Another Beach Resort?!!!

Sure thing! It was Tasha's request for quality time in Malaysia. So, just two days after getting home from Coral Redang where Tasha, Doug and Tracy got their scuba diving certificates we were back at another beach resort -- this time on the west side of Peninsular Malaysia, Pangkor Island Beach Resort. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive from KL for the 8 of us in our two vehicles and it involved a 30 minute ferry ride from the town of Lumut. But, we had nice accommodations and great food at the buffet meals for breakfast and dinner. Activities included lots of time in the pool, 9 holes of golf for Ron & Nancy (with Doug and Reeve playing the last 3 holes), kayaking for Doug and Reeve and a disappointing no-go for Tasha when she showed-up for paragliding on the last morning only to be told that the tide was too high and she'd need to wait until afternoon (when we'd already be gone!).
The golf course was a bit primitive, with greens more like a level and well-mowed fairway, and in reality there were only three holes transformed into 9 by the use of three different tee-boxes a few yards apart. One of the interesting things about the Pangkor Island Beach Resort was the presence of many Malaysian hornbills that gathered twice a day near the pool for regular feedings. Another aspect of the trip was the waiting at both ends of our trip for the ferry. Kids were good, however, and managed to keep entertained -- with a major assist from Grandma on the way home who suddenly appeared with ice cream cones! (Speaking of Grandma, her 60th birthday was "celebrated" by driving to Pangkor Island and then having one of their delicious buffet meals the first night we were there. However, the picture below was taken the night before our trip when Tracy surprised her at their place with a cake and presents!) - rw

Coral Redang Beach Resort

With Tasha's arrival on Sunday, June 15th from Oregon, little time was wasted before we flew (Mon., 9:30 a.m.) to Kuala Terengganu prior to a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride to Redang Island so that Tasha, Doug and Tracy could take a 4-day Padi Dive Course. (Of course Grandpa and Grandma were along to watch the kids.) The dive course turned out to exceed expectations, with an excellent teacher (pictured with his class of 3!), a good textbook, a bunch of videos and only one session in the swimming pool before being taught in the waters close-by. Some "deep water dives" as part of the course afforded excellent opportunities to see tropical fish, a large ray and a shark (sighted by Tasha).

We flew to Terengganu on a Firefly prop-jet, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. No problems on the flight, however, the airline never notified us that they had changed the departure time from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Fortunately, we were "saved" by our travel agent who notified us late in the game about the switch. The later departure (& arrival) caused us to miss the morning ferry and have to kill several hours in Terengganu before the 3:00 p.m. ferry. But we arrived in good shape after being transferred to a smaller boat (pictured) and then wading to shore! While Doug, Tracy and Tasha were occupied with morning and afternoon dive training, Nancy and I put the pool to great use -- a source of great entertainment for all three kids. One morning Reeve and I signed-up for a snorkeling trip to Turtle Bay (lots of tropical fish but no turtles sighted by either of us while snorkeling), with Nancy and Gabi going on the following day.
The whole experience was greatly enhanced by a full moon during the latter part of the week. It was literally awesome to see the red-orange moon rise out of the South China Sea a couple nights in a row. The first night of our "astronomical observation" all of us had walked quite a ways down the beach for a delicious dinner at another resort. On the way back Doug and Tasha made made many attempts to capture a digital image of the spectacular scene on Doug's camera. Unfortunately, those images are not yet on our computer! (In the picture below, who knows whether Reeve is contemplating the beauty of the scene!)- rw

Going to Malacca

After the weekend of watching kids Ron, Kathy and I headed to the historic town of Malacca for an overnight. Kathy got to experience how easy it is to get lost in KL as we took 3 hours to get there on what should have been a 2 hour trip. We made our way to the historic city center and while I melted in the heat Ron and Kathy saw the museum. We took a strange bus trip that was to show us the sights of Malacca but a helpful local told us to get off as the bus wasn't destined for where we thought we were going so we headed to the famous Jonker Street. The next day we walked to a lovely museum depicting life in Old Malacca and then headed to the Malacca Woodwork Factory where Ron and ordered bedroom furniture.
Kathy was very patient as we made our choices. Then we actually drove home in less than 2 hours and didn't even get lost on the way! - Nancy

We love Oregonians!

Kathy Haney came for a week and not only helped take care of our three grandkids for a 3 day weekend but also got some sightseeing in as well. Ron took her to KLCC (Twin Towers) on my last day of work. Then Ron and Kathy came to the ISKL Library to help celebrate the June birhdays of the library staff. Uma (far right) and I have June birthdays. Zeti (far left) and Bavani organized a party. We managed to visit the KL Tower with the kids on Sunday morning after church. Any clues as to what Rania sees? - Nancy

The Great Week-end Sleepover

With Doug and Tracy off to Singapore on Friday morning for a wedding, Nancy and I + Kathy Haney, our week-long guest from Salem, OR, hosted Reeve, Gabi and Rania for the week-end. Friday morning was spent at the huge Kuala Lumpur Bird Park where the kids fed parrots, had their pictures taken with them ... and then had a great time hand-feeding greens to ostriches. O yes, we did manage to work-in the "bird show" in the large amphitheater and have lunch at the "Hornbill Restaurant." On Friday afternoon the kids took naps at our place and swam in the pool prior to driving up to Doug & Tracy's where Juvy had hamburgers ready for all six of us. Nancy and Kathy helped with baths and bedtime stories before driving back to GCB Court for the night while Ron slept up at Bukit Antarabangsa as "designated parent/guardian."

After Nancy and Kathy got back up to Doug and Tracy's on Saturday morning, we headed out by car to Batu Caves, a famous Hindu temple-shrine in KL. All three kids amazed us by climbing up all 272 steps unassisted; however, tiredness did set-in on the way down with Grandpa carrying Rania and Gabi begging for a piggy-back ride from Kathy (at left-back of picture). The caves themselves are at the top of the staircase and contain a number of religious statues as well as a bunch of pesky monkeys looking for handouts. The Batu Caves outing was concluded with a stop at McDonalds while the breakfast menu was still being offered. (Each of the kids had a "Happy Meal" and consumed both pancakes without a problem.)

While Gabi and Rania napped at GCB Court with Grandpa on duty, Kathy, Nancy and Reeve took a bus downtown and rode the "Hop-on, Hop-off Bus" all around the city, with memorable stops at the Orchid Garden, the Ferris Wheel, the Islamic Art Museum and the Art & Crafts Center. Reeve ably served as staff photo-grapher, taking the shots here on the blog of orchids and a Koran at the museum. Reeve was anxious to tell his Dad on Sunday evening how all three of them almost missed the bus after the Ferris Wheel continued-on into a 7th "trip around."

Saturday night all three kids slept here at GCB Court and were early-risers Sunday Morning so that we could make it to the 8:30 worship service at St. Andrews' Church. After worship it was lunch at Burger King at KLCC, then naps and another swim prior to driving up to Bukit Antarabangsa for the "great reunion" with Doug and Tracy who had just beat us to their home via taxi from downtown. All in all, Nancy and I were grateful for the fun times with the kids -- and also for Kathy's help in enabling us to maintain an effective one-on-one defense! - rw