Thanksgiving in KL 2014

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  Today was our first Thanksgiving in KL, our third out of the US.  But unlike Oman, today was a regular school and work day.  Well, not at the Holmes house!  We celebrated the day with our fellow American friends.

The table set for lunch.  It was challenging to decorate for Thanksgiving with no access to real pumpkins, acorns, fall leaves, or other common 'fall' decor.  I made up for it with my faux pumpkins and lots of fresh flowers.

Just letting you see some of the views from our apartment.  There are the Petronas Twin towers and the KL tower.

The view from this direction.

This is our elevator lobby.  Welcoming our Thanksgiving guests.

Last year, in Oman, we had to watch rugby after our Thanksgiving meal.  We tried something new this year.  Austin found a UT (American) football game on You Tube and hooked up his computer to our tv.  Classic football!

It was a pretty and clear day in KL.  High of 93. 

Which game did we choose to watch?  The national championship game of 2005.  If you are going to watch classic football, make it the best!

Me, Peg, Allison.  Yes, I know my eyes are closed.  You wouldn't believe how often that happens.

Kevin, John, and Tony watching another game in the den.  Which game was this?  The Dallas Cowboys game from Sunday.  Another rule of classic football?  Pick games where your favorite team wins!  By the way, this room is painted orange.  We love the color!  First time in my life I have painted a room orange.

Like I mentioned, we had lots of fresh flowers.  I bought them in Chinatown, by Peter Hoe's.  Allison arranged them for me and did a great job!

Here I am, slicing the beef tenderloin roast.  This is the beef tenderloin I bought at Lucky Frozen.  It was delicious, if I do say so myself.  I say that because I don't make tenderloin that often and I am always relieved when it comes out well.  I got the recipe from my friend, Mary, in Oman.  And I am sharing it with y'all.

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/3452827-REGENCY-BEEF-TENDERLOIN-WITH-HORSERADISH-BUTTER

I made the beef, two turkey breasts (that easily fit in my oven), a German Chocolate cake, and Chocolate Pecan pie.  Everyone else brought the yummy side dishes, rolls, and extra desserts.  I found a great recipe for the turkey breasts.  Here it is:

http://www.thedailymeal.com/barefoot-contessas-herb-roasted-turkey-breast

The whole gang!  A great blessing to have made such good friends in our short time in KL.

So this picture was taken later in the afternoon.  This is one of the things we love about the views from our apartment-- the rapidly-changing cloud formations.   We have also seen two complete rainbows in the last few weeks!

Girl time and dessert while the guys cheer for the Cowboys.

We ended the afternoon with a game:  Left, Right, Center.  We each played with three one-ringgit bills, and the winner ended up with all the bills.

Krystal, our big winner!  I think she won a total of $13.

I set the centerpiece on this sofa table while I cleared up.  I love the way it goes with my newly reupholstered lime green crushed velvet love seat!

I hope y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  May it be a day filled with food, fun, and laughter as we are thankful for all our blessings.

Marine Corps Ball 2014

On November 10, 2014, it was the 239th birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  It was my privilege to attend a Birthday Ball for the second year in a row.  I don't know how the Marine Corps balls work in the US, but both of the balls I have attended have been overseas, where there are Marines guarding our foreign embassies.  The Marine Security Guard program covers more than 150 detachments at Embassies, Consulates, and other diplomatic missions around the world.

I have been asked how Joe and I were able to attend the ball since we are not in the military.  Tickets are available to the public, and we bought ours through the American Association of Malaysia.  But only because there was a last-minute cancellation.  Tickets sell out fast!

I had to find all the pieces to Joe's formal ensemble.  When one unpacks, one is sometimes ready to just put things away.  It can be a game of hide-and-go-seek to find things again.  Or in my case, remember-where-I-hid-things!  I made the Texas bow tie for Joe and our daughter, Amanda, bought him the Texas shirt studs.  Not really sure why Texans are so proud of our flag, but we are.  :)  Joe enjoyed getting a handshake from several fellow Texans.

I must say, red is not the most original dress color for a Marine Ball.  Last year, Savannah had fun taking pictures of her dad and me.  She said she felt like a mom at prom.  :)  But this ball was on a Friday evening, and started at 6:00. My kids were not even home from school when we had to leave! So Joe took a picture of me.

It took both of us to take this selfie!

And I had to get one of Joe!  Love the mirrored-elevator shot.

Found a friend to take one of both of us!  The ball was held in the JW Marriott.  There was a cocktail hour from 6:00-7:00.  We missed half of it due to terrible traffic.

My favorite part of the ceremony is when they post the colors and play the National Anthem.  It does my heart good to place hand over heart.

But before the National Anthem, the guest of honor and guest speaker walk down with the marines.  The guest of honor was American Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Y. Yun.  The guest speaker was Lieutenant General John A. Toolan Jr.

The ceremony continued with speeches and the cutting of the birthday cake.  Then dinner.  Then dancing.

The Suvegs and the Holmeses

The Monzellas

Andreina Casey (who got there even later due to traffic), me, Mary Ellen and Peg.  Andreina was my main dancing partner for the evening!  We had a good time dancing, but I have to say, I am looking forward to the next Latin Ball.  Now that ball will really be just about the dancing!!

Dancing aside, it was wonderful to pay tribute to and remember our armed forces who serve our great country, all over the world!  God Bless America!

Showing Jared around KL

My older son, Jared, came to visit us a few weeks ago.  A little behind on my blogging.  I already posted about our trip to Borneo.  Here are some of the things we did with him around KL.

As soon as Jared bought his plane ticket, I started shopping!  The boy gets two suitcases, and he doesn't need that many clothes.  That frees up a whole suitcase for things we can't buy easily in KL.  I sure love Amazon Prime free shipping!  It was a bit like Christmas when he came. He brought Savannah some Airhead candy, converse tennis shoes, and paper for her Polaroid camera.  Austin got his much awaited sword and t-shirts.  I got beach towels, clothes, and ingredients to make Arroz con Gandules.

I asked Jared what he wanted to do on Monday.  We didn't do much, since we all just wanted to hang out together and still had to pack for Borneo.  He said he wanted some 'Asian' food, but not particular about what kind.  So I picked a great dumpling restaurant I had been wanting to try.  It was called Din Tai Fung, which has locations all over Asia and even some in the US!  This location was in the Pavilion Mall.

We ordered several different things to try.  Most were amazing.  A couple, not so much.  :)

This was after our trip to the beach.  Austin needed some fabric for a Halloween costume.  He chose to be a gladiator, to go along with his new sword.  We went to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, or Jalan TAR for short.  Jalan means 'street' in Malay.   Anyways, Jalan TAR has fabric store after fabric store.   Austin couldn't resist posing with some of the mannequins.  

Jared blends in well with all the bright colors.

A couple of other stores on Jalan TAR.

Austin and Savannah just loved having their brother come for  visit!

On Saturday, we wanted to get out and about in KL.  I had heard about a bird park. I was not expecting that much.  It was much bigger than I thought!  It cost $16 to get in, per person, but I guess that is the going rate for the world's largest enclosed aviary.  There were several peacocks roaming the park.  I had forgotten how truly beautiful peacocks are.  I have not been too fond of them lately.  In Oman, the house down the street had several peacocks roaming their grounds.  During mating season (April-August), they make the most awful, loud, noises that would wake us up at night.  But on this day, they were just beautiful and quiet.  :)

Holding these birds was my favorite part!!!

So cool!

I was looking for some interesting things to do in KL.  I had been told about this restaurant, Dining in the Dark.  As the name implies, you are served a complete four course meal in total darkness.  The waiters are all blind.  You have no idea what you are eating.  I have to admit, the first few minutes of darkness felt claustrophobic to me.  And I was a little nervous about what I was going to eat.  But it was all good.   The meal was around $35 a person, and a unique experience.

After a week of 'Asian' food, we were ready for some good old Chili's!  I had no idea Chili's was so global.  There were three in Muscat, Oman, and several here in KL.

Monday again.  Joe was back at work and the kids back at school after their fall break.  I took Jared to Batu Caves, which is always interesting.

The Batu Caves is one of the most important Hindu shrines outside of India.  At certain times, this place will be filled with thousands and thousands of worshippers.

We also went to the National Monument.  This statue honors all those killed in the Japanese occupation during WWII and the Malayan Emergency.

There was a beautiful area surrounding the monument, with great views of the city.  This will be very hard for you to see, but to the right of this picture you will see some red.  That is a street light in this area.  It is shaped like a hibiscus.  So I got this picture of the beautiful lamp post and the real thing.  

National Mosque

This is one of my favorite buildings in KL, the old railroad station.

Jared and I ended our long morning with a visit to Central Market.  The inside of the building has many small stores and stalls.  It reminds me of the souk in Muscat.  Jared did some souvenir shopping and we had Thai food for lunch.  Then back to finish packing and head to airport for 20+ hour flight back to Philadelphia!

I just heard from Jared.  It is cold in Philadelphia and it gets dark early.  He is ready to come back to Malaysia!!