Happy Merdeka Day!

Yesterday was Malaysia's Independence Day.  Malaysia declared it's independence from British rule in 1957.  The day is always celebrated on August 31, although since that was Sunday, today is a national holiday.  I am working on this blog post surrounded by hubby and kids, who are all home today.

Google in the morning.  Selamat Hari Merdka! By the way, if you look closely, the screen says that Google is also available in Behasa Melayu.  I think I will stick to English.

I did not take this picture, but there were lots of Malaysian flags around the city.

For three days this past week, I have seen (and heard) fighter jets flying by my apartment.  Doing circles, flips, turns, and stunts.  The practice times were right before 10:00 am every time.  We figured it was in preparation for Independence day.  Or so we hoped!  Allison tried to find information about the air show, but couldn't find anything.  (Now I did hear that a lot of the normal festivities were cut this year due to the Malaysian Airline tragedies.)  She just figured it would be at the same time, so she invited us over for breakfast and a possible air show.

Allison was right on!  Fighter jets at 10:00 am!  There were two groups of three jets, in addition to other single planes.

This may not be the best blog post to view on your phone.  :)

After the show, came a beautiful breakfast buffet prepared by Allison.

We must have all received the 'black' memo!  Me, Allison, Brenda

Thought I might as well show you the guys, too!  My Austin took this picture.  He came up for some breakfast leftovers.

After breakfast, we and the Millers went out and about in KL.  First we went to Little India.  Joe thought it was a lot cleaner than 'big' India.

Saris for sale

Little India Brickfields

There is an Indian part of Muscat, called Ruwi.  This was like a more colorful Ruwi.

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but the Malaysian population is made up of three main groups-- Malays, Chinese, and Indian.  So, after Little India, we headed over to Chinatown.  We did all this traveling in cabs.  Cabs are usually plentiful and cheap.  And no worries about where to park!

I loved the red lanterns over Jalan Petaling, or Petaling Street.  There are a lot of outdoor stalls selling knock-off purses, sunglasses, and clothing.  There are also lots of souvenirs and odds and ends.  There are also real stores behind the stalls.  Don't forget to bargain hard!

After Chinatown, we headed to Peter Hoe's.  I had heard lots about Peter Hoe's and was happy to go.  It is located at 145 Jalan Tun H S Lee, this street.

It is located on the 2nd floor (well, third to me.  The first floor is '0' in KL.)

 Beautiful store with lots of home accessories and gifts.

 And across the street is this beautiful temple.

And around the corner and down the block is this flower shop.  A great place to buy cheap flowers.

Well, I feel like I did experience the three 'sides' of Malaysia yesterday!

Sea Container!

Since the first day we arrived in KL, one question has been on my family's mind-- when is our sea container going to get here???  I thought I did the smart thing.  I had our house in Oman all packed up and shipped out at the end of June, and then the kids and I headed off to the US for five weeks.  Since Oman is not that far from KL, I optimistically expected our stuff to be waiting for us.   Now I know it has to go through customs at either end.  I also knew I was cutting it close to Ramadan (a Muslim holiday I won't go into detail here describing, but in Oman it does involve a month of shortened working hours.)  Well, it took three weeks just to leave Oman, due to Ramadan.  Then it sat in KL for a while, but it did finally arrive! 

So what is it about our stuff?  My father was in the military, and I vividly remember our move from Germany to Texas when I was 12 years old.  I remember the long anticipation and the happiness of delivery of our household goods.  Some things never change.  :)

Stuff!  Albeit well disguised.

It's amazing how happy I was to work so hard!

A little tea break with my favorite mug!  I did wash it first.

Housewarming flowers from Brenda and Allison.  Perfect colors!

So what was I happiest to see?  (In no particular order.)

My antique doors and orange chairs.  This is the first thing I see when I step off the elevator and it makes me smile.   (Color change on wall coming next week!)

My Turkish pottery.  Needed something to play off the red kitchen cabinets!

My Kitchen Aid mixer.  Savannah is having friends over tonight and I will be making my chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing.

My Nespresso machine!  I have no idea what I was thinking, not putting this is my air shipment.  But I was still being optimistic.  It was hard enough to go without it all summer. 

My good iron.  Joe had an iron here that we paid ten dollars for.  Guess what?  If you pay ten dollars for an iron, you get a $10 iron!  I am a wrinkle-phobe, and the cheap iron just didn't cut it.

This is what Austin was looking forward to the most-- his desk!  With only one rental table in the whole apartment, Austin spent a lot more time with us than he prefers!  Savannah was smart and put most of her stuff in the air shipment, so she was good.  But we did all enjoy sleeping in our own beds!

Everything is pretty much unpacked and put away.  Handyman comes next week to hang all pictures and do some painting, so we are well on our way to being settled.  Good thing, because we all have some big adventures coming up in the next few weeks!

Eating in KL

Whenever people talk about KL, they often refer to the food.  There is an amazing number of restaurants, and all types of cuisine.  In the three weeks I have been in KL, I have eaten Thai, American, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian food.  But I have not eaten at what I would consider local cuisine.  Well, until today.

The day started off with some shopping.  Susie, our Malaysian friend who also happened to be our awesome realtor, took us to a nursery and a fabric store.  I bought a couple of plants and this Chinese warrior today.

Brenda, Susie, me, and Allison at a really fun fabric store.  We are all looking for home decor fabric, but got a bit distracted with all the beautiful, colorful fabrics on display.  This fabric store reminded me of the fabric stores in Oman.  The name of this store is Kamdar, but this is the smaller location.  The bigger location has to wait until another trip.

When Susie asked what we wanted to do for lunch, we told her we wanted to go somewhere 'authentic' and Malaysian.  Where locals eat.  She took us here, to Restoran Yong Len.  It is a Chinese-Malaysian restaurant.  Susie recommended this Prawn Mee, which is a noodle broth with shrimp.  Next time, because we all chose pork.  :)  By the way, as you can see, there are no walls.  The sides of the restaurant were open.  Not sure if you can tell, but it was pouring!  One more thing, if I thought the double-parking in Oman was bad, this beats anything I ever saw.  One solid line of double-parked cars.

Brenda and Allison.  You will see lots more pictures of them in the future.  Besides being really fun gals, we all live in the same complex and our husbands work together.  We are planning all sorts of upcoming adventures!!

Here is what we came to eat-- Char Siew Rice.  It is slices of roasted pork, served with rice and cucumbers, and a side of a tasty and spicy sauce.  It was very good.

Susie was doing vegetarian today, and this was her lunch.  A type of 'noodle' made of rice, served with a yummy sauce.  So, the price of our lunch for the four of us?  16 ringgits, or about $5!

Typical Malaysian deserts.  The front one is made with sago and coconut.  Susie was a bit surprised that we don't know what sago is.  Still don't.  The back one was some sort of tapioca, I believe.  Anyways, the sago one was the winner at the table!  Very tasty.

Another picture of the restaurant.

So, here's the thing.  We can't eat out all the time.  And there are not very many American brands of food.  Brenda showed me this delicious Tom Yum soup mix.  Just add water (more than it calls for if you don't want your mouth to burn), and whatever veggies and meat you want.  Easy and good.

Now I am going to throw this in.  We ate at KGB, or Killer Gourmet Burgers on Sunday.  I am not really much into hamburgers, but I have to say these were great!  I was told they are very close to In-And-Out burgers.  This restaurant is located by Bangsar Village, but I believe there is a new location in Gardens Mall.

Yum!

 Sunrise this morning

Good night, y'all!  Getting ready for the most exciting day in the life of an expat.  Sea container arrives tomorrow!!  :)