Malaysia Diaries - Day 3 - Kuala Lumpur

There was rain forecast for the day so after waking up, getting ready and having breakfast, we took a taxi to Kuala Lumpur's Independence Square, locally called Merdeka Square. This large square is the colonial focal point of Kuala Lumpur. Located in the heart of the colonial district, this vast rectangular grassy square once hosted cricket matches and parades. Surrounded by the mock-Tudor Royal Selangor Club, the National Music Museum, Saint Mary's Cathedral, and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, the square offers a rare glimpse into the city's past. The building that stands out the most is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building with its Moorish architecture and red dome. It was in this square that the British Union Jack flag was lowered when Malaysia became an independent country in 1957.

After checking out Merdeka Square, we decided to walk to the nearby Jamak Mosque. Pedestrian sidewalks are already a bit difficult to manage with Sereen's strollers since they don't always have a ramp but due to some construction going on in the area, we had an even tougher time maneuvering our way. The rain got heavier which didn't help. Thankfully we have invested in a quality stroller that came with a rain cover so Sereen was well protected. Once we got closer to the mosque, we found out that it was closed for renovation. We continued walking to the nearby Central Market which is indoors so it was a much needed respite from the rain.

The Central Market used to be a fresh produce market but now it's a shopping mall where ethnic arts and crafts are sold. At the Central Market, we explored different shops with souvenirs and were close to buying some stuff when Sereen started crying so we had to abandon the deal and take care of her. We sat down at a Malaysian chain cafe called Old Town White Coffee and tried their specialty iced white coffee and Malaysia's national dish Nasi Lemak. After this break, we resumed shopping and bought some souvenirs. Then we took a taxi to the Petronas Twin Towers. Taxi drivers not turning on the meter and overcharging is an issue in Malaysia so to get a metered taxi, you usually have to pay a small fee to an agent who then hails a metered taxi for you. This time we didn't get a metered one so the taxi driver tried to sell us on additional stops on the way that we politely declined. He couldn't drop us off at the regular taxi entrance either and dropped us off in front of the side entrance. That worked to our advantage since we were in front of the Petronas Towers and decided to take some pictures before going inside.

It was extremely humid and the temperature was 35 degrees Celsius. Our Canadian baby wasn't impressed and her usual smile was missing from the posing pictures. After a few minutes, Sereen started crying because of the heat so we decided to not push our luck and hurried inside in the air conditioned Suria mall located in the Petronas Towers. We picked up our tickets for going to the top of the Petronas Towers and then did window shopping since there was still some time to go before our slot. Strollers and bags were not allowed to go up so Sereen rested in her baby carrier facing outward in her daddy's lap. She loves being in the baby carrier and enjoys gnawing any parts of it that her mouth can reach. First we went up to the sky bridge which is a covered bridge connecting the two towers. We took in some great views of the Kuala Lumpur skyline and snapped a few pictures in our allotted 15 minutes. Great for me that the bridge is covered on all sides so my phobia of heights didn't set in too much. Then we took the elevator to the top of the first tower. The views were even more breath taking from the highest vantage point in the city but owing my fear of heights, I could only push myself to see a little bit. Samia enjoyed it more than I did, having no such fears.

Then we came down to the food court of the Suria Mall and tried some more of the local Malaysian specialties for dinner - Beef Rendang with rice and curry puff, a crispier version of the samosa. After dinner, we went down to the KLCC Park that's adjacent to the Petronas Towers. Originally, we had planned to stay till 8 pm to watch the fountain show but it was way too hot and we read a few reviews online that it's not an attraction for which you should wait. Having seen the spectacular fountain show outside the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, it wasn't going to be a novel experience for us anyway so we decided to leave around 7 pm. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel and called it a day and went to bed early. Till the next update, take care!

Malaysia Diaries - Day 2 - Malacca

After waking up and getting ready, we went up to the breakfast lounge to have another heavy breakfast. The strategy had worked great on our first day so we decided to stick to it. After breakfast, we came down where our guide for the day was waiting. We were doing a day trip of Malacca which is a UNESCO World Heritage town two hours drive southeast of Kuala Lumpur. Our first stop in Malacca was a church called Saint Peter's Church which had a white outer facade. It was a little underwhelming for us after having seen numerous churches in Europe.

The next stop were the ruins of an old Portuguese fort that's at the top of a hill. The fort was taken over by the Dutch after they invaded Malacca. There used to be a secret passage from the top of the hill to the base that was closed after the Malaysian government took control. After seeing the ruins that included ten foot high tombstones, some with Dutch seals on them, we climbed down the stairs to the base of the hill which used to be the other end of the old secret passage. The building where the passage ended is now an iconic symbol of Malacca, much like the Petronas Towers are the icon of Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia has seen five different invasions in the past - by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, briefly the Japanese and then the British again. The town of Malacca provides a glimpse into its old colonial past with red buildings from the Portuguese era, Dutch office buildings and British bungalows with verandas and balconies. We walked to our next stop and saw an entertaining tourist trap along the way - rickshaws decorated with popular cartoon characters that give you a tour of the main square and the adjacent area while blaring loud music. We saw Hello Kitty, Frozen, Minions and Pokémon to name a few.

We stopped at another set of ruins of a fort that still has the cannons from the Dutch times. Then we saw a plaque marking the place where Prince Parameswara sat down under a tree by the river. He had fled from Singapore and while he was sitting under the tree, he witnessed a tiny white mouse deer defeat his two big guard dogs. That's when he realized that if a small mouse deer can stand up to bigger opponents, he should stop running too so he decided to lay down roots in Malacca and start a new kingdom.

Then we walked back to the main square that has red buildings from the Portuguese time, including a church called Christ Church. From the main square, we turned towards the famous Jonker street which has temples and street food stalls. We passed through a street called Harmony street which gets its name from the fact that it has a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple and a couple of Chinese Taoist temples, all within walking distance of each other. We stopped at the mosque and the two Taoist temples but the Hindu temple was closed. We continued walking on Jonker street and had our first taste of the Durian fruit. We got a puff that had Durian filling in it. It smelled like a mix of onion and garlic and was extremely sweet with a bitter after taste. I didn't mind the taste but Samia had to spit it out. We also had the Portuguese dessert Natas (custard egg tart) that we had first tried a couple of years back in Lisbon. We wanted to try the famous Malacca specialty chicken rice ball but the line up was long so we decided against it.

Then we drove to our next stop, the so-called floating mosque. It's a solid structure but the foundation pillars are in water so it looks like it's floating. It was an extremely hot day so we sat inside the mosque next to a fan and let Sereen stretch out on the floor. Like the mosque on Harmony street, Samia had to wear a head scarf before she could go inside the mosque. After visiting the mosque, we drove to our highlight of the day - our lunch. We had South Indian thali, served on a piece of banana leaf. We had chicken and mutton, with vegetables and rice and the best part was that we had to eat with our hands. It has been a long time since we ate rice with our hands but it was fun.

After this delicious lunch, we started heading back to Kuala Lumpur. It was the end of the Chinese New Year public holiday for some people so there was lots of traffic on our way back. Then it started raining which caused flooding on the highway so traffic moved extremely slowly. The drive that had taken us two hours in the morning took almost four and a half hours on the way back! Thankfully it was Sereen's bedtime so she slept most of the way in her car seat which allowed Samia and me some time to doze off as well. We were really tired by the time we got back to our hotel so we went to bed as soon as we could, after changing Sereen. In retrospect, we learnt another lesson for our future trips with our infant Sereen - never do day trips. If we had to do it again, we would've just gotten a hotel in Malacca for the night and driven back the next day. Till the next update, take care!

Malaysia Diaries - Day 1 - Calgary to Kuala Lumpur

So much has changed since our last international trip. We have a new travel companion - our four month old baby girl Sereen who melts our hearts with her toothless grins and shapes our days with her baby care needs. With Sereen in the picture, we had to think hard if we could still do international trips. In the end we decided that we shouldn't stop doing the things we love just because we are a family of three now. It does require more planning and thinking about different concerns but that challenge is part of what makes traveling to new cultures so alluring. We also want to instill in our daughter a love for travel and the appreciation of the human experience that comes with it. We had learnt a few travel tips from our trip to Southern California over the Christmas break so decided to put them to good use with a trans-Pacific vacation to Malaysia and Singapore.

Sarim stayed over the night on Thursday so that he could give us a ride to the airport (and play with Sereen). She is a social baby and loves having people visit her, as demonstrated by the smiles she showers on them. We left home at 4 am. Our first flight from Calgary to Seattle took off at 7 am and landed a little early which gave us ample time to have a meal at the airport. Whenever we are transiting through Seattle, we somehow always end up eating at Wolfgang Puck and it was no different this time. We shared a chicken salad and a chicken sandwich. The next flight was from Seattle to Hong Kong and this almost 15 hour flight was going to be the real test of our endurance. We got lucky and got an entire row to ourselves so we placed Sereen's car seat in the middle which allowed her to sleep more comfortably. Another lucky break was that due to stronger than usual tail wind, the flying time was reduced by about half an hour. When Sereen was awake, we entertained her and took care of her but that was only for about 6 hours since she slept for a total of almost 8 hours in 3 naps. Samia and I were both able to get some sleep too and even sneaked in a 2 hour movie. One air hostess was so enamored with Sereen that she took her for a walk around the plane and we learnt later that she even got to meet the pilots. They said goodbye to her when we were leaving the plane and knew that we were traveling from Canada. It was a Delta airlines flight and the only blemish on an otherwise comfortable and well-serviced flight was the bland food. Sereen enjoyed her diaper changes in the airplane washroom because they allowed her much needed stretching breaks on the pull-down change table. Overall, the flight went well - more smoothly than we had expected.

After landing in Hong Kong, we had a couple of hours of layover which was just about sufficient to check-in with Cathay Pacific airlines for our next flight to Kuala Lumpur, stretch our legs, use the washroom, collect the baby stroller and gate-check it for the next flight along with the car seat. The flight from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur was only three and a half hours but it was the most challenging since by this time Sereen was tired, we were tired and there was no car seat to help either. Despite that, Sereen had a 15 minute spell of laughter which served as an energy boost for us. We finally landed in Kuala Lumpur past midnight just as Sunday was starting, thanks to the 15 hour time difference between Canada and Malaysia/Singapore. We passed through immigration, picked up our luggage, bought a local phone SIM card and then took a taxi to our hotel, Grand Hyatt, close to the Petronas Twin Towers. The airport is outside the city so the drive was about 45 minutes.

We reached our hotel room 31 hours after leaving home but still had a few things to do before we could sleep. After giving Sereen a bath, we showered and by the time we got in bed, it was almost 4 am. Technically, this update is for two days but the first day was a travel day. We had decided to not sleep for too long so that we could get over the jet lag and were up at 8:30 am and ready for breakfast. We made sure while booking our hotels for the entire trip that breakfast was included as part of all reservations. This was by far the most impressive breakfast spread that we have seen at any hotel. The breakfast lounge is on the 38th floor with great views of the city - you can see the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Menara Tower gracing the city skyline. The multi-cultural breakfast included traditional western items such as cereal, croissants, omelettes, bread, yogurt, smoothies, fresh juices and also Malaysian, Chinese and Middle Eastern breakfast delicacies. We decided to have a heavy breakfast so that we could last longer and make the most of daytime.

Our first stop of the day was the Islamic Arts Museum. We took a taxi since it's quite difficult to take transit with Sereen's stroller and other stuff. After seeing a lot of churches and Christian history on our previous trips, it was the first time we were going to a museum which focused on Islamic history. The museum starts with a unique section housing detailed scale models of some of the most iconic mosques from around the world, including those from Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, Central Asia, Pakistan, India, China, Western Africa and Asia Pacific. There was even a mosque from New Mexico State in the US. There was a guide on the design styles of mosques in each region that adapts the original style to incorporate distinctive local architectural elements. There were galleries displaying jewelry, arms, coins, metalwork, woodwork, ceramics and textiles from India, China and Malaysia. There was a Manuscript gallery displaying calligraphy and different scripts used for the Quran. A restored Ottoman room from a house built in Syria in the early 19th century is another highlight of the museum with its painted wood paneling and spectacular decorations. The history of all kingdoms and dynasties since the Prophet's time that have had Muslim rulers, including the history of the Mughal rulers of India was chronicled in different sections of the museum. Sereen slept in her stroller through our 2 hour exploration of the museum and only woke up towards the end.

Our next stop of the day was the KLCC Bird Park which is a 20 minute walk from the Islamic Arts Museum. The weather during our trip is going to be hot and humid with temperatures in the early to mid 30s. Sereen fell asleep again, probably helped by the high humidity and heat. Later when I checked my FitBit, I realized that the 20 minute walk had been categorized as riding a bicycle because I was pushing Sereen's stroller and the grip is similar! The bird park is the world's largest free-flight walk-in aviary with different sections for different birds. We saw over 200 species of birds. Lovebirds were very cute and the peacocks were magnificent. We even saw a monkey which Samia tried to scare away with the brochure in her hand. The "world of parrots" section dedicated to parrots of all kinds loudly chattering in flight was the most entertaining section but the highlight of the entire park was Samia getting her picture taken with two birds sitting on each of her hands. I'm always scared of such encounters so I decided to stand by Sereen's stroller on the pretense of protecting her. When Sereen woke up, her back was drenched in sweat so we sat down at the exit cafe under a fan to cool her down and had ice cream. Too bad Sereen can't eat solids yet otherwise she would've enjoyed the respite.

Our final stop of the day was the air conditioned Pavilion Mall. Sereen is a true Canadian and does not appreciate hot and humid weather but as soon as she sat in the air conditioned taxi, she was fine and kept babbling and playing even after we had reached the mall. It's an impressively organized mall so we went to the floor that has kids and maternity stores to shop for our little queen. In the center court of the mall, there was a special dragon dance show being put on to celebrate the Chinese New Year so we saw that at 6 pm. It was dinner time after shopping so we stopped at a Lebanese restaurant. The service was extremely slow but the food was good. We shared hummus for appetizer, I had beef and chicken shawarma platter and Samia had shish tawook. We took a taxi back to our hotel and then entertained our little emperor before going to bed. By the way, I'll be using the terms "sleeping" and "going to bed" quite loosely during this trip's updates. There is no such thing with a baby so waking up during the night to feed her, change her, put on a blanket, remove the blanket, blow her nose or even play with her to tire her out back to sleep are all part of the parenthood "sleep" routine. Till the next update, take care!