LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN: JANUARY 29, 2015 -- FEBRUARY FLIGHT DAY #4

KUALA LUMPER DAY #4
BIG BUS TOUR DAY #2
January 29, 2015

This morning, Mason didn’t look to great. His face was puffy and his eyes were a bit swollen. I gave him some more Benadryl. He must be having a bit of reaction to the 100 mosquito bites on his legs.

Today was our second day of the “hop on - hop off bus”. We headed off early so that we could sit down and eat at the local “restaurant” and we had an omelet, OJ and of course Roti Basan! Mason had his favorite Roti Paka.

We then went and got on the bus and went to the craft complex to get Amy’s tablet/ipad. They didn’t open until 10am so we just hung out. We figured out very quickly that we could not wait near the batik painting shop because we started to be eaten by mosquitos again! We moved out to the sunny parking lot but then we roasted! So we moved over to a patio area near some shops of the main building and it was better, but we still kept an eye out for those little buggies! As we sat on a swing there, we met a man from the Canary Islands. We started talking about the mosquitos and he was worried for Mason. Evidently, there is a disease called “Tanga” that is similar to Malaria. He asked if we had any repellant and we didn’t. He was so kind to give us some that he said is really good and it says it is safe for children. It looks like a deodorant stick so it is easy to spread it on. We covered Mason with it and then Amy and I used it, too. We were so grateful for the kindness of our new friend. Later when I talked to Vernon, he said he had a colleague that was hospitalized while traveling Malaysia from the disease. EEks.

We got Amy’s tablet and were relieved to have it back in hand. We hustled over to catch the bus and while waiting, we met a man who had a “taxi” business and gave us his card. He might be able to give us cheaper prices for transport when we return to KL.

Back on the bus, we headed to “Little India” and we got off there. He was willing to give us “no shopping” rides with our without a tour guide. He also told us about a few other “tours” that were available that sounded super cool – but we won’t have time or budget to do them on this trip. We didn’t find much to see because we didn’t want to spend too much time there, so we bought fruit for a snack and then went back to the bus stop.

Our next stop was the National Museum. It was less than $2 per person to get in and we really enjoyed it. I know the boys will enjoy seeing all of the swords and shields on display. We also enjoyed learning about Malaysia’s more recent history and learning about “Merdeka.” Mason and I did a bathroom run during our museum visit. It was cheap but we did pay .20 ringgit to use the bathroom. After the museum, we found an “ice cream man” with a cart so we enjoyed a colorful ice cream cone as we waited for the bus to come.

Our next stop was the National Palace. We got of this time to take pictures and we were so lucky because it was 1:30pm and it was the changing of the guard. They do a changing of the guard every 1 ½ hours. There are 2 guards on horses at each side of the gate. We watched the men on horses come up the road to the palace. They had a bit of a “routine” that they followed and then the 2 horses and guards came out and the new ones went in. It wasn’t very formal as the guards were chatting and laughing a bit as their horses weren’t very formal either. It was fun to watch however. Rachel would have loved it! I tried to video it, but realized that I was on “photo” rather then “video” so I only got a beginning picture and an ending picture. Luckily, Amy video taped it, too so we have a copy! The palace it bright yellow and it is beautiful. You can also see the Petronas towers from there back the opposite direction.

The next stop that we got off on was for the parliament buildings and the National monument. We walked for about 10 minutes back from where we had come to find the Asean Sculpture Garden and the National Monument. It was a cool monument and they have made a beautiful area for it but it was out of the way so we won’t try to go back with the family. You back track to get there. The Asean Sculpture Gardens were pretty as well, but again it was a fair amount of backtracking time. We won’t have time to do it with the family. As we walked back up the hill to catch the bus, we saw the Botanical Gardens. They looked pretty but we decided it would take a fair amount of time and Amy and I saw a beautiful Botanical Garden on Jeju-do Island in South Korea and this one didn’t seem to compare.

We got back on the bus and rode it up to the Bird Park. Last night as we drove this route, we saw a monkey out sitting on the sidewalk and someone was feeding it!!! Signs say do not feed the monkeys, but this lady was. Today we saw a few monkeys rolling and playing on the grass along the sides of the road. The bird park looks really cool and the Hiatt family told us they really enjoyed it. We are saving that for our next visit with the family in 10 days. We did take a little detour to the Orchid garden but there weren’t very many flowers in bloom but it was pretty. There is supposed to be a Hiabiscus garden as well, but it must have been farther back in and we didn’t want to spend too much time there. The good thing is that these gardens are free during the week. There is a minimal charge on the weekend.

We walked up the hill to find the Planetarium and then up a big hill to get to the actual building. The exhibit was free and it was really cool! There are lots of interactive machines and things to learn about. I read on one exhibit that “all the planets in our solar system are the same age.” I thought that was cool for that “scientific fact” to be printed which seems to and testimony to the Creation. The kids will enjoy the Planetarium – especially Daniel who wants to be an astronaut!! We also watched a movie, about astronauts, in their big domed theater where the movie is projected on the ceiling and walls. It was fun. We walked all the way back down and then found that there is a more direct path down if you just go through the woods rather down the road for the cars. Oh well.

Next, we continued along the road and walked down to the National Mosque. We were getting hungry so we stopped at a cart and got these pita sandwiches with pork that also had mayonnaise and chili sauce on them. They were quite yummy!!! We didn’t go into the mosque since it was prayer time and we know that Dad will want to visit this when we come back. We needed to keep moving so we didn’t get stuck without a ride home in the end of the evening when the “hop on –hop off bus” stops running. J Mason paid for another bathroom and then we got back on the bus and rode to the “Merdeka Square” or Independence Square. This is a beautiful open grass plaza. To one side is a beautiful building called the Sultan Abdul Samad Building which used to be a train station and still has just a couple of trains that run through. Melissa, this is the one that you asked about in the Facebook picture. J At the far end of Merdeka Square is St. Mary’s Church. It is the oldest church in Kuala Lumpur. We didn’t go inside and the first day we don’t think our bus stopped there, but today it stopped right in front of the church so if we had know that, we could have walked down through the grass plaza of Merdeka Square to the church and looked around and then caught the bus right there. When we come back, we will ask the drivers of the bus if they will go there and if so, we will do this with the family. Mason had fun running around the grassy plaza and playing in the water fountain. I loved the black domes of one building against the blue sky and the clock tower on a different building. The narration on the bus touts this clock tower to be an “answer back” to “Big Ben” in London – but it isn’t that tall or grand, but it is very pretty.

Our lunch cart

This pretty much finished our day and we rode the bus around the rest of the way as Mason counted the stops until we would be back to #3 where our apartment is. We again walked up the little street to the second stall on the right (the first one with tables) to eat some delicious food. The woman who runs this stall speaks really good English. We sat down to eat dinner. Mason had Roti Paka, of course, and Roti with egg. I had Beryani Rice that was very different from that previous we had tried. This rice had a fruity flavor to it rather than onion. I also had 2 pieces of fried chicken!!! I just love it but man was I stuffed!!! Amy ventured out and tried the Lamb curry and the chicken curry! She enjoyed both!

We went back to our room and changed so we could go swimming! It is a gorgeous rooftop pool and we had fun until we saw lightning in the distance so we shortened our water aerobic workout and headed back inside.