Climbing the Walls

Following up from my last blog (as I know you all are in suspense awaiting a popcorn-finding mission update): Yes! I found yummie, delightful popcorn. I educated myself before ordering. "Popcorn" on the menu is actually caramel corn. Good stuff with a crunchy delight of salt and sweet (Brian ordered it), but not what I wanted. The second popcorn on the menu was "Popcorn Lite" - it's caramel corn with some nasty artificial sweetener in the caramel. Then there is "Popcorn Salt"... AHHH! Looks like... smells like... Yes! Popcorn. Of course being scooped out of a bin next to the caramel corn, every few bites I found a stray piece of caramel corn that had made its way into my Popcorn Salt. A bit odd when first eating it, but I'll take it. Best part of the movies, a large popcorn is RM7 ($2.30). Although the large is the size of a US small, so I bought two. And matinee tickets were RM10 ($3.30) each. So all and all, not a bad little Saturday. By the way, Brian ate the entire caramel corn and had his first migraine in 4 years later that night...connected?

While this was our first trip to the movies in Malaysia, we're excited to check out Malaysia's movies theaters "classes." For Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, we went standard class. "Gold class" screenings provide lazy boy type recliners, blankets, and beer service. Gold class tickets are pricey so Brian and I are saving that as a special treat. Maybe for Thor later this month and definitely for the Hobbit 2 in December.

On Sunday, Toby, Ying Wei, and I spent a few hours at a local climbing gym (in a mall). It's a really nice gym and I had a blast. I really haven't climbed since before I had kids. It's amazing how fast it comes back - knots, belaying, climbing form. 15 pounds heavier, I could still get up the wall. I'm looking forward to going back with Toby and Ying Wei and maybe Brian, too. I also wanted to try the kids out climbing, so I signed them up for a kids climbing session on Tuesday. As there was a public holiday and school was out, I was looking for something to occupy them and get out some energy. Violet loved climbing, but Tyler not so much. He was nervous about the height and, while he kept trying, he couldn't get up over about 15 feet or so. I think we'll go back again as a family and climb.

Violet and Ty on the wall...

By the way, remember last post when I provided the three words in English every American should know before arriving in KL? And I mentioned that here people say "toilet" meaning the whole bathroom area, right? So while climbing I had a really funny encounter. I was looking for a place to refill my water bottle and I asked one of the climbers. He said, "Go ahead and fill it from the toilet." I must have had an odd look, because he continued, "Don't worry. The toilet water is totally fine. It's filtered." I will never, ever say that I'm drinking toilet water and it's totally fine.

The kids officially signed up for capoeria this week. They both LOVE the class. To initiate them into the capoeria club, they placed their hand prints on the wall of the studio. How sweet!

It's been a good week for food. On Sunday, Nicole invited us over for dinner on her patio. Her apartment has a wonderful private outdoor space with a small pool and grill. This is the first time we've grilled since our arrival in KL. Our building does have shared grilling space, but it seems a lot of work to buy coals, go down to the pool, etc. So grilling at Nicole's was a treat! Yesterday, our long-term visiting faculty known affectionately as "the Mary's" (that's Mary and Mary Ann) returned to Baltimore. They wanted one last meal on Jalan Alor, so of course, we agreed. And I'm not ashamed -- I ate nearly the entire plate of Lillian's salt and pepper squid myself. So yum. We also had our first real dinner party at our place. Nicole and Modupe came over for Lucky Meat steaks and Nico and Isabel, who live a few floors up in our building, popped down, too. So great to spend time with friends! Oh, the kids also wanted me to share this picture of them making lemon aide.

Mary and Mary Ann's final dinner out at The Fatty Crab.

Fresh and tasty coconuts on Jalan Alor

Yesterday, we got together with a family from Violet and Tyler's school. They are also new to Malaysia, having arrived just before the start of the school year from Paris and before that from their home in Amsterdam. After letting the kids play in the apartment, we went out for dinner. As my mom and dad have booked their plane tickets to KL for August and have had their first round of vaccinations, I wanted to try out a place known for its yakisoba, my dad's favorite Japanese dish. Unfortunately, we arrived at the restaurant to find that it had moved. The Korean pole dancing place next door did not know the restaurant's new location and Monique and I vetoed this establishment as a place to eat our dinner. However, around the corner we found a super wonderful Korean BBQ complete with tables on the floor and amazing little dishes. The serving staff were great with the kids - bringing out non-spicy soup and fried eggs, and magic tricks - as we adults chowed on the kimchi and spicy bibimbop.

(We let the kids take the dinner photos! Not too many were in focus/or did not cut out Monique.)

Our Christmas vacation plans are nearly in place. Yay! Only one leg of seven still left to book. After I get all the bookings complete, I'll update you on all on the exciting plans.

Seen this weekend at the mall... The place was packed with shoppers. Why?  We hear it might drop down to 75 degrees tonight if there's a storm!