Off the Eaten Track - Chinatown Tour

I've been to Chinatown at least 10 times, but I took a gastronomical tour yesterday. I've never felt more like a "tourist". We were complete with a guide and a dozen other white women. It was good fun though and my first time to eat from hawker stall since we've been here. At least now I can say that I've done it, even so I don't think I'll be a repeat customer. The curry puffs were my favorite and about as far as my adventurous palate will take me.

We visited 2 different restaurants, about 6 food stalls, a Chinese pharmacy, a wet market and a Chinese grocer.

We all played a "guess what this is?" game

Tasted a few unknowns

This lady was making a fish paste.

Fish Market - complete with shirtless and talkative Chinese man

 Now we're trying the fish paste. Gulp!

 

We had fun and enjoyed the tour. I would definitely recommend it! It's (hopefully) a safe way to take you out of your comfort zone and experience a bit of KL.



Koh Samui, Thailand

 

 

We recently enjoyed a 4 day stay on the beautiful island of Koh Samui. The view is breath-taking and the weather was wonderful while we were there. Nice ocean breezes and lots of sunshine - it is the end of the rainy season in Thailand so we were thankful for beautiful skies! Koh Samui definitely has the island-vibe, easy-going, laid back, not overly crowded.

 



The view upon arrival

The Air Bar

Air Bar

We had a 2-story, 2-bedroom, hill-side villa that felt way too big for us. But, we loved it! A huge balcony, tons of seating and lovely décor. We were ready to move in.

 the laid-back island lifestyle

Mason and I having a chat

Brady - right where he wants to be

Brady dug the biggest hole on the beach. It kept him busy all day and he attracted a lot of attention.

He was so excited when he discovered water at the bottom of the hole.

Dinner on the beach

We ventured into town, bought a few things and experienced a Thai foot massage. For 1 hour it was $5. How could we pass that up? Little did we know what was in store. It was the most aggressive, un-relaxing massage ever. A small wooden stick was the weapon of choice that made its way over the tops of our feet, ankles and shins, between our toes and poked into our soles. It was a bone-scraping, tendon-scouring, foot-torturing hour! I don't think we'll be doing that again.

How would you like to be a lineman here?

We told the boys this was lunch - dried, smelly fish

This was the view from our room. It was about 220 steps down to the beach. We did a lot of walking, up and down.

Thanks for visiting!

New Shoes!

Mason had a blow-out in both tennis shoes this past weekend. I'm sure this should be a lesson to me that I shouldn't buy cheap shoes.....Anyway, he got a new pair and was over the moon. I've never heard a child be more appreciative and excited about shoes. "Thank you, Momma! I just love my new shoes. I can run faster than everyone now. I just love them. Thank you so much for buying me new shoes." What a sweetheart! He's still talking about them today and how much he loves them. I think it's a pair he can finally put on by himself! Yeah! Happy Mom! Here's the cutie with his new shoes. 

Bali - 3rd time's a charm!

If it's a 3 day weekend, you can usually find us at the beach. Friday was a teacher in-service day at the school and we had some Marriott reward points, so we took the opportunity to fly over to Bali. Since we've been there a few times before, it was an easy and quick trip. We already had an idea of what we wanted to do and our local Balinese driver, Made (pronounced Maw-dy) helped to shuttle us around.

The hotel was nice enough and had a shuttle that took us to the beach, restaurants and shopping area.

 

 

We started the day at the Marriott beach.

Then, we went to Ku De Ta. It's a cool, trendy place to hang out, eat and drink. There were some surfers to watch. And of course, the boys just played in the sand. Mason says he is fed up with the beach - he doesn't like all the sand and sun. But, he has a blast once he gets there.

Look, I made a tunnel!

The next day, we went to Finn's Beach Club. It was really beautiful!

 

We took a ride on this interloper to get us down to the beach. So cool!

The beach was wonderful. Nice sand, plenty of shells, sand toys, water sports, big waves, but not too rough at the shore. How long can I stay!?

 

 

This next picture is just too funny not to post. I was trying to get the boys to jump. I always see cute pictures where the whole lot is up in the air. It's actually pretty hard to do - to get everyone up at the same time. I was also telling them to pick their feet up so it looked like we were really jumping. Can you feel our excitement? Apparently, I was the only one that got the memo. Once Ryan snapped the shot he said, "Wow, Mommy jumped really high!"

 

Wait for it......

Crazy hermit crabs

So sad to leave. :(

Good-bye Finn's. We love you!

What a fun day! The boys gave me a flower for my hair.

So happy!

Can't beat the Buy 1, Get 1 margarita deal at the Marriott!