss you and wish you a very Happy New Year!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you:
He is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11

A Malaccan Christmas Eve!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Wynn and Bonnie by traveling two hours south to Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage City here in Malaysia. It was a great day -- hampered only a bit by a mid-afternoon downpour -- but highlights included a river cruise with the Malaccan Crocs (i.e. water lizards that resemble komodo dragons), lunch at a French/Portuguese crepe shop, shopping the markets of Jonker Street and ending the day with a a flower-cad rickshaw tour. Definitely a Christmas Eve to remember!



And the kids were excited to wear their new pajamas that night -- Merry Christmas to each of you!

BALI...

We're back from celebrating our 10th anniversary in Bali...and I must say that Southeast Asia is beginning to grow on me!:) It was amazing -- just as culturally rich and tranquil as hoped. We packed a lot into our three short days -- surf school for Jonathan, 3-hour spa treatment for me (only $25!), beach dinners, temple touring, rice paddy treks and even a self-guided hunt for Julia Robert's set house from Eat Pray Love (with some help from a few locals) -- it was all incredible!



And a big thank you to Wynn and Bonnie for taking care of Addie and Abe while we were away! Here's a picture of the welcome home party in their new Bali Batiks! :)

Weekend Pictures

A few random pictures from our weekend in KL with Wynn and Bonnie....Christmas shopping at the Pavilion mall, downtown in KL's "Times Square", the Tea Cup Fountain, and a quick visit to Jonathan's office at the Fulbright/MACEE Commission. Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in KL!

I'm happy to report that stores and malls go overboard with Christmas decorations here...which nearly makes up for the not-so-white-Christmas weather! I took the kids down to Bangsar Village (our neighborhood mall) to see the finished LEGO tree exhibit this morning (supposedly the tallest Christmas tree in Asia...I'm not-so-convinced...). We're planning to check out a few more downtown displays next week with Wynn and Bonnie, so stay tuned!

Speaking of tallest in Asia, how about this friendly beetle we caught hanging out on our front porch last week?

School Party

Today was Addie's last day before Malaysia's one-month Christmas/winter school break. All the kids could dress in their favorite costume and were asked to bring a special treat to share with the class. I had asked her teacher, Auntie Cindy, what kind of food would be appropriate and she replied, "you know--sausages or bean buns". Hmmmmm....I am still quite leery of the Asian "bean bun" and would have no clue how to make "sausages" look festive for a preschool party, so I opted for chocolate cupcakes. Here's a picture of the kids this morning and a few other ones from this past week with Gallie and Grandy.
We miss you all!

And we're back!

We returned home yesterday morning from Singapore - Zoo and Night Safari, Chinatown, Silosa Beach, Bumboat Cruise, and some really good food -- definitely one of the more amazing (and by far the cleanest) cities I have ever visited. All of this + an overnight train* there and back = two very tired kiddos!

Now we are back in KL and in full-blown Christmas mode...little weird in 95 degree weather? The tree is up, carols playing, stockings hung and I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...enjoy some hot chocolate for us! :)



*Just a small note on overnight trains....I now liken them all to rats (which ironically you do encounter on overnight trains every now and then?). Every city has them and although they might vary in size, smell and disease, they will all rob you of your sleep and sanity. Don't be fooled...avoid them at all cost...even when your husband says you'll save $50 per ticket.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wynn and Bonnie arrived just in time for turkey and all the trimmings (Malaysian-style!) and we celebrated with some fellow MSU alumni here in KL -- David and Linda Poon. Definitely a memorable Thanksgiving!

And here's what I'm most thankful for this Thanksgiving...


Miss you all and count you among our richest blessings. Now we're off to catch an overnight sleeper train to Singapore!

Abe at the Bangsar Sunday Market....

...I think Malaysia just might be wearing this boy down?! :)

Gallie and Grandy are Coming!

Wynn and Bonnie arrive on Monday and we can't wait! We will celebrate Thanksgiving in KL and then head to Singapore on Friday for a long holiday weekend! It's been a good week---but we're anxious for Jonathan to return tonight from his week-long trip to Thailand. Addie wrapped up the school week with a fieldtrip to a fire station today...I was just thrilled to find out there were actually fire stations in Malaysia??

My favorite quote of the week...an Indian-Malaysian cab driver telling me this morning, "your boy look like little Paul Newman".:)

Visit to KL Bird Park

This weekend we visited the KL Bird Park -- the world's largest free-flight, walk-in aviary. It was pretty amazing!





We did have a small incident at the Hornbill Cafe over lunch. Ironically, a "hornbill" caught sight of Abe's peanut butter sandwich and cleverly made his attack. Here's how it went down...



And my absolute favorite picture from the day...I'll let you fill in the caption!:)

School Pics!

Just wanted to post these from this morning...Abe is feeling better and Addie is loving school! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Malaysian Revelations

This post is a bit random...consider yourselves warned...but here are some observations of my week:

1. The "tail is back" here in KL. For those of you pre- or post-80s pop culture generations, I'm speaking of the male-sported hair tail. I've seen way more than I'm comfortable with here in Malaysia, and actually, I'm not really convinced they ever went out (Yes Matt Harrell...you would love this place). Now that I'm thinking of it, this might also explain their corresponding fascination with Debbie Gibson and Rick Astley. It's wild....they play their music everywhere...makes me miss Electric Youth perfume.

2. Lizards. I think I'm coming to terms with these house guests and am trying...slowly...to appreciate their harmless, insect-eating selves. For those of you who are re-thinking any plans of a future visit to KL, be comforted that pest control is coming this afternoon -- they were supposed to come last week (refer to #3). My favorite quote from this morning was from our very sweet house-help, Mary. I was asking her about the mysterious, black ooze that appeared to be coming from our air conditioner. She said in her gentle, broken English, "That's sh*t maam....lizard sh*t". :)

3. God Bless Americans and their punctuality. I know we take this too far and become calendar obsessed zombies, but Franklin Covey hasn't made it to Asia. I now realize that if a store clerk tells me they'll have more diet coke "next Tuesday" or the pizza delivery man quotes "three minutes only"....these promises are loose. Same with lines...they are a bit arbitrary here, so I'm back to boxing people out like in India.

4. God Bless Malaysians for truly accomplishing the melting pot. Addie's class looks like the small world ride at Disney and somehow, our pasty-white family seems to fit into our comfortably eclectic neighborhood quite well. However, I was the ONLY white girl to attend a BSF introductory meeting last night -- 150 women representing a wide variety of beautiful beige to brown tones -- and then me. Pretty sure I stood out...but hearing the group collectively sing "Amazing Grace" with a Mandarin/Bahasa/British/Cantonese bent was pretty amazing!

And a funny story from yesterday...it was show and tell day at Addie's school and after spending a good fifteen minutes brainstorming on what Addie could take (and I must say that we had some really great ideas), she decided to take her Little Pet Shop Porcupine....that she has named "Porky". She is a bit confused on the word "poke" and instead thinks "Porky goes around and porks people". Hmmmmm...bet that was a show and tell to remember. Pick your battles, right?

Hope you guys had a fun week too -- we miss you!

First Day of School!

Today was Addie's first day at Tulip Montessori School! She was so excited...and I was excited that she had finally conquered the flu bug that had been hanging around for nearly a week (...and we did rule out Dengue Fever after an inaugural run to Pantei Hospital...which I must say is a refreshing step-up from those in India!). Abe is now taking his turn, but thankfully the local pharmacy refilled Addie's antibiotics for him (no questions asked?)! Can you tell he's not at the top of his game?



And my "You know you're in Asia when..." moment of the week? Standing in the check-out lane of a store behind a chinese boy with an abacus! I'm not even kidding...you don't see that at Walmart!:)

Back by Popular Demand...

So as much as I wanted to pull the "I have adorable hand-me-down Woody and Jesse coordinating Halloween costumes and you're going to wear them" card, both Addie and Abe wanted to be the same thing as last year! :) We had fun, despite Addie and I fighting an annoying flu bug, and Halloween even has a surprising presence here in KL! Here are a few pictures of Cinderella and Lion Round #2:



Even Chip got in on the fun...reluctantly...

Lizard-palooza!

For those of you who read my post about Larry, our friendly kitchen lizard, I wanted to provide an update. Jonathan chased him down a few nights ago after he popped out of a paper towel dispenser and I screamed bloody murder. When he finally cornered him behind the microwave, he was with a friend (we'll call her Lola). Somehow he caught both of them and sent them on their reptile way (both without tails...which keep wiggling for some time after point of impact...super weird), but the next morning there was ANOTHER lizard peeking out from the same perch. We caught that one last night and again this morning, there was ANOTHER one in its place. What?! Pest control is coming this week, but in the meantime, we have officially given up the chase. And to think that I complained about ants in Phoenix? Here are some pictures we snapped:




And my man...the lizard herder:

We have a new nephew!

JAMES PHILIP MUSTIN
Born: October 26th
Weight: 6 lbs 2 oz
Height: 20 inches
Proud Parents: Jeff & Paula


Isn't he precious? There were fireworks near our home last night and we told the kids they were in JP's honor! (2 and 4 year olds have no idea when the Prime Minister of India is visiting!)

Know that JP has a very proud aunt, uncle and cousins in KL -- we can't wait to meet him!

First Week Recap...

We have over a week under our belt and all is well in KL! Here are the off-the-top-of-my-head highlights of our first few days:

1. Meeting our neighbors---the Sikh Indian family to our left and the Chinese elderly man to our right (...who ironically has a teacup poodle named Tinkerbell?).
2. Attending St. Andrews Presbyterian Church this morning and meeting some fellow Americans with kids Addie and Abe's age!
3. Discovering our neighborhood...on foot...and realizing the joovy double stroller that I hesitantly bought before the move was well worth it! We are still without a car (more later on what a pain it is to buy a car as a foreigner) and so the stroller has been huge. A few "whities", as locals affectionately refer to us westerners, have stopped me to ask about it (I guess the sit and stand stroller is a bit of a novelty in the east?) and the sweet lady down the street, Mrs. Chan, calls me "Jennifer with green stroller"!
4. Eating the best butter chicken, tikka masala and naan this side of Bangalore and for under $10. We also can get fresh samosas and banana fritters at the corner of our street for 25 cents!
5. Hearing Addie tell the cab driver "Bangsar Baru" when we got in this week -- that's the name of our neighborhood!

I've taken such pathetic pictures since our arrival, but nonetheless, here are a few from today. The first is a better shot of our house (called a bungalow terrace home by KL-standards), the second is getting into the cab for church and third is of the kids this evening.

p.s. The low-light of my week was my unsuccessful kitchen showdown with a lizard. Okay...so its pretty much a gecko...but a sneaky son-of-a-gun regardless. He usually greets me in the morning when I turn on the lights and so the kids and I have named him Larry. I think he is here to stay!

We made it!

We made it...and my apologies for taking a week to let you know! The flight over was smooth (thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers -- they were definitely felt!) and the kids were thrilled that Jonathan and Chip were waiting for us in KL. I think we have the worst of jet lag behind us and seem to be catching our groove slowly. Jonathan left for Jakarta on Wednesday, so the kids and I are making our way through boxes and trying to orient ourselves around the neighborhood (which happily includes a Starbucks and Outback Steakhouse I might add!). My first impressions of KL are all good -- its much more like India than I had imagined (which is surprisingly comforting) and also MUCH hotter than expected! We have met a few of our neighbors, whom appear to be a mix of Expats, Malays, Chinese and Indians and have even discovered a neighborhood rec center that includes a kiddie pool (with an entry fee of only 30 cents!) I promise more pictures and details as the next few weeks unfold, but just wanted to say a quick hello from KL for now. Here are a few pictures of the outside of our house and a few of our furry welcoming party....

Back to the Blog!

After a two-year break since our return from India, we have officially joined the blogosphere again! For those of you who followed our journeys in Bangalore -- welcome back! For our new friends -- please don't feel the slightest obligation to catch yourself up! :) We promise plenty of new pictures and adventures from our home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where we officially move next week. In the meantime, here are some shots of the kids from our past few months in the Midwest. We couldn't have asked for a more fun, memory-packed summer with friends and family -- we miss you already!