Samantha Kate's 7th Birthday Party

Today was the day Samantha has been waiting for for months - her "Disco" birthday party! Her real birthday isn't until December 17th but we celebrated early because I was here and all her friends will be gone for the holidays. It was a huge success - Heather always does such a great job planning all the details to make it so special!
How could I have forgotten what it is like to have 15 screaming first graders in one room!!! They played musical stars and "freeze" dance and did the "Limbo Rock." They all watch enough music videos to know all the latest dance moves!
Sonny, the elf, was sitting on the rotating disco light this morning. They can not touch him to move him - Emily was so worried he was going to get dizzy and fall off - and when Heather said he would think it is fun, Emily said "he gonna' puke!"
We got Samantha a James Avery charm bracelet with two charms - and "S" and two little girls holding hands - sisters! It will be fun adding to it over the years!

Thai Massage

Heather and I went to one of my favorite places in KL and had a body massage yesterday. A 90 minute massage for $50! It was heavenly! I picked "peppermint oil" and smelled like a candy cane all day!

We put the Christmas tree up on Monday and "Sonny," Santa's Christmas Elf, is back! He hangs around the house until Christmas Eve watching who is naughty and who is nice! He flys to a new place every night and the girls have a fun time each morning trying to find him. He was riding on the elephant statue yesterday and in Barbie's hot tub today! Emily told me "Santa's people live at the North Pole and in England but not in the 'Nited States!"

Heather and I went back to the Country Club where the girls rode horses and walked the hiking trail today. It is paved but up and down hills - about an hour to make the circle - between the heat and the humidity I was pooped! I figured I was getting plenty of exercise just walking up and down the stairs to my "princess suite" on the third floor but I guess not!

Culinary Adventure

Jared and Lesha took the turkey we didn't eat home so the traditional leftover meal wasn't the same as usual! Samantha had a birthday party so Emily got to pick her favorite restaurant for lunch - you'll never guess - sushi!! I wasn't too enthused so she went into this long explanation about how good it is and what I would like - so off we went! Can't let my 4 year old granddaughter be more adventuresome and worldly than me! She even let me borrow Samantha's chopsticks so I could learn how to use them! Actually, it was good - it helps to have someone knowledgeable order for you. But, I must confess I liked the carmel cupcake from the bakery next door for dessert better!

On Sunday night Kyle and Heather took me to their favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It is located on a narrow busy street  near the "night market." The market is difficult to describe - food tents line each side of the street and the sight and smells are amazing! The Vietnamese place was excellent - spring rolls, salad, prawns, a "pancake" with shrimp and chicken and a beef noodle soup.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. Jared, Lesha, Claire, Catherine & Sam joined us and we "pigged out" as required on this holiday. Jared fried the turkey so making gravy was a challenge - too bad Izetta wasn't here - she could make delicious gravy out of nothing! We started mid-afternoon with Thanksgiving cocktails made with apple cider, vanilla vodka and cinnamon - very tasty!
Heather and I took the girls horseback riding this morning. One of the country clubs has an equestrian club that offers riding on Sunday mornings. The girls took carrots to feed the horses - Emily says "no beans, horses can not eat beans!"

Thanksgiving in Malaysia

The thing we are the most thankful for is the fact that we finally got the mouse (mouse not a rat!) Renu brought a cage to trap him humanely and sure enough, the next morning there he was running around in the wire box. It turned into a real adventure when Renu took them to a field by Emily's school and they let him out!

We finally found some canned pumpkin but I'm a little skeptical!
It says "100% pure" but pure what???

The day is like any other in Kuala Lumpur. We had our nails done and went shopping; Dad's are at work (Kyle is still in China;) the kids are in school; Emily went to gymnastics. The neighbors are coming to dinner on Saturday and we'll try to have a "real" Thanksgiving dinner. Jared is frying a turkey and between Heather, Lesha and I we will make some traditional recipes. Our nephew Kurt is in San Antonio with Roger and they went golfing and then to Luby's cafeteria. We talked with them on SKYPE and they put in their order for "the works" for Christmas! I'll second that!

Deepavali, or The Festival of Lights, is an important Hindu holiday celebrated annually and involves 5 days of family traditions in India. Emily's school celebrated the holiday today so she wore her special Indian pants and top. Samantha has had a fever for 3 days - a virus going around - so she missed her school Thanksgiving celebration today.

 

One of Heather's friends is moving back to Houston soon so, another friend had a luncheon for her the other day. She was nice to invite me to come too. She prepared a traditional Indonesian meal: fried vegetable fritters with spicy peanut sauce; soup; potato pancakes and mint tea. They prepare the soup dish by first putting fried noodles, cabbage, cooked chicken, tomatoes, and chives in a bowl and then adding the liquid and hot sauce. Very interesting!

 

Because of the mosquito problem, they fog the neighborhood twice a week. Emily is terrified of the fog and can hear the truck a mile away. The other day we were walking home from Samantha's tennis lesson and she heard the truck before anyone else - she tore her hand out of mine and ran as fast as she could all the way home! She ran around shutting all the doors and windows and was so worried we were not going to get home before the foggers arrived. She said "hurry Tima, shut the door quick, you can not breaf that stuff!" Renu was ready to go home and Emily wouldn't let her until "all the fog gone."

 

We are all so excited - just got news that our nephew Joel and his wife Rachel are going to have a baby girl in April!! Can't wait to shop for pink!

Chinatown

Heather and I went to Chinatown shopping today. Always seem to find things that say "buy me." Purses and bags are the best items but we also got reindeer antlers for Samantha's Christmas play costume and flowers for Thanksgiving.
Mathew, Samantha's friend, is going to be an elf. His Mom borrowed a costume and we found the cutest elf shoes with curled toes for him. Problem was........when she opened them, it was a jester hat that was folded in half and just looked like elf shoes! Oh well, sometime, someone will be a jester!


Still have not caught the rat - think our screams scared him away! - or found canned pumpkin for Thanksgiving - may have to make apple pie.

I helped Samantha with her homework tonight. I'm amazed at how well she reads. Her assignment was to read a book, describe where the story took place, name it's main characters and then summarize the storyline. The book she chose was about dinosaurs - I had to use my computer to look up how to pronounce one of them - pterosaur!

Emily knows all the alphabet but says them by sound not name. She sounds out a word like "cat" and then makes other words using different letters - "bat" - "sat" etc. She can even add a fourth letter to some. She was trying to spell "Sponge Bob" so she could type it in the Ipad and watch the cartoon but, got stuck on the silent "g!" She's 4!!!!

Uninvited Guest

Let me preface this story with the fact that Kyle is in China!
I got up early Monday morning and went downstairs to do some laundry. The washer and dryer is outside on the back patio. As I walked through the kitchen, a small lizard ran across the floor - about jumped out of my skin!
Later, while I'm upstairs, I hear Heather, Samantha and Emily all screaming in the kitchen. Samantha says "call Tima" and Heather says "Tima will not be of any help in this situation!" I hollered down - "If it's about that lizard in the kitchen, Mommy's right!" Heather says "it's way worse than that - a rat just ran out of the pantry!!" OMG! Varying stories from all three determined nobody knows where the rat ran to but we suspect back in the pantry. The girls backpacks are in there and they need them for school so Heather tells Samantha she'll pay her 2 ringgits to go get them! I couldn't believe it when she did it - this is the girl who won't pet a dog!!
We take the girls to school and then go to the bake shop for toast and latte - neither of us wanting to go into the pantry for any breakfast!
Heather called Renu, their maid, and asked her to bring her rat trap but, her friend borrowed it and she can't reach her to get it back. She brought some other "gunk" in a can and left it on the pantry floor saying he won't like the smell and therefore, won't come back. Hope it works!!

FRIM

Kyle drove us to FRIM in about 15 minutes this morning! We hiked up a roadway, then up a steep trail through the forest to the "Canopy Walk." Silly me, I thought it was a rainforest path through a canopy of trees - wrong! - it is a series of wooden planks about a foot wide suspended from ropes and netting that hangs way above the trees! No OSHA to deal with in KL!  "Doable" if you hang on tight and don't look down! I was trying to be very brave so the girls wouldn't be scared but not a problem for them. The view of the mountains and the city was awesome and there was a lovely waterfall at the end. Definitely worth the effort and believe it or not it was cool in the forest!

We went to "Ben's" for lunch. Heather said they took Megan and Carlos there and Carlos said he felt like he was in an Austin restaurant - I agree. Great food - the girls pointed out the salad they recommended - mixed greens, avacado, cucumbers and edename with a little spicy dressing - they get it every time and scarfed it down! Not many kids I know that order salads for lunch!
We stopped at a nearby grocery store on the way home - looking for canned pumpkin - it seems all the stores are sold out and the Americans are on a treasure hunt to find it for Thanksgiving!
Kyle leaves for China tonight and will return on Friday. So us girls are on our own!

A "Malaysian" Day

Heather and I are finally "synced" with the local time zone! Poor Heather had a quick trip to the states and then back to KL so her body clock was really off!
We planned to go hiking in the mountain rain forest this morning but according to Kyle we had a "Malaysian" day. The girls informed me I needed to wear leggings and long stockings because of all the leaches - yikes! We packed water, snacks and plenty of bug spray and headed to the "FRIM" - Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Unfortunately, the GPS was confused and we toured the city streets and then the outskirts of KL for about an hour. Emily says "the sunset is coming!" We finally ended up on a narrow dirt road leading back to a rural housing area with the sky threatening a monsoon and Kyle gave up. At one point I said "too bad we can't stop and ask someone for directions" and Kyle said "Do you know Bahasa?" Emily pipes up and says "I can talk Bahasa - well, not actually (she uses the word actually a lot!) but I know how to say "fire" and "water" and "chicken" in Bahasa!
When we got back to the house the girls and I decided to have another kind of adventure - we walked down to Solaris - a nearby shopping area - and got a foot massage. An hour for me and 30 minutes each for the girls. They were so good and loved it! Now they imitate the masseur and give their own type of massages! They think it is great when they can take me places by themselves and be the "leader."
The DVD place was closed - think, they got raided! - so no new movie for tonight but, we are going to watch "The Chipmunks" and have a sleepover while Kyle and Heather go out to dinner.
Kyle is determined to find the park so tomorrow morning we'll try again!
On Friday night us three adults went to a Mexican restaurant - actually, (wonder where Emily gets it!) it was very good food - and then we saw "Skyfall" at the Gold Theatre - big "lazy boy" recliners, pillows and comforters. Thought I might fall asleep but I defy anyone to sleep through a James Bond movie!

 movie!

Kuala Lumpur

I am back in Kuala Lumpur after a hectic week in Houston with Heather. They needed to make many choices for their new home in Texas - hopefully, they will begin building it in January! - so she flew to the United States on Tuesday, November 6th. I picked her up at the airport and the whirlwind began! Roger took Friday off work, drove over on Thursday evening and we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We toured "their" house and lot on Friday, ran more errands and then met our nephew, Kyle and his fiance' Rachel for dinner. So nice to see them! Then Roger took us to the airport on Saturday afternoon. The trip to KL was tiresome, as expected, but it was great having a travel companion.

Their is a large orchid garden in the center of one of the terminals in Singapore - it is gorgeous! Can you tell I've been traveling for 30 hours?!

Emily is off for school "holidays" all this week but, Kyle and Samantha had today, and will have Thursday, off. Made it seem like a week-end so now my day/time sense is really messed up!

We went to one of their favorite restaurants for lunch - Dim Thai Fung - and it was delicious. The girls were excited to show me the window where you can watch them make Chinese dumplings and then steam them in bamboo baskets.

The design behind the girls is made with colored rice and is traditional during this holiday time.

Emily's 4th birthday was November 5th and we got her this scooter/bike that she loves. The marble floors make inside the best place to ride it!

Kyle bought them each a Lego set while Heather was gone. Emily got a "car house" like ours and Samantha got a horse trailer.