We woke up early on Friday, in Singapore, to finish packing for our flight to Kuala Lumpur. Then we had a leisurely breakfast, checked out of our hotel and took a taxi to the airport. After going through exit immigration, we waited at the gate for a little while. The flight took off late by half an hour but the flying time was only 30 minutes so we landed in Kuala Lumpur a few minutes before 1 pm. As on most flights during this trip, our little queen needed a diaper change so the half an hour passed very quickly. We didn't even have time to eat our hot chicken pocket so the flight attendants packed it for us. The immigration line in Kuala Lumpur was insanely long and it took us almost two hours to get from our plane to a taxi. The hot pockets were a life saver!
After the efficiency and organization of Singapore, the Malaysian taxi system didn't feel as impressive as it had been earlier during the trip. The taxi driver was on his phone the whole time which was off-putting. It was a long taxi ride to Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) where we were staying for one night at the InterContinental. The hotels in Malaysia are definitely superior though. For slightly less money, you get much larger rooms in much more advanced and luxurious hotels. We gave Sereen a bath and helped ourselves to hot showers too. Standing in the immigration line had tired us out. We ordered in-room dining and had Malaysian fried rice with shrimp (Nasi Goreng Kampang) and Chinese fried rice with chicken and beef satay skewers. Then we worked on repacking our suitcases so that on our stay in Seattle, we wouldn't need all suitcases. The packing took almost 3 hours so any sightseeing was out of question. We headed downstairs to have dinner. We shared a chicken tikka pita wrap and chicken satay skewers. Then we came back to our room and went to bed for a few hours.
We woke up at 4:30 am and headed down. After checking out and loading our luggage in the hotel taxi, we were on our way back to the airport at 5:15 am. In retrospect, we should've booked a hotel next to the airport since the taxi ride to and from the city center wasn't worth it for just one night. I didn't realize it at that time but the taxi driver didn't take any toll roads so the ride took almost an hour. This was despite having paid a premium for a limousine taxi so tantamount to cheating. We checked in our bags and then waited for our flight that was scheduled for an 8 am departure. The first flight was from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo's Narita Airport. It was an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight. The flight attendants were super nice and we were impressed by the fact that the washroom with the diaper changing station was extra spacious and had a curve in the table so that the baby doesn't fall out. The Japanese do know how to design things in the best possible way! For the first time on a flight, we were able to get a bassinet for Sereen. She slept in it for a couple of hours on the 6 hour flight.
Our transit in Tokyo was less than two hours and the long line for security made it even tighter. We hurried to the gate as quickly as we could since we had to check in and get our boarding passes. The plane was full so we didn't get a bulkhead seat. The flight was delayed by an hour so we had time to buy some Japanese chocolates. The 9 hour flight to Seattle went as smooth as it could without a car seat and a bassinet. We improvised to create a makeshift bed for Sereen by joining the seat tray tables of both our seats by covering the gap between them with a sturdy magazine and covering the surface with the blanket provided by the airlines. For the dinner and breakfast service, Samia would hold Sereen in her arms while I fed Samia. Since it was night time in Seattle, the lights were off during most of the flight which helped Sereen think it was her night time so she slept through most of the flight. It was the toughest flight with Sereen because it was long in duration and we didn't have the respite of a car seat or bassinet that we had on long flights earlier in the trip. To fix our sleep schedule and to make sure we kept Sereen safe, I stayed awake on the flight and had coffee twice.
We landed in Seattle at 9:45 am local time on Saturday, almost a day after leaving our hotel in Kuala Lumpur. After going through a smooth immigration and collecting our bags, we were out around 10:30 am. Samia's cousin Mariam's husband Sameem was there to pick us up. We loaded our luggage in their car and drove to their place in the University District of Seattle. Mariam and Sameem are excellent hosts and took great care of us. We had lunch and chatted with Sameem and played with their daughter Undaleeb who was born two days after Sereen. She is super cute and smiles a lot. She was recovering from a cold but the sweet baby was still very responsive and playful. Mariam was at a conference and got back by 2 pm. After chatting, catching up, playing with each other's daughters and sharing notes as parents for a few hours, we decided to freshen up by taking showers and get ready for dinner. Then Mariam's brother Taha came over so we had a good time catching up with him. We walked to a Persian restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner and the food was really good. After dinner, we came back and went to bed.
Next morning (Sunday), we had extremely delicious omelettes for breakfast made by our generous hosts. Then Samia, Sereen and I met up with my friend Omair, his wife Urooj and their daughter Zahra for coffee at a nearby cafe. It was good catching up with them and seeing their daughter all grown up and talking. After catching up with them, we walked back to Mariam and Sameem's place. For lunch, we ordered in burgers. We had our flight back to Calgary at 7 pm so we left their place around 4:30 pm. Sameem was nice enough to stay with us to give us company at the airport until we were ready to go for security checking. The flight took off on time and after a flying time of a little over an hour, we landed in Calgary at 9:30 pm local time.
Sarim was at the airport to pick us up. He had gone to our place, shoveled our driveway, started our cars, done grocery for breakfast, brought over food lovingly cooked by Samia's mummy and had then come to pick us up. Such a gentleman! It's so great to have family living close to you! After reaching home, we unpacked our essentials while Sarim played with Sereen and then we went to bed. It was a memorable trip and I love the fact that I was able to spend time with Samia and Sereen without having to worry about work or household chores. Hope you enjoyed the updates! Till our next trip to Australia in April, take care and goodbye!
After the efficiency and organization of Singapore, the Malaysian taxi system didn't feel as impressive as it had been earlier during the trip. The taxi driver was on his phone the whole time which was off-putting. It was a long taxi ride to Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) where we were staying for one night at the InterContinental. The hotels in Malaysia are definitely superior though. For slightly less money, you get much larger rooms in much more advanced and luxurious hotels. We gave Sereen a bath and helped ourselves to hot showers too. Standing in the immigration line had tired us out. We ordered in-room dining and had Malaysian fried rice with shrimp (Nasi Goreng Kampang) and Chinese fried rice with chicken and beef satay skewers. Then we worked on repacking our suitcases so that on our stay in Seattle, we wouldn't need all suitcases. The packing took almost 3 hours so any sightseeing was out of question. We headed downstairs to have dinner. We shared a chicken tikka pita wrap and chicken satay skewers. Then we came back to our room and went to bed for a few hours.
We woke up at 4:30 am and headed down. After checking out and loading our luggage in the hotel taxi, we were on our way back to the airport at 5:15 am. In retrospect, we should've booked a hotel next to the airport since the taxi ride to and from the city center wasn't worth it for just one night. I didn't realize it at that time but the taxi driver didn't take any toll roads so the ride took almost an hour. This was despite having paid a premium for a limousine taxi so tantamount to cheating. We checked in our bags and then waited for our flight that was scheduled for an 8 am departure. The first flight was from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo's Narita Airport. It was an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight. The flight attendants were super nice and we were impressed by the fact that the washroom with the diaper changing station was extra spacious and had a curve in the table so that the baby doesn't fall out. The Japanese do know how to design things in the best possible way! For the first time on a flight, we were able to get a bassinet for Sereen. She slept in it for a couple of hours on the 6 hour flight.
Our transit in Tokyo was less than two hours and the long line for security made it even tighter. We hurried to the gate as quickly as we could since we had to check in and get our boarding passes. The plane was full so we didn't get a bulkhead seat. The flight was delayed by an hour so we had time to buy some Japanese chocolates. The 9 hour flight to Seattle went as smooth as it could without a car seat and a bassinet. We improvised to create a makeshift bed for Sereen by joining the seat tray tables of both our seats by covering the gap between them with a sturdy magazine and covering the surface with the blanket provided by the airlines. For the dinner and breakfast service, Samia would hold Sereen in her arms while I fed Samia. Since it was night time in Seattle, the lights were off during most of the flight which helped Sereen think it was her night time so she slept through most of the flight. It was the toughest flight with Sereen because it was long in duration and we didn't have the respite of a car seat or bassinet that we had on long flights earlier in the trip. To fix our sleep schedule and to make sure we kept Sereen safe, I stayed awake on the flight and had coffee twice.
We landed in Seattle at 9:45 am local time on Saturday, almost a day after leaving our hotel in Kuala Lumpur. After going through a smooth immigration and collecting our bags, we were out around 10:30 am. Samia's cousin Mariam's husband Sameem was there to pick us up. We loaded our luggage in their car and drove to their place in the University District of Seattle. Mariam and Sameem are excellent hosts and took great care of us. We had lunch and chatted with Sameem and played with their daughter Undaleeb who was born two days after Sereen. She is super cute and smiles a lot. She was recovering from a cold but the sweet baby was still very responsive and playful. Mariam was at a conference and got back by 2 pm. After chatting, catching up, playing with each other's daughters and sharing notes as parents for a few hours, we decided to freshen up by taking showers and get ready for dinner. Then Mariam's brother Taha came over so we had a good time catching up with him. We walked to a Persian restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner and the food was really good. After dinner, we came back and went to bed.
Next morning (Sunday), we had extremely delicious omelettes for breakfast made by our generous hosts. Then Samia, Sereen and I met up with my friend Omair, his wife Urooj and their daughter Zahra for coffee at a nearby cafe. It was good catching up with them and seeing their daughter all grown up and talking. After catching up with them, we walked back to Mariam and Sameem's place. For lunch, we ordered in burgers. We had our flight back to Calgary at 7 pm so we left their place around 4:30 pm. Sameem was nice enough to stay with us to give us company at the airport until we were ready to go for security checking. The flight took off on time and after a flying time of a little over an hour, we landed in Calgary at 9:30 pm local time.
Sarim was at the airport to pick us up. He had gone to our place, shoveled our driveway, started our cars, done grocery for breakfast, brought over food lovingly cooked by Samia's mummy and had then come to pick us up. Such a gentleman! It's so great to have family living close to you! After reaching home, we unpacked our essentials while Sarim played with Sereen and then we went to bed. It was a memorable trip and I love the fact that I was able to spend time with Samia and Sereen without having to worry about work or household chores. Hope you enjoyed the updates! Till our next trip to Australia in April, take care and goodbye!
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