Malaysia: Cameron Highlands

Since we had a nursling babe and couldn't get away alone for our 10th anniversary, we brought our little munchkins along for a terribly romantic getaway.  We found $24 (each-way) tickets to the capital of Malaysia--Kuala Lumpur.  So we planned a trip to visit KL and Cameron Highlands back in May.  They were both on our must-see list, so we took the chance to go, knowing there was a good chance we'd be moving. We are grateful for all our travels while living in Singapore.  We were able to see so many amazing places.  One lesson we've learned is that you have to be flexible.  We started the trip off on the wrong side of the bed.  We'd had a visitor the couple days before we left, which meant Lizzie was in our room and we'd hadn't slept the two nights before we left.

The excitement kept coming--our departure from Singapore was delayed, so we missed our mini-bus to Cameron Highlands.   We said "c'est la vie", grabbed some donuts for lunch, and hopped on a taxi saying "adieu" to our cheap trip.  The ride was LONG and really uncomfortable--the winding roads were threatening to bring our donuts back up.

 

 Cameron Highlands is stunning.  One of the prettiest places we've been.  It's apparently great golf courses first put it on the map for foreign visitors.  Locals flock here on the weekend to enjoy the cooler temperatures and to buy fresh produce.  The rolling hills are covered with manicured tea plantations.  Boh Tea plantation is the largest and is a "must-see."  You can take a tour, sample the products, and wander around in the plantation.

We went on a hike in the "mossy forest".

 This is a pitcher plant that holds a lot of water and is really important to the ecosystem.

 

We loved learning about the unique ecology in the mossy forest. This is a glue from a leaf.
Our guide's name was Satya.  Email is yelIowfoot87@yahoo.com. His number is 013-4399635.  He worked for TJ travel and tours but said he could do private.  We really thought he was great.  Knowledgeable about both history and ecology but entertaining and funny too.  Even Samara listened in and learned some thing while we were on the hike, which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  TJ travel company also has lodging.

 

Loved the school buses

 

One of the Highlands original agricultural exports is strawberries, and the locals have made every attempt to keep it a central theme.  They have huge strawberry parties where everyone dresses up in strawberry clothes.  The strawberries must have been a different species because the taste and texture was odd.  They weren't nearly as good as the strawberries in North Carolina.

There are several other attractions.  We also visited the insect kingdom.  Ben would say it wasn't worth the visit, but Samara loved it.

There are a three small towns.  We stayed in Tanah Rata.  The tourist were a different crowd than most places we've been.  It was full of backpackers and mainly Europeans.  You can get taxis in town to get around to the places that aren't on your tour and they were quite cheap.  The food was cheap and delicious!  We got a huge Indian spread including Mango Lassis for $12 SGD.  

 Taking the leaves away for tea production.

I think Cameron Valley Plantation (photos above) is the second biggest plantation and definitely worth a visit.  We would highly recommend a trip to Cameron Highlands to anyone.  Just be warned--the ride is long.  And you won't want to return to the muggy hot lowlands after visiting.

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

By the time we reached KL, we felt like Horton, when he'd picked through the millionth clover, "more dead than alive".  We hadn't slept in days and weren't ready to be back in the humidity after enjoying cooler temperatures in Cameron Highlands.  We usually pound the pavement and walk through as much of a new city as we can.  This time we opted for the hop-on/hop-off bus tour.  We rode to the city center.  

We wandered aimlessly, yet contentedly, around for a while and made our way back to the bus.  We enjoyed the architecture of several of the mosques and government buildings.  

We got very few photos, but this was my favorite of the trip.  I was trying to take a photo of the "Selamat Datang", which means welcome.  I didn't realize until afterwards that I was catching Ben in the act of wearing an illegal ball cap (see the sign?).  I'm glad we didn't have to find out the penalty!

The needle obsevatory tower.

In the distance we finally caught a good view of our destination--the Petronas Towers.  It was temporarily the tallest building(s) in the world--a symbol of the oil money in Malaysia.

The Petronas Towers are beautifully designed and just enormous.  It's cliche, but these pictures simply don't do them justice.  

Papa Ben, the pack mule!  This is his secret to staying fit!

He's like a fine wine/cheese and just gets better with age.  Happy 10th anniversary to us!

Hope

I've hoped for many thing through the years.  Many hopes have been realized and some haven't.

 My greatest hope and desire at present is that this hole will become

this home by Christmas.  Those lovely trees at the back of the lot will stay and our neighbor is a llama named Holly.  How fun is that?  Originally, the main part of the exterior was going to board and batten but I think we've changed our minds and will go with horizontal siding.  We both really like board and batten but the more we look at homes, the more we think it's better used as an accent material rather the the main material.  We will have siding shingles as the accent material.  I love these and would do a whole home with them if they weren't so expensive.  The color will be a slate blue-grey.  The windows on the front of the garage won't quite look like the rendering above.  We aren't totally sure what we will do there.

What I do know is I should NOT look through magazines.  I start planning based on the pictures... then I look at how much, for example, the pictured kitchen costs (70K) and I almost croak.  I had no idea cabinets and appliances could be so expensive.  I had no idea my taste was so expensive.  I've developed a strange obsession with stoves like this one and this one.  I'm also enamored with window and ceiling treatments.  While my hope that the home will be done by Christmas is (THANKFULLY) realistic, my hope that someone will donate one of those stoves to me or a carpenter/cabinet maker will want to work for free isn't.  We are so eager to be in our own place and not live out of suitcases or all sleep in one room.  I feel like we've been temporary for years now. Because we were, to some degree, the whole time we were in Singapore and for a good six months before we moved there.  It will truly be like Christmas to go through our storage shed.  We really have no idea what's in most of those boxes.  We definitely won't need presents for the girls because we can just wrap the old toys that have been packed away.

My sister-in-law introduced me to houzz.com.  I could spend all day and night on that site.  You can save pictures you like into ideabooks.  I was gathering pictures for a wish list.  The only problem is you can't drag the photos off or save them.  However, you can get the html coding for a website so I made a house blog.  It's jumbled but I wanted a place to show the contractor, carpenter, etc. ideas in HOPE that some of them will turn into reality.  Since several of you have asked about the house, check it out if you are keen. 

Grandpa Cal

One of the perks of marrying Ben was inheriting 4 wonderful grandparents.  All my grandparents passed away by the time I was 10.  I've really appreciated having his grandparents in my life.  Ben's maternal grandpa passed away and his sweet grandma married Cal 17 years ago.  Grandpa Cal recently passed away.  We first visited this set of grandparents when we were dating and just before we got engaged.  I overheard him telling Ben that I was "the one".  We visited them several times a year when we lived in UT before.  Grandpa Cal was always very good to me and treated me just like one of his own.  Together he and Ben's grandma have 88 grandchildren, 133 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.  Each grandchild, grandchild's spouse, and great-grandchild gets a call and a card on his/her birthday.   I think that is amazing and so impressive.

 Cal served in the Marines.  His funeral was very neat and I'm grateful we were able to be here for it.

Ben's lovely Grandma Helen, who Elizabeth Helen was named after.  We hope Lizzie inherits her goodness. 

We also got to see Grandpa Bikman, which is always a treat!

Colorado

Ben had a work conference in beautiful Snowmass, Colorado.  Since he had the hotel and car paid for he invited us to tag along.  A nomad by nature, I never turn down a chance to go somewhere.

 

He was busy most of the week, but did get to join us for a hike one afternoon.  Ben uninvited us on future trips until Lizzie sleeps better in the room with us.  He had a hard time staying awake sitting in all those meetings.

 Colorado is lovely.  The food was so good--local and fresh meats and produce.  Snowmass is near Aspen.  This was my second time visiting Aspen and I have to say I'm not that impressed.  It doesn't hold a candle to Park City.

Can't get enough of this sweet little munchkin. 

 Samara's favorite activity of the trip.  She was apprehensive about trying it but was so glad she did.

 

And she's becoming quite the photographer.   I love seeing the look on passerby's faces as she hoists the big camera and lens, squints to look through the viewfinder and very confidently/bossily directs the shot.

Maroon Bells was my favorite destination.  We went there the last day and definitely would have returned again if we would have had more time.  It was gorgeous.

The little break was just what I needed.  Life has been so hectic the last few months that I haven't been able to come up for air.  It was so nice to have some time solely with these two little hikers.

Visitors

We've been able to see all our siblings and their families and so many of our close friends since moving back.  Utah is a great hub for catching up and we already know that will be a big perk of living here.  Did I get pictures of everyone? No, but I did at least get a few with our visitors from farthest away.

 Ellie and Juju, along with their family, came to Singapore for a couple months after the earthquake in Japan.  Samara connected so easily with them and they quickly became best friends.  Their mom also became a dear friend to me.  They were a blessing for us and came at a time when Samara really needed some playmates.  I've never seen Samara so genuinely sad as when they were leaving to go back to Japan.  We parted ways during rush hour at a crowded train interchange.  Samara was crying almost uncontrollably.  We had to wait a while for our train and she settled down once it came.  We squeezed ourselves onto our no-room-to-breathe train and Lizzie started crying.  Samara cried out, "See.  Lizzie is upset too.  She didn't want them to leave either!"

And how cute is little brother Noah?!  We love this awesome family!  We are so glad we got to see them and hope we can visit them in Japan someday.

Pioneer Day

My cute niece loves all things "pioneer".  My sister is the music chorister for the primary kids at church.  She was able to rent some great covered wagons so the kids could do a primary pioneer parade.

The babies and all the older kids loved playing in the covered wagon and going for rides.

Samara's Olive doll.  Olive is my maternal grandma.  My mom gave her granddaughters the doll to go along with the personal history she is writing. 

We dressed up in pioneer clothes and did a little caroling parade around the neighborhood.  After about an hour we passed my sister's house and I opted to sneak into the A/C with my fussy baby.  I left amazed that people trekked that way for months and months--not only through heat, but trough the winter.    Taking 24 hours to fly home suddenly seemed like a breeze.

I am in awe of and grateful for the sacrifices the pioneers went through to get to Utah so they could  enjoy religious freedom.  During our time in Asia, we were able to visit several places where people were also made refugees.  My heart goes out to them.

Pioneer Day is a great reminder for me that I should be grateful for the freedoms and comforts I enjoy.  I hope someday that I can be of service in some way to those who are not as fortunate.

Pioneer Day also happens to fall on the birthday of one of my favorite people.  (You know who you are!)