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Published: June 27th 2010
Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening,
For this entry, I'm going to let my Mom & Dad do the talking since they kept a great account of all the many activities during their visit in late April and May. I've also decided to post my photos on Picassa at the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Adam.J.Reese/MomDadInMalaysia?authkey=Gv1sRgCP616Mut4MXZPQ# (use the slideshow function, it rocks.)
April 29th
Hello there. I left Monday and got here on Wed. due to the date line. about a 30 hr trip. Cathay Pacific airline is great with a 100 movies to watch! I was able to sleep some. Did see Couples Retreat, An Education and Crazy Heart, I recommend the last two! They even had Avatar.
The flight from Hong Kong to KL was lots of Chinese people speaking all the time! They came through and sprayed the plane due to H1N1. They warned us so we could cover our nose and mouth. Adam had never heard of that before.
Anyway, took the train in to KL past many palm tree plantations for palm oil. Adam picked me up and took me to the hotel which is in the shadow of the Petronas Towers (2nd largest
skyscraper) and near his work and apt. Adam took me out to dinner to the outdoor food stalls on the street that has many blocks of food stalls. He saw rats as we walked there but fortunately I did not. The satay was decent, the peanut sauce was ok and the fried rice was outstanding. and he saw rats in the trash cans nearby too
and I did not.
It is humid but I am getting use to it. The hotel is awesome and only $60/night and right downtown. The buffet breakfast was international: dim sum, English, American, and many Malaysian dishes that I have no clue what they are and sushi! and the hotel has one of the best spas in town so I will have to check out a massage !
I am excited to be here and so is Adam. we are going on a road trip to Penang
this weekend. and then John comes Monday!
-Mom
May 3rd
Kuala Lumpur is very clean, many skyscrapers, and much building going on, very little if any recession here. It is like a smaller Singapore which is 5 hrs away by car. The driving here
is Naples x 10. very aggressive, mopeds on sidewalks, motorcycles zipping through the lanes almost touching Adam's car. Adam drives like a local and I just have to close my eyes! The people are very warm, and welcoming and most everyone knows English. the humidity is beyond oppressive mid-day and it rains almost daily in the later afternoon. I cannot wait to take a dip in the pool around 3 pm. There are two buildings going up across from the pool - John will love watching the cranes. and the Petronas Towers are right by the construction.
In the lower part of the Petronas Tower is a 6 story mall with everything you would want. Harrods is next to California Pizza Kitchen! People here love stuff animals on their dash and pretty pillows or stuffed animals by the back window, and McDonald's gives out car stickers that they proudly display on the front windshield. I have to be careful what I say since everyone knows English.
Saturday we went to Putrajaya which is their government city 25 miles away from KL. It is a new city like Brasilia , absolutely beautiful with many suspension bridges, beautiful gardens and
unusual buildings. the convention center looks like a turtle. we went to the beautiful mosque there but they were praying and we could not go in. We then went onto Malacca or Maleka (Malaysian), a Unesco world heritage city.
the problem was it was May Day, a 3 day holiday, and the highway was jammed!! This is the Malaysian way of saying a huge traffic jam. we finally got there late in
the day and saw the colonial buildings. and they have night markets here where they sell everything.
Sunday we went to the National zoo which had many unusual Asian animals. Never thought that buffalo, ankole, gaur and water buffalo are considered wild cows. Oh, forgot to tell you that many Saudis travel here on vacation and the women are in the full burkahs and many cover their face. interesting to watch them eat since they have to lift out the face cover to eat or drink. They wear white, gray or black. one at the zoo even had on black gloves. and I am so hot in a sundress due to the high humidity!!
after the zoo went to the national mosque which is only
5 years old, they told us to go to the Masja Wilajaya (Wilajaya Mosque). It is bigger and was built in 1997 the Mosque was magnificent with 8 domes. they also give tours and as a guest we could go in the prayer hall and be there when they prayed. It was neat to see
and experience. of course there was proselytizing a bit but we both enjoyed it. also a wedding was starting after prayers and I love seeing weddings in other countries.
I am going to go pick up John in a few hours from the airport!
-Mom
May 9th
Happy Mother's Day to you all !!
John got here on Monday and it took a few days to totally recover, we went on a city tour, out to Batu Cave (large limestone cave that is now a Hindu shrine with a 60 ft gold
Hindu god. we have gone out with adam nightly and sometimes for lunch. we went up the petronas towers one night. the shopping is fun! I got a fake Rolex watch for $5. sundresses for a little over $3 so I guess I won't need to do laundry, just
buy cheap clothes !!
John and Adam left early Fri. am for their Mt, Kinobalu hike. they flew to Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia. took off on Sat. on the hike and slept in a hut on the mountain (no heat). they then got up at 1 am Sun. morning to finish the hike and get up there in time to see the sunrise. Adam said the hike is 10 miles round trip. it was very steep and they used ropes to go up and come down. Adam said each step down really hurts. I was worried about John making it but they are happy they made it up and back.
while they were gone I went to an elephant sanctuary where I could feed them and pet them, could have gone for a ride but I skipped that part. they are trying to save elephants who get lost from their herds due to the mass planting of palm trees for palm oil and tearing down the jungle.
I also did a 90 minute massage here and that was wonderful!
they celebrate Mother's day here just like the US, not the British date in March.
John and Adam will get back really late tonight. on Tues, John and I are going
to Cambodia for 5 days.
Take care,
Mary Beth
May 10th
Had a fantastic hike up Mount Kinabalu. Adam and I flew over to Kota Kinabalu on Friday and walked along the markets and waterfront and had some good seafood (stingray, crabs, etc.c.). Got picked up the next morning and headed for the park entrance, and on the trail head (1,866 meters). Hiked for a bit under 4.5 hours and dragged our tired bodies into Laban Rata Resthouse. I have never sweat so much in my entire life, and I had been drinking as much water as possible all the way. Got checked in and settled into our hut (still farther up the mountain!!) and figured out the cold shower in the outhouse some distance from hut (getting up in during the night to go the toilet was an experience, but I have never seen such bright stars!). 2:30 Sunday morning we were headed up the mountain using flashlights and headlamps. Used ropes to pull ourselves up the steepest of the rocks and got to 4092 meters right at sunrise! Incredible
more photos online!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Adam.J.Reese/MomDadInMalaysia?authkey=Gv1sRgCP616Mut4MXZPQ#scenery up there and gorgeous sunrise. Coming down was spectacular, but after a quick second breakfast at Laban Rata, the real test began. Scrambled down those same rocks and huge steps that we had come up the previous day, and didn't get to the trail head until 3:00 pm so nearly 12 hours of hiking very difficult terrain on Sunday. I could barely move by 3:00 and Adam was experience shaking leg I felt like this 63 year old had really accomplished something, and it was a fantastic father-son outing with lots and lots of quality time with Adam!!
-Dad
May 23rd
Hi all it is sun. May 23 and we are on vacation with adam in the jungle, the national park in Malaysia
called Mutiara Taman Negara . we took a 3 hr boat ride to get to the resort in the middle of the park. it felt like we were in the amazon. jungle all around, a low wooden boat and we saw wild boar and some aboriginal children. it is humid but I guess I am getting used to it some. John and adam went on a cave exploration this am. we will go to the canopy walkway later today. anyway the last week of the adventure. john got a bit sick before going to Australia for his seminar but he got through it and had a good time with Owain.
take care and see you in about 10 days in KS.
-Mom
May 27th
Hello from the PERHENTHIAN islands in south china sea we are finishing the week here in paradise. it is perfect for me. we have our own beach with snorkeling right there and can just swim and read and swim and read. I could have been here the whole month! John AND Adam went snorkeling and loved it, I am blind so I
did not go. Adam went diving today and will tomorrow too with his many French friends ( he calls them frenchies) who are coming up for the weekend. we have met them and they are fun.
anyway we stopped counting our mosquito bites from the jungle. adam looks like he has a bad case of acne on face and neck. they are everywhere even in our bathroom
here .
Adam is having a blast over here and loves the traveling.
that is it from here. we get home next week mid week.
Take care
Mary Beth
Well, that about wraps it up with the exception of their trip to Cambodia. Thank you Mom & Dad for all the stories you chronicled during your stay. It was great having you in town and you made the jungle feel like home.
Till next time, take care and be well.
Adam
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Linda Martin
non-member comment
Thanks for the updates
MaryBeth loved all the info. what a real trooper for our age. Great seeing you in St. Louis and loved viewing the pics.