Us 4 on the road – The first two weeks – nearly

I’ve been writing short posts on Face Book and they seemed to be well received by  a few dedicated followers – I’ll know who you are and I’ll remember you all when I’m famous or dead (if I leave behind a will).  So I thought I would open up my blog again.  I haven’t used it for two years.  Not since we spent some time  in Vietnam.  Also spurred on by Chris and Paul (neighbours) who was very generous with their comments about former blog entires. Thanks Paul and Chris xx.

First post is mostly a cut and paste of FB entries and a little more elaboration in parts.  Hopefully I can get my act together and also attach photos.  Don’t hold your breath but.  I’m not too computer savvy so you will have to bear with me.

5 November: In hindsight a 3.40am flight might not have been a great idea. Baby bliss. 5 year old nightmare. Tycho entered into tantrum mode when we landed which can only describe as quite a surreal experience. Resting today – soothing our minds and bodies from the trauma of no sleep and tantrums. We will get out and about tomorrow. Enjoying the panoramic view of the city from our two bedroom spacious apartment (such a treat for us).

6 November:  Late start but finally we arrived at the butterfly park in time for a downpour of rain. Ummm butterflies sleep when it rains. Consequently I have one photo of one butterfly. Retreated to a shopping centre and brought a hand held movie camera. We decided it was time for home movies of the family holidays. Anthony’s responsibility. Not just any shopping centre, it still carried the crown of being Asia’s biggest of its kind 7 years ago (we have an old Lonely Planet).  I’m sure this title has been passed onto another monolithic construction since then.  Quite possibly in Singapore.  It looks very early 90′s.  In fact a great deal of KUL looks early 90′s and not in a good way! Much of the buildings remind me of the Victorian court houses that were rolled out in the early 90′s but on a much larger and grander scale. Pooh brown or apricot in color. Enticing!  Don’t get me wrong.  I really like this city.  It has a great deal to offer.  The food alone is enough to keep you hear for at least a week. Salmon Teppanyaki…

Day 3: Another late start: Sunway Lagoon. Tycho was in heaven. Big boy slides. Rides. Plenty of water play. Pure unadulterated tack for mum and dad. Atticus was a female Islamic tourist magnet. Found a fantastic vegetarian place for dinner. Anthony was happy.  Tycho managed to have a tantrum of epic proportions at the aptly name ‘simple life’ restaurant.  Arrived back to our ‘serviced apartment’ (bliss) with both kids crashed out – exhausted. We lived out a very similar day out 12 months ago. The only difference was our great friends Michelle, Mat, Isla and Eve were not with us. Missed you guys. We even had coffee at the same place before we headed in for the big splash. Also it was a public holiday so we didn’t have the place to ourselves this time. Anthony and Tikes had to line up for rides.  A concept Tycho found hard to get his head around.  Note I didn’t do any lining up as I didn’t go on any slides or rides.  Not in my lifetime. Not my idea of fun.

8 November: Yet another late start. KUL’s version of Science Works was on the agenda today. A mega mega hit with Tycho. Tycho seems to be really interested in science and how things work. It reinforced to me, something about myself that I already knew; that I’m truly uninspired by science. Shameful, I know, but true. I was bored. I should have went shopping. It entertained the boys for 4 hours. I actually found it quite excruciating. One saving grace for me was taking photos of Islamic school girls.  They looked so cute in their uniforms complete with matching hijab. The only other highlight for me was the hurricane box.  This was fantastic.  Basically you get in a box and it simulates winds up to 140km an hour. Tikes and I had fun but also got cabin fever. Very relieved when the wind stopped.

Once again another day of awesome food choices. Nonya/Penang style.

My eyes are closing……

9 November, 10 November, 11 November:We reached our own patch of nirvana in the form of a modernist mud house located amongst dense jungle foliage after a three-hour taxi ride which was supposed to take 45 minutes. Check out the website… After spending two very relaxing nights here we have returned to KUL in search for a dentist. I broke a tooth and Anthony is sedated on codeine due to a painful tooth ache. I don’t mind spending a few more nights in KUL. We quite like the place. Hopefully we won’t have to go to a butcher. We found another two bedroom apartment. This one had a study. No joke – equipped with desk and study chair. Anthony is stoked.  Maybe we will just move in.

11 November: Going out with a 5 year old and a 4 month year old by public transport to China town at 6.00pm could have turned pear shaped very quickly but the stars must have been correctly aligned as we had a marvellous night visiting a Chinese Clan House (for the common family name Chan), wandering through the night market (selling the same rip-offs of uninteresting brands) and having dinner in a marvellous old Chinese shop house (the ambience relying on nostalgia for a bygone era).

12 November:  Going to the dentist we took some comfort in its business name – ‘The Melbourne Dental Group’. As it happens she used to live around the corner from us in St.Kilda when she was a student. I’ll be back. $33 for a large filling. A bargain and no pain. Afterwards we took Tycho out for ‘a run’ at the monster size playground near the Petronas Towers. And feasted on yet another delicious meal – Indonesian.

Atticus continue to be such a trooper – what a dream baby – bless his little socks.

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