Trip to Malaysia and China part 1

Due to Anne’s eldest sister turning 80 in June and also she had been married for 60 years, the family decided to hold a special dinner to celebrate this event. While in Malaysia and so we didn’t outwear our welcome we also did a trip to China with some of Anne’s siblings.

Thursday 21 June. We left Darwin at 03.15am on Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. Tiger Airways is a budget airline flying between Singapore and some other SE Asian sites. As with other budget airlines the service is basic and the seats are designed for dwarfs as you have to sit in the foetal position for 4 hours. But as the only other option was Royal Brunei which was 3 times dearer and with long stops in Brunei both directions.
After much packing and repacking our luggage we were just under the limit and that is after we had purchased the option for the additional luggage as we had a lot of goodies for relations in Malaysia. The contents of our luggage bore a strong resemblance to a travelling sundry shop!
We arrived at Singapore as dawn was breaking and after passing through customs without any problems we had breakfast at the airport. It is the only eating place at the budget terminal but it offers a wide range of dishes catering for all tastes.
We got a taxi to Queen Street where the long distance taxis leave and the driver was very talkative gaving us a good run down on Singapore and its sites including their new lake to store fresh water thus reducing their reliance on Malaysia. He did not have a good opinion on a certain ex Malaysian PM.
At Queen Street after the usual bargaining, a price was agreed on though we were to change taxis once we had crossed into Malaysia. Customs were not interested in us though their eyes might have popped out if they saw what we were carrying but a family group going back for a reunion looks fairly harmless. Not that we had anything that they would have charged us tax on, it is just the problem of repacking the cases again. Also having Europeans in the party makes Customs crossing a lot easier in Malaysia so long as they do not look like hippies.
We got a quick tour around Johore Baru, Anne was amazed by all the changes that have recently occurred in this area, just so we could join the taxi who was to take us to KL. It was an old Toyota diesel sedan, well past its prime and with a dodgy radiator but it survived the trip ok. Once on Malaysian soil I could use the Malaysian SIM card and inform one niece that we were here!
The highway was fairly busy but generally the traffic was moving at a steady pace except for around some road works. After a stop for lunch we reached KL about 3.30. Although Anne had lived her for many years she still managed to get the taxi driver lost even though both Christine and I kept telling her it was the wrong turn! But KL is not traffic friendly and a U turns cannot be done so it was a long trip before we could turn around and start all over again. That meant going the wrong way down a one way street!. However we eventually got to our destination even though our superior navigating skills were ignored again by Anne which added a little more to the trip mileage.
After greeting Chung and Maria and their daughter Grace it was then time for the usual trip to the night market for a meal then some of us went straight to bed as it had been a long time since we had a sleep.


Friday 22 June. We were woken by the call to prayer but we all went back to sleep as it was too early, especially as the sun hadn’t thought of rising yet. We went into the city area to organise our visas for China. The correct place took some time to find and it was not helped by road works going on nearby. After that the ladies had to visit a shopping centre so it was the Sungai Wang Plaza we reached. As we also had to change some Australian dollars before one could go shopping there were plenty of money changers here, but they were all at afternoon prayers as it was a Friday so the shoppers just could only look for a few hours. I was the only one that came back with no shopping bags!


Saturday 23 June. That night we were invited over to Stephen and Jaclyn’s place to see their new home, check out their garden, meet their two boys or as their mummy calls them “samseng” and this meeting has already been reported on. http://jacss.blogspot.com/2007/06/foreign-guests.html Also Stephen was the cook producing some nice snacks as a prelude to dinner later that night. It was good to catch up with relations and we had been to their wedding back in 2001. After the snacks and a chit chat it was off to a nearby restaurant for an excellent meal. One of Stephen’s sisters and her family also joined us. Christine liked their house as she was able to have a good sleep in air-conditioning in a comfortable bed, some thing she had missed badly since we left Darwin.

At the Heng's, our hostess is in the middle.

At the Heng's.

At the restaurant.

One of the dishes.

Sunday 24 June. The morning was quiet then the ladies wanted some more retail therapy at the Mid Valley Mall in the afternoon. This was followed at night at a Mongolian restaurant where we dined with Andrew and family. Their style of cooking is similar to the steam boat though lamb is used more than beef. We left the restaurant very full.

At the Mongollian Reataurant.

Christine and some of her cousins.

Wednesday 27 June. After we picked up our visas we again joined Stephen and Jaclyn when we went to the KLCC, where another brother in law also works. We joined them for a nice lunch at Madam Kwang's then we went up to Jaclyn’s office on the 49 floor which is higher than the area where the tourists are allowed to go. So we admired the view from there all over KL then checked out Jaclyn’s office where she had even tidied her desk!

View over Kuala Lumper from the KLCC.

Jaclyn's tidy office.

Friday 29 June. We left for Alor Setar by bus and had a better ride than on our previous trip there in 2001. We arrived there late afternoon and Paul took us to the Rice Museum which has only recently been opened. As Kedah is an important rice growing centre in Malaysia this has now been recognised by the museum which depicts the history of rice in this area. As well there is large rotating mural showing the different seasons and the changes in the landscape as if viewed from this museum.

View from the lunch stop on the way to Alor Setar.

Outside the Rice Museum Alor Setar.

We stayed for a few days at the shop house on the Kuala Kedah road which is now very busy all hours of the day and night, except the night time users seem to be more motor bikes with no exhausts. The shop house has been here for many years and many of the Wong/Ong/Heng family have been born here though it had to be remodelled when the road was widened.

Shop House Alor Setar.

Saturday 30 June. That night family members for miles around came to the hall for the special dinner. Unfortunately I did not meet many of them and therefore could not update the family tree more as they were on the husband’s side. There were quite a few courses, the exact number I have forgotten and also what they dishes were but here are some photos. Speeches highlighting the long relationship and then the “yun seng’ toasting were made. As a special gift from Australia he received from us a bottle of Mango and Kakadu Apple wine. Over the years several of Christine’s cousins have grown a lot.

Some of the guests at the dinner.

Anne, Christine and grandmother.

The Toast.

Christine and her cousin from Penang.

Relations.

Monday 2 July. A day was spent in Penang with relations and when crossing on the bridge from the mainland the haze level from the fires in Indonesia, was now really high, so the other end of the bridge could not be seen. It was packed with cars even though it was not peak hour. A trip was made to the night markets at Batu Ferenghi just to keep the ladies happy. We returned to KL in the express bus on the Wednesday.