Kelip-Kelip (Fireflies)

After a most unwelcoming "Welcome Lunch" with the American Association of Malaysia (yes - the woman sitting next to Robin actually turned her chair so that Robin faced her back...), we struck shopping gold by finding a super excellent outdoor store. And it's very close to home. And they have leech socks! (I'll explain those in a later post.) We also found a cool art place for the kids. The kids spent an hour painting cardboard and fashioning it into creations. In typical boy-ish fashion, J and Tyler opted for making Captain America shields. In typical Violet fashion, she was still painting long after the other kids had packed it up. Missing home a bit, we ate Korean BBQ for dinner on Friday. Thinking of you, Grandpa Bulldog and Grandma Vicki!

(Robin and I are also officially shopping for a new national association. We're going to try out inter-nations welcome cocktail hour later this month. Seems like a lot of singles, kinda concerned it's a meat market vibe? I think the Aussie/Kiwi might be a good way to go.)

Trying out one of the 8 Korean BBQ places in our neighborhood.

Saturday, after going out for a pancake breakfast... wait, let me just note that the pancakes were similar to a yellow cake batter fried on a griddle. You could get 'regular' with syrup and strawberry preserves, or 'extra' with ice cream and sugar. Needless to say, the kids loved them. Anyway, we walked around to explore our neighborhood and found a place that does 'ear candling'. Brian has an ear wax build up issue and has to have his ears medically cleaned every few months (TMI?). So instead of seeing an ENT here, he decided to try the traditional route first. It seems to have done the job. Who knew that Brian would receive a spa treatment in KL before me? I also went out and bought some house and patio plants. The man at the local nursery was great. He even re-potted everything and loaded the car. They all look great in our place. For the evening, Charlie reserved both badminton courts in our building for an introduction to badminton evening extravaganza. Super fun. Mark, thanks for being a great mixed doubles partner.

Just pausing here to vent - the boat with our stuff seems to have passed us. After porting in Singapore, I was disappointed to see that it's now heading to port in Thailand - and on the wrong side of the Malaysian Peninsula. Ug. So much for having our hiking boots before Hari Raya...

So let me counter balance that with my continued love of the Malay language adoption of English words. A few of my recent favorites: Sians = Science, Butik = Boutique, Kuanter = Counter. Of course it's British English so: Lif Lobi = Lift Lobby (the place where you catch the elevator).

Sunday was an excellent day. While I was at ladies' brunch (with Robin, Nicole, and Isabel) followed by a pedicure, Brian and Ethan took Camp WienerPohl (and Nico) to the Pusat Sians Negara (National Science Center). Here's a pic of Brian and the kids being frozen in carbonite and another picture that shows that Violet is a crazy fast runner. 

After the Science Center, Nicole and Kris joined the Pohl Garibaldi's for a trip out to Kuala Selengor to see the Kelip-Kelip, about a 45 minute drive from KL. As the Kelip-Kelip ticket office didn't open until 7:45, we drove into town to park and walk around. We inadvertently joined a Dutch tour group (the guide said 'Get on the tram,' so we did) and drove up a hill to an old Dutch/British fort. The fort overlooks the mouth of the Selangor River and the Straights of Malacca (the body of water on the western side if the Malaysian peninsula) opposite the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. There were some canons and battlements and a beautiful lighthouse built in 1907 (that we could not go in). But the highlight here are the monkeys. I reported to the kids that I'd read online that you could feed the monkeys, Violet said "how do you feed vicious monkeys?" Turns out these guys are no Batu Cave 'vicious' monkeys. They are rather mellow Silver Leaf Langur monkeys that love to take green beans from your hands. A striking contrast to the dark gray adults, infant Silver Leafs are bright orange in color. Nicole has some great pics with a baby monkey that I'll post later. Since these guys don't attack you, the kids spent a lot of time observing and noticing the similarities in hand, ear, and face structure these monkeys have to humans.

Later we snagged a superior table location at the delightful River View Restaurant and watched the sunset over the banks of the Selangor River while we ate fresh fish (just out of the ocean that morning) and had Tiger. Then off to the Kelip-Kelip.

Kelip means twinkle or blink. These are fireflies. Tiny ones compared to the ones in our backyard in Baltimore. But there are thousands in the mangrove trees on the river. One of the world's largest concentrations of fireflies, these little beetles blink in unison, projecting a rather Christmas tree like appearance from the boat. It was magical. We'd been advised to visit on a moonless night. Last night it was a 7 percent moon - ideal for firefly viewing. It was also a bit surreal with a backdrop of stars, the quiet of the paddle boats, and the neighboring mosque's call to prayer echoing on the river. We were a bit disappointed that our guide didn't paddle us far enough from the dock to move out of range of the stark florescent dock lights. Next time we will try to go on a weekday. We've heard when they are less crowded the guides take you a bit more up river. With only an iphone, I did not even try to take a picture. If Nicole's came out, I'll post a few or direct you to her facebook page.

After a great day!

Well, that's all for now! Next week is a short work week, with Brian only at the hospital Monday and Tuesday. We're heading for Taman Negara, the National Park, on Thursday morning. More on that to come...

Not a blue crab, but it makes a Maryland family feel at home!