We arrived in Asia

It has been over a week since we arrived in Singapore. The flight was uneventful and long. A 14-hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong with a 4 hour layover before boarding the plane to Singapore. When we arrived in Hong Kong, it was 7am their local time and so we spent time wandering the airport looking for breakfast. When we finally arrived in Singapore, my brother and sister-in-law picked us up from the airport. We stayed home for dinner – my mom had bought Hainanese chicken rice and a few other local dishes. Marcus loves his Hainanese chicken rice.

The next day we were invited out to lunch by my Auntie Pat, along with many other family members. There were about twelve of us for lunch at a Michelin Star restaurant, Jiang-Nan Chun, in the Four Seasons hotel. We feasted on a multicourse meal, with Peking Duck and caviar being the highlight of our three-hour dinning experience.

We visited Gardens by the Bay, a very popular attraction in Singapore with two cool conservatories. We saw different types of flowers and plants from around the world.

We also visited the Botanic Gardens in Singapore. It is a beautiful park and reminded us of Hyde Park in London – except that we have roosters roaming this park..

After four days in Singapore, we started the next part of our journey to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. This family trip was organized by my mom. We hired two mini vans with drivers who drove the five hours to KL. Auntie Pat preferred to fly and so we met her at the hotel instead. When crossing the border, we had to go through the Singapore border to leave the country, and then through the Malaysia border to enter. Two separate crossings. Along the way we noticed many motorcycles driving on the shoulder of the highway and were surprised to find out that they weren’t allowed to drive on the express way, so they drove on the shoulder instead. In the city, the motorcycles would weave in and out of traffic and travel between lanes as opposed to in the lanes. As Gladys’s brother put it, “Malaysia is kind of lawless”.

We arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel in Kuala Lumpur and found out that our room had been upgraded to a two-bedroom suite. Our room was on the twenty first floor and our view captured the Petronas Twin Towers, which from 1998 – 2004 were the tallest buildings in the world (451.9 m). They still hold the title of the tallest twin towers. On another day we took a tour of the towers and took three elevators to get to the eighty third floor.

Our stay at the Four Seasons Hotel was opulent. Quite a step up from what we are used to. We would start off our day meeting at the Executive Lounge for breakfast, usually followed by some shopping or sight seeing – we also had a personal driver to take us around. In the afternoon we might head back to the Executive Lounge for high tea or Happy Hour if it’s later in the day. And if that wasn’t enough eating, we would then head out for dinner at some famous restaurant, specializing in local cuisine. We met up with a long-time friend of my brother, Michael, and he took us to all the popular eateries. Everything was taken care of for us, we didn’t have to worry about any of the minutiae. Our driver would pick us up at the hotel and take us to the restaurant, Michael would order for everyone, and we would head back to the hotel. What a life.

Auntie Pat gave the kids some spending money, and they enjoyed shopping for that something special. Caroline picked up a dress and shoes for some fancy night out, yet to be determined, and Marcus got some toys. Everyone was surprised that Gladys and I didn’t buy much of anything. It’s just not something that we do.

We also visited Batu Caves. If you have it as a place to visit while in KL, please strike it off your list. The place felt more like a commercial enterprise as opposed to a Hindu place of worship.

Once back in Singapore we got the kids’ eyes checked as prescription glasses are a bargain here. Caroline needed her prescription changed, and received frames from her uncle, so we bought some lenses to go with them. Marcus’s eyes were just fine, no glasses required – although he really wanted to get a pair of glasses. Gladys got some frames from her brother, so she got some reading glasses as well.

Over the last few days we have eaten some more street food, like satay at the Lau Pa Sat Hawker Center, also know as the “Old Market” (1824). We spent a day at Sentosa Island where you can zipline, go to the beach, walk to the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia, bungee jump, ride many gondolas, or take in a ride or two at Universal Studios. We only did some of these activities as the kids had been there before and our time was limited – not to mention that it was quite warm. Despite growing up in Asia, the heat sapped the life out of Gladys.

Over the next few days, we plan to do a few more tourist things, besides eating…