It's been 2 weeks now since Jennifer arrived and we have enjoyed every minute of having her here. Although, I don't think she was quite aware of how much work a one-year old would actually entail...so she is off having a nice, relaxing (baby-free) time in Tioman right now. Only Jennifer could travel to some remote island by herself and have a great time doing it!! She was hoping to get some jungle-trekking, snorkling and beachtime in for a few days. I'm just glad she is able to experience a little bit more of what Malaysia has to offer. It's tough to get alot in when having to travel with a little one, so I'm glad she ended up deciding to go on her own. Our driver brings her back to Melaka Sunday evening.
As for things we've done since Jen has been here....well, we visited one of Melaka's tourist attractions....a place called Mini Malaysia. It has replicas of traditional Malaysian houses from each of the 13 Malaysian states....sounds a bit interesting, doesn't it?? Well, it wasn't....it was hot....and they all looked the same!! Evan enjoyed himself though...it was the first time we had him in his back carrier and he loved it!!
We also went to Jonker street one evening....a street that closes down on the weekends in the evenings and are then filled with all sorts of vendors...from food to Malaysian souvenirs to a bunch of junk!!! We had a good time and Jen was able to do some good Christmas shopping. We also spent a weekend in KL. Jen and I went to Chinatown (while Andrew stayed at the hotel with Evan and put him down for the night.....I know, what a great dad, isn't he??) . We ate some great Chinese food and did some bargaining on some knock-off Coach handbags and pirated movies. We were then fortunate enough to get a taxi driver back to the hotel that lectured us the entire way about us doing our part to keep "those sort of people" in business. Yeah, yeah....us and the thousand other people there!! Actually, it was really nice, not crowded at all. I think because it is now Ramaddan, most of the Malaysian Muslims were off eating instead of shopping. It started on Sept 13 and goes through Oct 12. Andrew says it is quite interesting around the office, as more work now gets done since people don't take there regular snack breaks during this time - they are only allowed to eat and drink between 7pm and 6am - but they are more uptight now since they are all hungry!! While in KL, we also made it up to the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge - it was quite a view (In the picture below, Evan is sporting the 3-D glasses they gave us in order to watch this video prior to going up to the skybridge) ....and then thought we needed Jen to take our usual photos in front of the towers as well.
We also went to Jonker street one evening....a street that closes down on the weekends in the evenings and are then filled with all sorts of vendors...from food to Malaysian souvenirs to a bunch of junk!!! We had a good time and Jen was able to do some good Christmas shopping. We also spent a weekend in KL. Jen and I went to Chinatown (while Andrew stayed at the hotel with Evan and put him down for the night.....I know, what a great dad, isn't he??) . We ate some great Chinese food and did some bargaining on some knock-off Coach handbags and pirated movies. We were then fortunate enough to get a taxi driver back to the hotel that lectured us the entire way about us doing our part to keep "those sort of people" in business. Yeah, yeah....us and the thousand other people there!! Actually, it was really nice, not crowded at all. I think because it is now Ramaddan, most of the Malaysian Muslims were off eating instead of shopping. It started on Sept 13 and goes through Oct 12. Andrew says it is quite interesting around the office, as more work now gets done since people don't take there regular snack breaks during this time - they are only allowed to eat and drink between 7pm and 6am - but they are more uptight now since they are all hungry!! While in KL, we also made it up to the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge - it was quite a view (In the picture below, Evan is sporting the 3-D glasses they gave us in order to watch this video prior to going up to the skybridge) ....and then thought we needed Jen to take our usual photos in front of the towers as well.
We also went to the Aquarium in KL. It was pretty interesting. They had an underwater viewing that let you stand on this conveyor belt thing and let you see the fish all around you. We also got to see the fish getting fed. Evan kept thinking he could actually touch them...not realizing there was glass between him and the fish.
Let's see, what else have we done.....well, we've had alot of pool time and Jen and I actually went out and played 9 holes last Monday while the babysitter looked after Evan. We had alot of fun...I think it actually made Jennifer consider a stay-at-home role, she's sort of liking this not working thing......sorry, Matt!!So, my parents arrive in Singapore on Sunday night, and Evan and I will go and pick them up first thing Monday morning (with the driver, of course....I'm still not brave enough to tackle Singapore on my own!). We are so excited to have them here and I know they are thoroughly looking forward to seeing Evan....well, probably more hugging and kissing him...since they practically see him everyday on the webcam. We aren't giving them much time to settle in because we then all head out to Phuket, Thailand on Wednesday. We'll be there until Sunday. We've heard so many great things about Phuket (aside from the latest plane crash....we are playing the odds here....what is the likelihood of 2 planes crashing at the same airport in the same month....be praying for us nevertheless!)) that we can hardly wait. This will be the first vacation with family, so we are looking forward to having some babysitters on hand...party, party, party!! I'll be sure and post some pictures when we return. We actually return on Evan's 1st birthday, so we are planning on having his official party on Monday instead so he will be well rested and in a good mood. What a lucky kid.....not many (American kids) can say they spent their first birthday in Thailand!!
As for other latest Evan news....his naps aren't as consistent as in the past, but he is still taking at least 1 good nap a day with 2 on most days! He is walking around everywhere on his own and he has also learned to climb up the stairs with no help at all. But, we are still having some trouble coming back down. He thinks he can just walk down them and is being totally resistant of having me try to show him how to come down on his tummy or bottom.
Here is one where I caught up to him after he was trying to touch the pictures on the nightstand and turned away as I told him "we don 't touch those".....which by the way has fortunately deterred him from actually touching them....wow.... let's see how long the obedience lasts.....
And here is one that shows the multi-tasker that he is already. He manages to walk with things in both hands as well as drink from his sippy cup while walking.... we are so very proud of our little guy!! And.... I continue to stay fit following him around all day long!!!!
And one last one that shows how I was able to finish this post........he kept busy taking everything out of his diaper bag.....and what you fail to see are all the shoes to the right that he pulled down from this shoe rack we have in the entry hall....this kept him busy for at least 20 minutes!!
I'll be sure and get some vacation pictures as well as birthday pictures out on the site soon after we return. I should have tons more time now that I have some of the grandparents around to keep E entertained for the next 16 days!! I'm not sure I'm going to let them go back home!!
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