Washing Dumbo

Today I went on a guided tour, meaning a jolly man drove myself and an older Aussie couple around in his Toyota mini van. I was picked up first, then the Aussie couple, named Carol and Dave. They were wonderful people, great to spend the day with. Although, sharing all of this with Drew would have been the better. Anyways, as we drove out of the city, I got this nice shot of the Petronas twin towers, the highlight of the KL skyline. The largest conjoined structure in the world. The architecture really is amazing.

While we drove out of the city, I saw another Malaysian speciality, the use of the motorbike. The drivers weave in and out of traffic like maniacs here, so much so that I would be terrified to drive here, heaven forbid I actually hit one, or crash trying not to. When all of the cars are stuck at a red light, all of the motorbikes from half a mile back will keep driving between the cars and will stop at the front of the line. So, by the time the light is over, there will be this ridiculous number of motorbikes collected in front of all of the cars. It's quite silly looking actually.

The first thing we did on our trip was actually go back to Batu Caves, where Drew and I went on Sunday. As the couple was being very hospitable in letting me come along (as it was their tour first that I crashed as a single), I didn't complain. After Batu Caves, we drove about an hour north of the city into the mountains (really tall hills) surrounding the city. Out there was lots of jungle (at least it looked like jungle to me), palm tree plantations to make palm oil, and small downtrodden looking towns. We stopped at a place called DeerLand, which was really someone's backyard turned into a small scale, low budget zoo. The nice part about it was that we had the entire place to ourselves, and they let us hold certain animals. We got to feed an assortment of deer (hence DeerLand) with long strips of raw potato. The deer loved it! We saw the infamous mouse deer! Which is really about a foot tall.

We got to hold a hedgehog! They were actually quite small, and their quilly things really weren't that spiky. More bristly. Reminded me of Sebastian, the hedgehog cured by Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit. 

Also got to touch a giant Burmese Python. eeww. Oh he's getting away..... :)

These two guinea pigs reminded me of Drew and myself, as they look very loving and cuddly. 

There were some gorgeously feathered ducks and birds there. Felt like a page from the Swiss Family Robinson, which I am consequently rereading right now.

After DeerLand, we had lunch in a small village just outside of our next destination. Lots of stray cats and dogs (one looked just like Trig again) and we, again, had this whole little outdoor eatery to ourselves. While we waited, our driver showed us how to make a cut in a rubber tree (originally from Brazil) to get the sap running out, which the locals can them sell at a factory which will turn it into rubber. Crazy! The sap started flowing immediately. 

Lunch time! A gourmet tasting meal from basically chicken and rice in a tiny outdoor kitchen.

Next stop was the highlight of the day: the Elephant Sanctuary. 

This place is for orphaned wild elephants. If you've ever watched Planet Earth, you will know that when a baby elephant is orphaned, the other mothers in the herd will not adopt the baby elephant; it is essentially doomed. Hence the sanctuary! First, we fed baby elephants cut up sugar cane. The old guy there is my Aussie friend, Dave.

We then watched the adult elephants get washed by their trainers. 

The adult elephants put on a small show for us, doing tricks and performing small tasks.

Then, highlight of the day #1, we got to feed the adult elephants guava fruit. The adult elephants actually grab the fruit out of your hand using their trunks. It was amazing. The trunks were so soft and kinda slimy underneath. Not sure what I was expecting, put this was an incredible feeling. We got to feed them maybe 15 times per person.

Highlight of the day #2, we got to bathe the baby elephants. No Dad, I did not drink the water, I took a shower afterwards, and I feel fine. Relax. This was absolutely awesome. Dumbo (her real name was Berbona or something) was five years old and behaved like a champ. She sat perfectly still the whole time while we took gravel from the river bottom and scrubbed her back. Then we rinsed it off with more water, getting to touch her back and head the whole time. Her skin was really quite rough, even for a baby, and it was covered in these 2 inch long black hairs, each a few centimeters apart that were incredibly stiff; felt almost like wire bristles. The only soft part was her ears, which were delicate and thin. Overall, it was an amazing experience. You couldn't do this in the US, that's for sure. Yay Malaysia. 

Trig's Dopleganger

Two posts in one day! Wow! This one will be short and sweet. I just had to share, we've found one of Trig's distant relatives. These pics were sent to us via email from the kennel Trig is staying at while we are gone. It's amazing how much more Trig will play with a dog that looks like himself. Now I'm like, "we have to make sure they return the right Trig to us!" But, they must have this problem all the time when it comes to goldens and labs. Jackson is like "you guys have no idea! Im in a constant state of identity crisis!" Ha!

Chili Crab Dinner and Batu Caves

Yesterday, Drew and I went to Batu Caves, about a 30 min train ride outside of the city. A one way train ticket for one person was $0.33! We couldn't believe how cheap it was. Plus, to get into the cave was free, so overall, it was a very cheap date. When you arrive at the site, you see this giant green statue of the Hindu monkey god, and in fact there were a lot of monkeys around. If you had food, they wouldn't leave you alone. Very cute though, and several had little babies.

After that is a tourist trap town that reminds me of an Indian Estes Park. At the entrance to the cave is a Hindu temple and a giant, and I mean giant, golden statue of someone. I need someone who is Hindu to inform us, please! After that, you have to climb about 270 steps to get into the cave itself. The stairs wouldn't be that hard, but they are steep and not particularly even. Cute monkeys on the side of the stairway provided an ample excuse to stop and rest from time to time. 

The cave itself was actually humongous. The ceiling in the initial cavern was at least 100 ft high. It was all drippy as caves are. All I could imagine was Avatar Ang having his Fire Nation dance party in there. There was also chickens and roosters running around inside the cave. Not sure how they got all the way up there. One girl actually caught a roost and, holding it around the body, ran up to her mother to show her her prize. The mother gave the daughter a "wow! good job, but secretly that's not very impressive" look, which I thought was funny. My mother would have given me the "What in the world are you doing holding a rooster, you are going to get pecked, its going to get infected, and you are going to die" look. 

Inside of the cave were smaller Hindu temples, with lots of serious practioners. Apparently, this cave is one of the most sacred Hindu sights outside of India. I thought it was really cool that they would pick a naturally beautiful place like these caves as a sacred space. When was the last time you saw a Christian or Catholic church (outside of Europe) that was made more sacred by the nature surrounding it? 

After Batu caves, Drew and I met back up with Drew's dad for dinner. We went to the night market area of Bukit Bintang, specifically Jalan Alor (Jalan I assume in Malay means street, because every street name is Jalan something). Basically, it was a street filled with restaurants with lots of outdoor seating. We found what looked like a popular place and went inside to try it out. Turned out to be the best dinner I have had in a REALLY long time. I finally got to eat chili crab, which is famous in Singapore but we missed on our last trip. KL and Singapore are on the same peninsula, so they are using the same crab; I figure it's equally good in both places. We also ordered these really amazing tangy green beans, chicken wings, satay, and a noodle dish. The food was so good and the crab shelling so intense, that for several minutes at a time the dinner conversation dropped to nil. But, that's the sign of a good meal!

A shot of our shell filled plates after the meal. 

Dessert was a mango smoothie and passion fruit smoothie with boba from the teabus, a smoothie food truck, parked alongside Jalan Alor. Delicious. Are you jealous yet, Leah?

Kuala Lumpur Day 1

After an hour delay for our flight, in which Drew continued to raid the Cathay Pacific lounge, and an hour and a half delay on the plane, we finally got in the air and made it to Kuala Lumpur safely. The reason behind all of the delays was heavy rains in the morning backed all of the flights up, and apparently they had shut down a runway in Hong Kong for some reason, so they planes couldn't leave at the normal rate. Anyways, we got to KL, a driver from Brian's hotel picked us up, and we arrived around 11:30pm. We will be staying at Brian's hotel for the weekend, the Shangri-La, and it is absolutely beautiful.

The following morning, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. They do a really nice morning buffet. One thing I have noticed both here and in Hong Kong is an obsession with breakfast juices. Not just orange and apple juice, but grapefruit juice, mango juice, tomato juice and sugar cane juice!!  In Hong Kong, we've even seen carrot juice. "Get me a juice box, &@$*#!" (Inside joke with Leah). 

After breakfast, we put on our sightseeing clothes and hit the streets. First, we took the tram which was very slow and above ground across the city in an attempt to walk around the Lake Gardens. The map we were using was not exactly to scale, nor was it accurate, and we took a less than popular route to the park. In general, I don't think KL is a very pedestrian friendly place. It was quite hot and humid, so the park walk was short and sweet. I definitely plan to go back there on my own to see a few more exhibits, like the Orchid park and the Aviary. We did, however, see a wild lizard hanging out near a marsh and a native bird. I've never seen a wild lizard that large. 

After the park, we grabbed a cab and headed to Theun Hao Chinese Temple, one of the largest Chinese temples in the city. It was stunning, with so much color and detail. That is Drew and his dad on the temple steps. Plus, it was on the top of a hill, and you could see the city beyond. The temple is also supposed to be really beautiful at night, as there are lots of lanterns all lit up. Lots of incense, lots of candles, and even fortune telling sticks. You pull out the sticks and make all the heights uniform. Then you drop them into a tall can, and one is supposed to get stuck and stick out higher than the rest. That stick has a number on it, which you then match to a pre-written fortune. We didn't try it, but some people were taking it very seriously. 

After the temple, we went down with the same cab driver; we essentially hired him to drive us around for a few hours. He took us next to Merdeka Square, which is where all of the old gov buildings are. Malaysia has only been out from under British rule since the late 50's, so the buildings really weren't that old. But the architecture was pretty.

The last stop of our little tour was to Beryl's Chocolate Kingdom, where you can find really good chocolate mixed with everything you can think of: mango, durian, nuts of all sorts, tiramisu etc. And they let you sample EVERYTHING. I was in heaven. Sorry Karen, wish you were there. 

After that, we went back to the hotel for some pool time, then went out to dinner at a very nice place serving traditional Malaysian food. Lots of prawns, and lots of meats in spicy sauces with rice. Plus satay, this green vegetable that was very branchy but delicious (I have no idea what it was), and chicken wings. All in all a great meal. 

Heading to Kuala Lumpur

Drew and I are heading to Kuala Lumpur for a week long trip. Drew will be there primarily for work; he will be attending a conference Mon-Thurs, including many business dinners. I am tagging along for fun. The amazing coincidence of the whole trip is that Drew's dad will also be in Kuala Lumpur at the exact same time, but for a different conference. What are the odds!?! Go actuary.. go.... It will be great that Brian is there, as we haven't seen any family since moving here back in March. Plus, he and I can keep each other company while Drew attends his business dinners. Needless to say, I will be spending most of my days sightseeing alone, but I plan to do a lot of group tours and girly stuff. Like having high tea at a local historical hotel. Maybe go see a matinee musical.

While we are gone, Trig is spending his days at a kennel in the New Territories. A week was simply too long for any friend to watch him, plus, the fresh air, grass, and socialization will be good for him. Although, I think it will take a few days for him to warm up to things. The kennel is sending me daily pics via email, and this was one of today's pic. Looks like they are trying to introduce Trig to a lovely little smiling corgi. Trig has this look of "Where are my people!?! Do I have to play with this super happy dog for the rest of my life?" He'll get used to it.

In the meantime, Drew and I are hanging out at the Cathay Pacific business lounge. It's super nice with free lattes, tim tams, pork buns, pretty much everything you could ever want. And, of course, Drew is taking full advantage. He will eat his way through more perks than he will get from flight upgrades. 

Some background on Kuala Lumpur. It is the capital of Malaysia, located on the same peninsula with Thailand to the north and Singapore to the south. It has 1.6 million people, so it will feel deserted compared to Hong Kong! The main religion is Islam, with 62% of the population. Will try to blog consistently while there! 

Horse Racing

Last night, Drew and I went with several of Drew's coworkers to the horse racing track in Happy Valley, which is very close to us. They have 8 races every Wed during spring. I think I have found a new favorite pastime. It only cost $1.50 to get in the door. But then, of course, you can bet all sorts of money on the horses. You can also make all sorts of different bets, from picking the outright winner, to picking a horse just to place in the top three, to picking the top three finishers in order, etc. Should be actuarial heaven right? Well, we bet maybe 5 times at $2.50 a piece, and Drew won once and I never did. But, it makes the races very exciting. The best part was you could stand right on the outer railing. So, you could see the horses load up and watch them gallop past. They really are beautiful animals. One thing on my bucket list is to learn to ride, well enough that it listens to me and not the horse in front of it. Grandma Pat, this is the first place we are taking you if you ever come to visit! 

In the very last race, Drew had bet for me that horse #4 would win. After warm ups when it came down the track, he was all lathered in sweat, which I know is not a good thing from reading my childhood thoroughbred novels. Well, once they loaded him in the gate, he freaked out and started jumping around and kicking the sides. They had to let him out, and some ref waived a yellow flag at him. I assumed that meant the horse was disqualified, but they still reloaded him. He ran the race, but came dead last by a long ways. Again, not sure if he was already disqualified, so the jockey wasn't trying, or maybe he had injured himself in the gate. I don't know. At the end, I realized that no Chinese person would sympathize with my bad luck, because it was bound to happen. He was the number four horse! 

The grandstands.

It was kind of one big party with lots of westerns.

The clod fillers. Would come out between every race.

Loading the horses into the gate.

Need a better camera. They were too fast!

The winning ticket!