Malaysia Trip (November 2012)

Hiya folks! We are back from Malaysia! Our last trip was two and a half years ago. So we had been really looking forward to this trip. As usual, it went by too fast.

We spent about ten days in Malaysia and Singapore. A quick recap of what we did, ate and enjoyed:

This time, instead of Singapore Airlines, we took United. Two words: Never again! Flights were horrendously delayed. Not once. But on both legs of the journey...extending the usual 19-hour plus journey to almost 23 hours both ways! Kiddo and I developed a huge aversion to airline food, we couldn't sleep, our acid reflux was triggered big time and we were literally sick. Ugggh!

Kiddo tucking into a well-deserved chicken rice breakfast at  Changi Airport Terminal 3 just after we landed. At this point, the boy hadn't slept in 25 hours! Can't blame him for looking like a vampire ya? We had an almost 8-hour wait at Changi before our connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) so after an invigorating shower at the airport, we dashed off to find more food to err...ahem...erase the memory of the disgusting airline fare. Apart from chicken rice, we had roti prata and nasi lemak and lots of iced Milo too.

Changi, being the world-class airport it is, even offers free movies for passengers in transit and we managed to catch a fun movie (The Lorax) while waiting.

The flight to KL was a quick one and we admired the many cumulonimbus formations on the way.  Kiddo has been "collecting" clouds for some time (since reading The Cloud Collector's Handbook) so it was a great opportunity to add to his bunch of cloud (cloudy?) snaps.

When we reached KL, it felt SO good to see Dad and Mom again and catch up with sis, her hubby and my mon-in-law. And we were treated to such great food! Not only did my mom make her famous prawn sambal and delicious fish and meat dishes, but my mom-in-law dished up some of her own specialties. We were royally pampered!

And we ate lots outside as well. Pictured upper left: more roti prata! And right: cendol...a dessert made up of ice shavings, green bean noodles, kidney beans, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. And below: amazing nasi lemak the old-fashioned way, wrapped in banana leaf. Mmmmmmm...and this stuff is cheap too! We barely paid one USD for a package of nasi lemak and prata for two people!

A few days into our trip, we received a huge surprise. Hubby had initially planned to remain in CA because he had a business trip scheduled at the same time as our holiday. But since his business trip was in the "neighborhood" (within Asia), he decided to drop in unannounced en-route! Everyone was so pleasantly surprised because they haven't seen him in the flesh in seven years (he couldn't join us the last time we visited in March 2010). I just love this snapshot because it captures how delighted his mom is to see him. He stayed a couple of days and dashed off again in his usual style.

Our days in KL passed very swiftly. I had packed a few of kiddo's textbooks but we barely thought much about them. Instead, we kicked back, made origami cubes, cooked, ate, worked on puzzles, hugged, tussled with and bathed sis's adorable terrier mix, visited the Petronas Twin Towers by train, played with cousins and just had an amazing time catching up with loved ones.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave for Singapore again to catch our flight back to SFO. Unlike our last trip, we only spent about a day and a half in Singapore this time. Kiddo wanted very much to visit the apartment he had lived in as a newborn so we took the bus, walked around, found the block, took some photos of the windows (it was occupied by another family so we obviously couldn't go in), ate a bag of good ol' Twisties (my favorite junk food as a kid lol) and then sped off to Orchard Road to do some quick book shopping.

Oh yeah...we bought (cough) lots of books! :) I won't shock you with how many. :)

So that was it. Hoping very much to visit the folks and sis again next year. We are having an easier time with jetlag this time around. It really helps to drink lots of water and work as closely as possible around the time zone/ routine of the country you are visiting. I am quite sure eating really well helped too! ;)