nicktay & sarafoo|our lives together

Yes,  you guessed it, my passport is back in action and I will be flying of to London, England today. I will be stationed there for about 8 weeks and will be working just bellow the London Bridge area. My company has rented a nice apartment for me and my 2 co-workers, and we are all excited. Woohoo!! I will be flying via Bahrain and should be arriving later this evening in jolly old London. Stay tuned for my ever exciting series of London Calling blog entries as I explore the ins and outs of British living

Woohoo!! Baby, I miss you already!

There is a beauty in the Brickfield part of KL, known to some as the little India of Malaysia. Sure its hectic, there are tons of buses that come and go, thanks to the addition of KL Sentral, the central transportation hub of the city, but if you take the time to stop and smell the roses (or Jasmine Flowers), you can see the beauty of the indian culture touching this place. There are the multiple Banana Leaf restaurants, shops selling spices, silverwear and garments from India, and of course the flower vendors.

Last Sunday, Sara’s friends Tatiana and Diago Columbia were visiting KL, as part of their 1 month back packing journey around South East Asia. We managed to meet up with them and bring them around a few places in the Klang Valley that they have never seen.

First off, we brought them for lunch at KTZ, in SS2 PJ where they tried Rice porridge, noodles, dumplings and a host of ice desserts. Then it was onwards for a foot massage just a few shops down the same row where we were pampered for 40 minutes. It was pampering for some of them, but for me it was an extremely painful memory.

After that, it was onwards to the Tugu Negara, or National Monument, which was erected to honour the fallen who gave their lives in Malaysia’s struggle during World War 2 and the 12 year Malaysian emergency period.

Then it was a trip up KL Tower, the tallest tower in Malaysia, where you can view KL City and the areas around it.

And then it was a visit to the Eye on Malaysia, this Merry-go-Round just behind our Opera House.

To end the evening, we had dinner at Jln Imbi, and tasted Durians at Jln Alor.

Overall, it was a great night of fun with my two friends, who I am sure, enjoyed themselves.

Early friday morning I woke up and drove Sara’s mum and her sister to the family house where the uncle’s casket was. There was the Taoist rituals being done, and Sara’s sister didn’t want her 3 kids to see them move the coffin, as such, it was my responsibility to entertain the 3 kids. There was Jonathan 8, Anderson 6 and Rikka 4. It was quite a handful, as I tried to walk around with them. I finally decided to take them on a drive around the Park, until it was time to move the coffin. When the funeral home people moved the coffin, I was told to turn away from it, and every body else did the same. This confused me. I asked my Taoist friends and they also didn’t know the reason, but I did it in respect. We then drove to the cremation center in Sungai Tiram, and they had a brief ceremony and then the casket was put into the burner, again, everybody had to look away.

By the time we got back to Sara’s mums place, I was dead tired, it was almost 4pm. I took a short nap and by 6:30 we left the house and headed into Singapore. There was a massive crawl at the checkpoint and it took us 2 hours to finaly cross into Singapore and get to a Sara’s aunties house where we rested for a while, and then it was straight to Changi Airport. The trusty GPS got me there easily and as we parked I was worried I didn’t have enough Singapore Dollars in my Cash-Card.

Sara’s mum and I waited patiently and then after a brief few moments Sara appeared and my heart was overjoyed! Finally my baby was home!! When it was time to leave the Airport, I realized I calculated the parking rate wrongly and I had more than enough cash! Woohoo! We drove back and it took us 3 HOURS!! Yes, 3 HOURS. There was a massive jam at the border because the cops checked each and every car, opening everything! It was a torture. They Singapore police are so embarrassed that they let that terrorist walk out of jail, that they have to look like they were serious to make sure he will be caught, though I think he is in a cave somewhere with Bil Laden drinking coffee. We finally made it home by 1am and we were so tired we all just fell asleep.

God has really blessed us this trip, especially through our friends, both in Sydney and in Melbourne. My friends Joseph and Esther who live in Sydney, took us out the whole day Saturday and brought us to so many places! We had lunch at a Tim Sum place in a mall, then it was onwards to a small town north of Sydney called Manly.

This was a beautiful place, and more family friendly then compared to Bondi. Sure it had surfers, but there were allot more restaurants, allot more families enjoying the view, allot quieter as well. Its more like a small beach town, a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

We sat on the beach, enjoyed ice cream, and just before the sun set, we decided to go to another spot where we could really enjoy the view. All photo’s of Manly here :- http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicktay/sets/72157604903737721/