This is Malaysia

I took these pictures several weeks ago and was going to write a post about it and never got around to it....imagine that!! Anyhow, I thought everyone might find it interesting too see a few of the things we've come to notice about things here in Malaysia and don't quite understand.....like......

1) How is it possible to lose a load of this size right in the middle of a busy downtown street?!? If you understood how traffic is already, you can only imagine what kind of a mess this caused. Do people slow down or stop until everything is checked out and moved out of the way....oh no.....it turns into let's just see how small of a space we can squeeze through to get past it!! So like the rest of the Malaysians we inched through the part of the road not occupied by the broke-down lorry....at the same time trying not to take out the guys on motor bikes to our left. Oh yeah, did I mention Andrew and I got hit a few weeks ago while sitting at a red light......some idiot thought 10 seconds was too long to wait to try to turn left.....so as they do here, tried to squeeze through the few inches he had between us and the ditch on his left side..... and his side view mirror clipped ours as he didn't quite gauge the distance well enough. Andrew nearly had a fit honking his horn and rolling down his window to yell at the guy, but yeah....a whole lot of good that did!!!! Luckily, no serious damage, just some scratch....although it felt like he had pulled the whole mirror off....maybe the mirrors are made to withstand stuff like that since it probably happens all the time.
2) Malaysians will take a some tin and boards and make anything from a food hawker stall to a fruit/vegetable stand.......to yes, even a roadside barber shop. That is right....what you see below is a gentleman laying back and getting a shave. I thought this was hilarious. I was sitting at a red light, turned to my right and noticed this make-shift barber shop. This is Malaysia!

3) Why everyone thinks it is okay to double-park in the middle of one of the busiest downtown streets and make it almost impossible for everyone else to travel down. The picture below does not do justice of what I speak about. I took this at a very empty time of the day, but hope to capture one later of just how crazy it can get. It's a one way road with 2 lanes, but about the only rule that applies is that it is a one-waystreet ......no lanes apply when it gets busy. I'll have to post that picture at a later date. But the double-parking thing happens all over town and it is absolutely the most frustrating thing ever. It's hard enough to have to navigate through moving traffic, must less the ones that just stop in the middle of the road to park. These are Malaysians. We once even had one of the Singapore taxi cab drivers honking at a Malaysian car telling us how they "do this in their country", but how it is not allowed in Singapore.....think there was a bit of hostility in that comment?!?!?
And 4) what in the world is up with the pillows and tissue box holder in the rear window?!??! We thought it was just a few people when we first noticed it, but it seems like just about everyone does it. Are the pillows for napping during long journeys.....in case of a break-down they will have something to rest on.....because please tell me they are not for decorative purposes....a house is for decorating, not a car!!!
Anyhow, these have been some of our latest observations of the country. It is definitely quite interesting and sometimes makes us wonder what on earth we are doing here!!! No seriously, we are really enjoying ourselves and the new experiences. We look forward to the rest of our time here. Who knows maybe we'll bring back the fad of having decorative pillows in our rear window back to the states with us when we return!!!!

Enjoying our visitor and looking forward to more....

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 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!!

I think it was only a phase.....which is hopefully over!!

Sorry for the delay in getting another post out. I've gotten a bit behind for a couple of reasons.....one, because we haven't done much to really warrant writing about lately and two, because my handsome little guy has elected to spend all of his time with his mommy during the day......AWAKE..... and not napping! Yep, for the last 5 days prior to yesterday, he decided he was only going to take one nap a day or for a couple of days....no nap at all!! Oddly enough, there was no change to his night time sleep. We'd go through our normal bedtime routine and then lay him in his bed and walk away and he'd fall asleep on his own....just like he has the last 5 months ....and sleep through the night. But for some unexplainable reason, it just wasn't working for naps any longer (he'd wail if I walked out of the room after putting him in his bed!!). Maybe it is his new found freedom to walk around and there are too many exciting things for him to see, so he doesn't want to close his eyes for one second thinking he might miss out on something.....who knows. All I know is that for those few days I was seriously considering making him an only child!!! I realized I am way too spoiled by what a good sleeper he has been. It required no effort at all to get him to nap or to sleep at night up until now. So these few days were very trying. But we added some rocking and reading into our nap time routine and then I put a few soft books in his crib and now it seems like after I rock him for a bit and put him in his crib - he plays with the books for awhile and then falls asleep. I know this because the last three naps he has fallen asleep in the most awkward, uncomfortable looking positions (like he was sitting and then just leaned forward and fell asleep). I didn't dare try to move him though, afraid I might wake him..... but he'd eventually get into a more comfortable position on his own. The funny thing is up until about 7:00 at night, he'd be in the best of moods - laughing and playing and not fussing one bit!!Although, I did have to be by him constantly because if I put him in his pack-n-play and went to the bathroom where he couldn't see me, he would pitch a fit!! I'm not sure what it was all about, but luckily it seems to have passed. Yesterday and today he has taken 2 really good naps each day (I think the last 5 days were catching up with him!!). I hope I'm not speaking too soon. Of course, I can completely deal with the no napping during the day, but I'm just thankful that nothing has impacted his nighttime sleep - I'm not sure I could handle the every 2-3 hour wake-ups again or not wanting to sleep at all....I like my sleep too much now!!!

One of my best friends is on her way to visit as I speak. She should be arriving in Japan soon and then flying into Singapore. Since she doesn't arrive until 1am, she is staying at a hotel and Azman, Evan and I are going to pick her up tomorrow around noon. We are so excited to have her!! She'll be staying with us for an entire month.....I hope she doesn't get too bored.....or change her mind about having children of her own while she is here, given Evan's latest sleeping habits (although like I said, hopefully that has passed!!). We are going to try to get in a couple of trips while she is here. Given Andrew's work schedule, I don't think we can manage much more. I think we are going to try to go to another resort on another Malaysian island called Langkawi (it's suppose to be like Tioman, but a much larger island)....and then when my parents are here, we are going to try to make it to Phuket, Thailand. They arrive on the 24th - in time to celebrate Evan's 1st birthday at the end of the month. So we'll have a house full for about 8 days, but it will be so nice to have some company around - and let them get a bit of the experience we have had. I know it is such a long trip, but we really do appreciate them making it all the way over here to visit. My parents are here for about 16 days, so Evan will be completely spoiled by the time they leave, I'm sure of it!! They are already travelling with 2 extra pieces of luggage with just "Evan stuff"!! I swear that BeBe and Boss still manage to find a way to spoil E even from 10,000 miles away!!!

Other Evan news to report......he is walking even more on his own now (as evidenced by the picture below.....don't worry, his dad was right near by - we weren't going to let him fall into the pool!!!). He used to just want to either walk to you or to something to hold onto nearby, but now he'll get going and walk to something clear across the room. Of course, if he can find a wall - he likes the security and would rather just walk along it (he looks like Spiderman!!) He still only has 8 teeth completely showing with the other top 2 still wanting to pop through....but haven't. I still can't get him to say much more than "DaDa", sometimes "MaMa" and "NoNoNoNo" and I swear he has said "Ball" on occasion. He is pointing at everything he wants now, which is why I can't wait for him to start talking so I can figure out what it is that he actually wants!! And he makes this absolutely hilarious noise when he sees something he wants to put in his mouth.....something that sounds like he is eating while he opens and closes his mouth. The good thing about it, is that I can always tell if he's found something on the floor to put in his mouth, because he'll make the sound before he does it...so he gets the "Evan don't put that in your mouth" before I can even check to see what he has!! He also loves looking for things. For the last few weeks, he loves to take these balls he has and roll them either the couch or the armoir in the TV room and then look underneath to try to find them. He can entertain himself forever doing it! It's too cute!!

The pictures above were from another pool day we had last weekend. We had a nice relaxing 3 day weekend with Andrew since he was off on Friday for Merdeka. The 2nd picture is of Evan with a mouthful of Dad's yummy chicken pasta salad (he loved it!!)....thus the bigger than usual cheeks!!!

Hope you enjoy the video below. It isn't the best, but it will give you an idea of how active Evan is lately!! He was throwing the balls this time as opposed to hiding them.....and he is giving climbing the stairs on his own one heck of try!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting PS. There were no near misses in the making of this video ;-)

Gymboree Day

We are headed back to Melaka right now from KL. Azman, Evan and I drove up this morning so that Evan could attend his Gymboree class. We were initially supposed to come up with Andrew, but his meeting was rescheduled for tomorrow, so we had Azman drive us up instead. We were a bit hesitant about coming to KL because the city is in preparation for their big Merdeka celebration on Friday and there was supposed to be tons of road closures in the city center. Fortunately, the mall where we went didn’t seem to be impacted so we didn’t have any problem outside of the usual bumper-to-bumper KL traffic. Merdeka is Malaysia’s “4th of July”….August 31st marks the anniversary of their independence from the British. This is their 50th anniversary, so there is suppose to be an extra special celebration going on this year. We won’t be attending as I’m sure every Malaysian will be making their way into KL in the next couple of days.
Evan did wonderfully at his class. We attended the level 3 class this time for the first time. Since it is for 10 to 16 month olds, there was a wide range of kids in the class…..some just crawling, some learning to walk and others walking really well. The instructor set up several obstacle courses to have the babies practice crawling and walking. Since we aren’t a crawler, the ones with tunnels to go through posed a problem….so we just skipped those silly tunnels…..who wants to crawl anyhow when you can walk!!! Climbing stairs, walking on beams, sliding down slides and pushing that big tube thing (below) was more his style.

Another hotel.......another haircut

We had a great time in Singapore this last weekend. We left on Saturday and much to our surprise had no problem at all with the Malaysia/Singapore immigration or customs. We did have to spend a bit of time registering our car with the Singapore immigration. Apparently, all cars in Singapore must have a VEP (vehicle entry permit). So we had to buy something called an Autopass card in order to pay our tolls and they also charge foreign-registered cars a S$20/day fee at certain times during the week (now we know how they keep Singapore so clean). We also had to pay an arm and a leg to park. While the parking at our swanky hotel (we had to stay in one of the executive rooms since the hotel was full……oh schucks!!) should have been complimentary, it somehow ended up getting charged to our Autopass card.....Singapore is definitely much more expensive than Malaysia!! We actually stayed at the same hotel near the COP office that I stayed in when I visited Singapore several years ago. It was fun to see how much I remembered about an area that I was only in for 2 short days, (on business with severe jet lag) 5 years ago!! Apparently the swanky hotel has a shortage of baby cots…..because since Evan and I were a last minute add on to Andrew’s business trip and he failed to mention we would need one, there were none available for Saturday night. So lucky for Evan, he got to sleep with Mommy and Daddy for one night. He did quite well – fell asleep on schedule just as always and slept through the night (at least without requiring me to tend to him) – I, on the otherhand had a very long night. I now realize how much he temporarily wakes up during the course of the night. He would wake up, move around a bit, talk a bit and then fall right back to sleep. He woke up in the morning, just as refreshed as ever. I, unlike my 2 boys, woke up on this tiny piece of the bed (nevermind that it was a king size bed and E and Andrew had PLENTY of room to spare!!) with every joint aching (from trying to move as minimally as possible so not to wake him....Evan, that is....Andrew was snoring most of the night...there was no waking him!!).


As for our trip, we didn’t do any sightseeing again. We pretty much got the things we needed done - grocery shopping for Evan essentials and the stuff we can’t get in Malaysia for us (like 5 bags of Tortilla chips!!) and we also got Evan’s 4th haircut. Andrew found a place called Junior League at a mall next to the hotel. It was this place that tailored specifically to children – with DVD players in front of each of the 4 chairs and tons of books and toys!! We thought we would go early so we could get an appointment, but I think everyone else had the same idea. When we got there, they hadn’t opened the doors yet, but there were about 10 other kids already waiting as well. We shortly found out that there is a process to getting a haircut there....that apparently everyone else knew about expect us….and a British family that was also waiting. As the doors opened, parents rushed to a wall with numbers hanging from it which determined your place in line. I picked up on it quickly, but not quick enough – we ended up being #9 out of 13……and let me tell you, I would have been last if not for becoming pushy at the end (after politely waiting my turn and continuously having other mothers jump in front of me)….I swear no order in this place….and for tiny Asians, they don’t have a problem shoving you (ok, shoving is probably harsh, but someone definitely needs to teach some of them some manners that’s for sure!!). When it finally became our turn….45 minutes later….Evan did quite well. He sat quietly the entire time, playing with some candy in a bowl (taking them out one by one, throwing them down so mom could put them back in the bowl and then throwing them out again…..over and over and over!!!). We were very pleased with his cut, the guy did such a fantastic job and I never flinched once at the sight of him nearly getting Evan in the eyes with his scissors! I think we have found our new place for Evan cuts……especially now since I know what to do!!


Now you can see how desperately we were in need of a haircut...he was starting to look like a little girl!!

And then they had to go and put a pink robe on him......

No girl here.....just one handsome little guy!!I think the only other eventful thing during our stay was our trip over to Hooters at a place called Clark’s Quay (pronounced “key”), which was really neat. I think on a Friday and Saturday the place would have been packed with people – it seemed like a place with a big nightlife. It had tons of outside restaurants and bars right along the water (reminded me of the Riverwalk in San Antonio). We went on a Sunday night, so it wasn’t crowded at all. The Hooters was just as in the states, except no Budlight and the wings just didn’t seem the same (alright, so maybe nothing like in the states.....other than the name and the girls wearing those awful outfits!!)) Evan had trouble napping that afternoon, so he had a very late afternoon nap so we didn’t end up eating until about 9:oo. So yes, we were at Hooters, on a Sunday, at 9:00 at night…..with a baby!! If we were celebrities we would have made the front page of all the trash magazines (fortunately, the one magazine I’ve managed to continue to receive in the mail is my US magazine…..so I’ve been staying on top of all the Britney Spears drama)!!! Evan had a great time, he was quite a big hit with the ladies!!! His Boss always tells him he likes those older women….well Boss, he was definitely in action while we were at Hooters!!

And here is one at home the other day where E got his first punk rock hairdo....

Freedom

Evan and I have been keeping busy with our new found freedom provided by our new wheels. I find that we get more of our errands run during the week now instead of having to wait for Andrew to drive us around on the weekend....or waiting for the driver to take us wherever we need to go. On Monday, we hit the mega sale at Jaya Jusco and then went and paid Andrew's parking ticket (which by the way isn't an easy task - there has to be an easier way to pay a $5 parking ticket!!!). Yesterday, we went and met Andrew for lunch at the mall and then shopped around for a bit. I think A is a little worried that my being able to get out of the house and around town by myself may start costing him more.....I guess I'm going to have to go back to being put on a budget :-) Today, I actually drove myself to my coffee morning. I even managed to find my way without getting lost...well, actually I missed one turn, but easily found my way (which is a real success given all the one way streets). It is just so nice to get out whenever we want to now. I can tell we are really starting to get comfortable living here. Today, I saw one of the American women who has been back in the US for the last 3 months and I found myself talking to her about where to go for things in the city....I think she was a bit shocked that we were feeling so settled already. And, this weekend, Andrew, Evan and I are going to attempt to drive to Singapore on our own....without the driver (this could be a real adventure)! The drive isn't what we are worried about as much as getting through immigration and customs on our own (without speaking the language) and then finding our way around the city.....wish us luck!!

I just had to post this picture of Evan.....it really shows how big he is actually getting. He just got this shirt and short set today from his Nana and Pop who recently went to Myrtle Beach.....I thought they would be too big for him to wear right now.....but as you can see, they are not too big at all. (and the cap is because he is in desperate need of a haircut!!!)

New car and now on my way to new, straight teeth....

After 9 short weeks, I finally have some wheels of my very own. Evan and I got our new MPV (multi-person vehicle) yesterday and we love it! We are now rolling in a fancy, new Toyota Innova. Actually, it's not all that fancy at all (my mom asked if it had a DVD player or a GPS.....are you kidding....we don't even get cruise control around here - actually you probably can, but nothing we could afford...these are considered super luxuries around here I think) compared to US cars, but about 10 steps up from Andrew's Waja - so we LOVE it!! Evan and I went to the zoo today and I think Evan was really digging his new ride....I never heard from him once. He is so ready to do the forward facing thing though. He is so curious about everything that just looking at the back seat the entire time isn't working for him much anymore. I can hardly believe my baby is going to be one in less than 2 months....where has the time gone?!?!? It seems like just the other day we were bringing him home from the hospital, without a clue as to what to do with him.....and now he is walking, has a mouth full of teeth and rambles non-stop! I hope you all are enjoying the pictures out on this blog as much as I do.....I love to go back through them and see how much he has changed in just a few short months!! Sorry....not sure how I got off on that thought....

As I mentioned in my prior post, I'm officially 13 again. I got the braces put on my lower teeth on Thursday. It was a fairly non-eventful procedure. I went in and 30 minutes later, I had a mouthful of metal! It really made me feel like a teenager again especially when the assistant asked me what color of bands I wanted around the brackets and then presented me with samples of bright (I mean BRIGHT) blue, red, green, yellow, orange, purple, etc rubber bands. It reminded of all these kids who go out and get their favorite color or school colors put on! So, I chose red.......just teasing, I told her to put on whatever would show up the least....I ended up with grey. Anyhow, so now my teeth are killing me. I guess it means it's working though, right? I also forgot how hard it is to eat with these things (good way to diet...I find myself avoiding anything that requires too much chewing....rice and noodles seem to be working well!) and how they completely rub the inside of my mouth . Hopefully she is right in saying that I will only have to wear them for a year or less. It was pretty funny - Evan wasn't quite sure what to think of them when I first showed them to him....of course, all he wanted to do was point at them! We find that he points at everything......and everyone.....which is so perfect, given that we live in a country where they DON'T point (they do that thumb thing...you know that "proper presentation" thing they teach you instead of pointing)!!! Anyhow, hopefully I get used to these dumb things....I guess I can't complain since it was my idea to get them put on in the first place. At least Andrew is getting some enjoyment out of teasing me constantly!!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days:

Having some lunch.....he is totally into solids now and loves eating by himself

In addition to walking, he has also picked up "scooting" (since he never learned to crawl)...so now he scoots along (he especially loves it on the tile/wooden floors because he moves faster than on the rugs) to a place where he can pull himself up

This is one from our trip to the zoo - he had the best time watching these monkeys eat on some corn cobs and climb around on the trees (which as we've mentioned, we really don't need to go to a zoo to see!!). He also really enjoyed seeing the elephants this time. He started pointing at them as soon as he saw them as we were walking up the hill. He sat and watched in awe as they ate with their trunks. He definitely noticed alot more during this trip than he did a couple of months ago.

We'll continue to keep you posted....so please do the same and let us know how things are going in your time zone.