Well, well, well. We're back! When we last departed our heroes were exploring the exotic land of Kuala Lumpur. They had just escaped the perils of living in a nice hotel, seeing friends, and moving in. We now join them on the hunt for a super hero quality apartment. With only 48 hours to find lodging time was running out for our heroes. Would they make it? Find out next!

The journey wasn't easy because unlike North America, the websites here make little sense to non Malaysians, and the people you contact will rarely ever contact you back. Luckily, we were directed by someone at the hotel to a person who has places to stay nearby for we didn't want to stray too far from where we were or we'd spend a lot of time in transit. We got lucky, he had two buildings to show us. One of them was a little older with a nice pool & gym, but a really shabby apartment with a perfect view of a massive abandoned building that took up most of the scenery. Realizing that we didn't want to stare into the apocalypse complete with ravens feasting on zombie & vampire leftovers, we decided to pass. The next place he showed us was an exciting contrast by comparison. Brand new (like just built with literally 10% occupancy) with a brand new pool, gym, sauna, and a much better view. The place had 2 beds and baths, which we weren't looking for, but turned out to be handy for our guests. It wasn't at all as expensive as we thought. It basically looks just like a new downtown apartment in Toronto or Calgary. For the price & quality of services we couldn't say no. We're in! Woohoo!

Now it was time to outfit our place and blend in with the locals.  Unfortunately we can't have it all so we had to get supplies to run our little kitchen and washrooms. We ended up at a place called "Mydin", shabby version of a Walmart. But it had everything on the cheap and Anna died and went to heaven in their tupperware department. I swear if it wasn’t for the luggage she would of bought all the tupperware to bring back to Canada. After purchasing everything in plastic, we had a complete home… in Kuala Lumpur! Who would of thought! 

We really like our location because not only can we walk to Mydin, but we can literally walk to any attraction or destination we want. That's part of why we wanted to stay within what is called "The Golden Triangle". The only thing that disappears in this triangle are tourist dollars and sense of good fashion. STOP TAKING PICTURES WITH YOUR IPADS PEOPLE! We do a lot of walking as a result. Learning where everything is and how to get there. We rarely use transit or drive, especially since most of the cab drivers here are bloody crooks! The meter is always conveniently broken.

Some of the places we walk to don't always have the best sidewalk accesses. Berjaya Times Square for example is a short walk from our apartment. Known as the 7th largest building in the world. It has a 14 story mall (no exaggeration, refer to Anna's picture of it on Instagram), 45 story condos & hotel, movie theater, bowling lanes, & an indoor theme park replete with 2 full sized roller coasters among other things. Why not walk there often you ask? Because it's the equivalent of walking on the highway with oncoming traffic without sidewalks or shoulders due to construction. We literally walk inches from the cars when going there. We're not alone though, we walk with large groups in single file. If the traffic lights worked properly it wouldn't matter anyways, so you take your chances. If they ever held the world jay walking championship anywhere, it should be here. And we would lose, as the locals have it down to a science.

The other place we go to is Chinatown. Chinatown itself is like many Chinatowns, except with much more aggressive vendors.  It tries my patience for sure, but inside there is a place called Central Market. It's a collection of reasonable local vendors who are not only priced rock bottom, there's no aggressive sales pitch and no haggling. It's very relaxed atmosphere by comparison.

We developed a healthy fruit juice addiction there. Fresh fruit juice for very low prices ($2). Also I had the fish eat away at my feet for 15 minutes by the toothless carp fish. It looked like fun, the price was right, and I've always wanted to try it. I didn't research it until recently and found out that these fish tanks can be a haven for disease. Had I known I wouldn't. Blagh!

Just when you thought, my god can there be no more malls around this place? Boy were we wrong, a mall at every corner. One of them is BB (Bukit Bingtang = Star Hill)  park; it's a large mall that sprawls in every direction. The low ceilings only serve to confuse you. We go there at least 2-3 times a week for grocery shopping, and still haven’t figured out the proper way to get out. It a maze, of mazes. 

One thing surprised Anna was the fact all the alcohol was very expensive. All Anna has to do is follow the signs that say "NON HALAL" in a grocery store and find the smallest selections of alcohol, that cost more than our groceries, she weeps silently I know it. So we have been a bit dry in this country. I guess the whole Muslim Country plays a part. It's an easy transition for me, as I completely blend in this country. I look the part and talk the part. As for Anna it has been a bit challenging for her, as there are not that many blonde white people around. I have developed a skill where I learn to win staring contests with all the men who shamelessly stare at her as if she has a third eye in her forehead.

Things you learn on the road! See ya next time.






We have arrived in Malaaaaysssiaaaa! Singapore was a little hard to leave, but we have a schedule to keep. Flying time from airport to airport was literally an hour. The cab ride to our hotel from the airport, was literally an hour and a half. Not only that, but it cost more! Now if we can have those kind of economics in Canada!

We arrived at the JW Marriott after 90 minutes on the road (less time than we spent in the air) and felt like royalty. They took our bags and let us showed us to the front desk. I can see why wealthy people pay extra for the nice digs. Hopefully they don't notice that we're not one of those people and that our connections are allowing us to stay here, not our lack of abundance in our bank accounts. The hotel has a grand foyer, marble everywhere with wrought iron terraces, grand chandeliers, and old world class everywhere. We realized if we're going to be sick, than there's no better place to be sick than right here. I tried to get food for Anna and I and failed miserably due to my need to try new foods. I went a little too far off the beaten path with this one. Noodles, dark & salty soup liquid, noodles, and duck. Salt & spice and none of it nice.

The next day we explored the mall across the street called Pavilion. We later found out it's the place to shop here in KL (that's what we locals call Kuala Lumpur now because we're ultra cool and all…well about as cool as a few priests sneaking into the convent to speak with nuns on a weeknight). The mall has 8 very high levels and is oozing high end shops of all kinds. I did not realize how many luxury brands existed, let alone that it was good business to build a massive mall larger than any other mall I'd seen in Canada full of them. It took us 8 hours just to walk all the floors and explore it. Our feet were sore. We saw some crazy stuff here. We laughed, we cried (over shoes Anna couldn't afford that cost as much as a car) and were exhausted. The good news is not everything here is expensive. In fact, not much of it really is. Most meals we have cost between $8-$12 for the two of us. A night at the movies for two of us, including popcorn and the latest movies, is around $10. We're having a good time.

We took a Hop On Hop Off tour of the city. There are a lot of stops (25) and about 1/4 of them were mosques and such. We made notes of the different sites we wanted to visit and vowed to go back like the bird park, the butterfly park, etc. We disembarked at the Petronas Towers, one of the most defining features of this city. They were the tallest buildings in the world in 1997, right when the "tallest building in the world arms race" was reignited. We didn't spend too much time there, but we will.

We had a pleasant surprise in our first. Elise, one of the people we met in Bali, was actually coming to KL (remember the coolness) on her way to another destination. We thought now that we're practically locals we could show them around a little bit. We met up and had dinner together and caught up.

On the second last night before we left the hotel it so happened that it was my birthday! Woohoo! We had huuge plans! Okay not really. Anna always knows how to treat someone special, especially on their birthday. I woke up nice and late and had a surprise come to the door, Birthday Cake!! I had the softest, most delicious cake for breakfast. Anna made reservations but kept it a surprise until we walked in, and behold it was a nice Lebanese restaurant. Sorry to say family, but these guys really know lebanese food! Some of the best I've ever tried (in that eating out kind of way. Sorry again family). It was going so well, than we went walking through the Starhill Gallery. If Pavilion is a car dealership it would be Mercedes Benz. Starhill Gallery is Rolls Royce by comparison. We literally walked around and heard some live music. In the 6 story high central plaza they had a live jazz band playing. Now we had to sit and watch, and with some drinks we did, a perfect way to end the evening. Only it wasn't the end, we came back to our hotel room, only to find out a bottle of wine and a cheese plate was delivered to our room. Thanks Tatiana! A surprise on top of surprises! What's my birthday present you say? Well Anna did tell me what it would be.. my birthday present isn't actually an object but something else.. Where it includes us flying somewhere.. I can't wait. And you will have to.

We decided at this point to stay here a little longer. It has modern conveniences, yet is culturally unique and fairly inexpensive. We decided we're moving in! We went apartment hunting, but that's another story. Until next time.





Singapore. The slogan should say,
"Singapore. For Making Rich Men Bankrupt".
Singapore is something else entirely. Coming from Bali, the natural jungle settings, the humble people, the organic home cooked meals, temples and nature everywhere paying homage to the land and their traditions. Singapore is a concrete jungle with skyscrapers of beautiful curved glass and steel, bright lights, fancy cars, and luxury beyond reason while being one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. It's a beautiful and rich tapestry of diversity that can only be found in truly world class cities like Toronto, New York, London, etc. you could spend a month here and still not run out of things to see and do. As you're doing that, you'll see an exhaustive amount of development and construction going on. Since we are only here for a mere 4 days we decided to go hard or home. Since the second option wasn't available, go hard it was!

First day we spent most of the day riding the double decker bus around the whole city being amazed by the architecture and character of the city. During the tour some of the casual tourists have cameras that would put National Geographic photographers to shame. It's fun to watch because it's almost like watching a firing squad every time an attraction comes up. "Ready? Aim? FIRE!!!" The carnage is brutal  and precision is questionable, but the equipment is impressive.

After riding the town, we decided to check out the super-uber famous Marina Sands Hotel. The hotel comprises 3 separate buildings with a huuuuge (longer than the height of the Eiffel tower) sky park complete with a full length infinity pool, gym, restaurant, etc… fancy stuff great for spending money on (see note about bankruptcy above).
This hotel has some incredible architecture inside and out, but if that isn't enough, there's also an insanely large high end shopping mall attached to the hotel directly across the street.
It has over 200 high end vendors of all types. $10,000 cell phones? Check. $50,000 watches? Check. Indoor canal with ferry boats? Check. This place is ridiculous! If you ever wanted to feel inadequate financially and see all the crazy shit über rich people buy? This is the place. Walking in you feel as though you have to show them your last tax return, pay cheque, bank balances, and a snazzy watch to be allowed in.

The next day we spent most of the day at the Botanical Garden.  Which is located right in the city center complete with paths, ponds, healing garden, and a separate Orchid Garden. We walked through maybe a quarter of the garden and found that it isn't just big, it's HUGE! We wandered past the rain forest to the main attraction, the Orchid Garden. There are over 600 species of orchids in here, along with some colonial era architecture. The dazzling array of bright color to be found here is stupefying. Orchids colored green, red, blue, gold, white, and even black. I think Anna wore out the camera with the 600 plus pictures taken in here. We can sell our own line of orchid post cards and screen savers for the next 10 years.

Next stop Circle Quay. It's located on the river that bisects the main areas of downtown Singapore. A ride on the river allows you to see almost all of the great sites of Singapore especially at night. Circle Quay is, in a few words, loud, colorful and full of food. After dinner it started to rain and at this point we were really starting to feel sick, so we had one more stop for the day, and that was the river cruise. The tour took about an hour allowing us to see everything from the skyline to the famed "Merlion" fountain that has served to become the symbol of Singapore. It rained the whole time so taking pictures wasn't easy, but take them we must, for the show must go on!

The next day unfortunately the flu has taken a turn for the worse, but we did manage to see the Chinatown for a couple hours.  

"Singapore is a FINE City" 
I saw that slogan everywhere in the tourist shops and wondered why it kept saying that. Than I read some of the rules of Singapore and it made more sense. Jaywalking $500. Littering $500. Having pornography? $1000. Repeat offender? Caning of the naked bum bum. Drugs? Death by hanging. Someone nice called it "Disneyland with the death penalty".

We healed just enough to make our plane flight the next day to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We'll have more on that later. Ciao!










Today we learned about Balinese life and cooking. When I told my father the night before I was taking a cooking class his response was, "it's about bloody time!" We laughed and acknowledged something my family and Anna already know, that my skills in the kitchen are at best quite laughable. I've focused so much of my culinary career on achieving a professional level proficiency at eating and appreciating the food (mostly eating, my stomach does the appreciating) that I've never really taken the time to actually make any real food. Cereal with raisins I guess doesn't count. We  thought this class would help us learn more about cooking and give us an insight into how people truly live in Bali. The tour can be found here: www.greenkitchenbali.com.

We spent almost an hour at the market seeing how the locals shop for their basic goods in a village called Klungkung. From there we were taken to the village of "Sideman" (pronounced Seed-eh-man. Not like your apprentice or anything or sidekick on an adventure). This is a beautiful little village located more on the west side of Bali. It's in the hills with rice fields and mountains all around. It hosts family has a traditional family compound there. We got to meet the family! The compound sits on a good amount of land. I'd say at least an acre in size. It's really cool when walking in. You walk into a courtyard area and are surrounded by a number of different buildings. Many buildings here aren't exactly fully enclosed, which makes sense due to the weather here. We learned that the family temple sits in the NE part of the compound. By comparison, the bathroom is in the SW so it's to be in the opposite. Coming from Calgary we've taken the complete opposite approach on that one. We put all our richest residences in the bathroom. The Occupy Protesters would love that little twist. The kitchen is on the North side and dwellings east and south.

From the compound we had to start working. Say what? I pay for the chance to work? What's this?! A bad internship?! It's okay. Turns out we get fed the fruits of our spoils later. Yum! We all got our rice hats and had to venture out into the fields. Walking through the rice fields was very interesting and fun. The paths are very thin and there's water everywhere, so slipping would've resulted in water, uckiness, and mosquitos planning a new field trip to your exposed body parts for a feast. Turns out we had to pick our spices and ingredients for much of what were going to eat. We picked tapioca, peanuts, magical leaves that heal bug bites, leaves that smelled like lemons, but weren't. As you can see I forgot a lot of the names. I can say I've never eaten fresh peanuts from the ground before, man were they good!  It was like  walking in a painting being in the fields. The cows are kept in little luxury dwellings where they are all grass fed. These are nice cows, easily beauty pageant material.

From the field we hiked  up to the large kitchen. It was setup on top of a hill surrounded by trees with really nice views. The family helped us prepare all the food. Tis is where we learned all the recipes for the food we made. It was vey educational! Not only did it show us how to make Balinese food, but it also showed us a lot about how they prepare and cook food. This is as living off the land as you can get. From what we were told. The coffee came from his sister, the fish came from either  neighbor or friend, they have their own chickens and cows, and the veggies and rice they grow themselves in the fields we were in. We prepared the food the old fashioned way with their home made cooking tools. The pots, bowls, and all the implements are home made from wood or coconut. The stove is a real brick and wood fired stove. The food we made was the best we've had since we arrived in Bali.

I tried to help him pick some lychee fruit from the tree. We got there and I realizes there are two obstacles.
  1. The fruits don't grow on the lower part of the tree. They're high up. Either you hire a professional monkey from the monkey forest and pay him in bananas  or you do it yourself. Our guide lived and grew up on this land, so he climbed to retrieve the fruits. I wasn't looking when he passed them to me so I got a bushel on the head thrown at me from 5 meters up.
  2. The other challenge was the amount of spider webs on the way up. I guess bugs love being around these fruits, so the spiders jumped all over it and have a little commune to themselves. The higher up he climbed, the bigger the spiders got.

We had G.I. Joe & Transformers as kids, they had large spiders & lizards. We decided to ask the guide "Are today's Balinese children growing up with the same knowledge of living off the land as his generation? "No" he answered. "All they want is PS3". I guess this is the sort of thing that won't be around forever. If you're interested now's the time to get into it.

Now we will be going to Singapore for 4 days. The opposite of Bali in almost every way. Back to the concrete jungle vs. the forest.



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