Malls in Malaysia

by Child 2

     So,

Malaysia happens to have a LOT of malls. We've gone to a couple since we've gotten here- at the first one (D'Pulze, Cyberjaya) I got a stuffed animal dog, at the second one (3damansara, Petaling Jaya) I played at an arcade, the third one (IOI city mall, Putrajaya) we found a super cool playground thing, and the fourth one (MyTown, KL) there were some people dancing to really loud music.

The first mall we went to, the first thing we did was eat at a noodle restaurant. The food was really good! I had noodle soup with clams. Yum! After we ate, we decided to look around the mall a bit. We found a store where we got a bookcase and two stuffed animals for Buster and me (Christmas presents). Mom and Child 1 looked around a clothing shop, but they didn't get anything. On the second floor of the mall, we looked in a music store to see if we could rent a piano, but decided to go somewhere else to rent it. On the fourth floor of the mall, there was a movie theatre and a a bowling alley!

My sister Child 1 in front of the 2nd mall.

The second mall we went to, the reason we went there was to rent a piano. So we did! I wanted an electric piano but mom says that they sound bad for classical playing. Oh well. We walked around for a while until, on the second floor, my brother Buster and I spotted some lights. We ran toward them. They were just some rides for babies but next to them, next to them, there was... oh joy... AN ARCADE! (Cheers)

Arcade!!!

Dad gave us some money, we exchanged it for arcade tokens, and then ran around uselessly spending our money on games. First we tried some of The Claw games, which are super hard and absolutely, utterly impossible.Then I tried this game in the picture, where you bonk stuff with a hammer. I got prizes! Then we tried some game where you have to catch some eggs that were falling... I didn't do too well at that. Then we played this fishing game for a long, long, loooooong time until we finally ran out of money. It was super fun! 

The third mall we went went to, we went into a shop to buy some kitchen supplies-- pans, etc. Then we walked around, Buster and I keeping a sharp eye out for any arcades. Finally, we spotted one! It wasn't quite as good as the first one, though. It only had Impossible Games. However, behind this arcade, there was a huge playground thing called "District 21".

District 21

There was soooooo much cool stuff! Mom said that we could make a playdate with our friends there on Tuesday. We haven't gone there yet, but I can bet that it'll be fun!

The fourth mall we went to the first thing we did was grab a couple bubble teas. They were delicious, and we drank them in a short amount of time. The next thing we did was go to Ikea. the entrance was HUGE! We stumbled around a bit until we found the couch & chair section. We sat and lounged on comfy chairs and couches. One of them was super comfy, but one of them was horrible. It had a metal frame and a thin piece of cloth around it. It creaked when you sat on it. Worst couch ever! But the couches that we did get were extremely comfy. We went though a lot of sections of Ikea trying to get out, including the bed section. Here's a picture of me lying on a bed.

Me lying on a bed at ikea

It took us really long to find our way out. Finally we found the section where you pay- which took us a long time, too. After we were done ordering our couches, we decided to walk around for a while. There were a lot of clothing shops, clothing shops... ARCADE!! This arcade didn't have a lot of games with prizes, but after we only had one token left, we tried some kind of candy game. We got two caramel candies! Yum! After the arcade we all got hungry, so we went to a noodle restaurant. I had to wait super super duper duper long to eat because I wouldn't eat anything with meat in it. We were all going to share the soup, but everyone else was full. So I had to eat it all, even though I'd wanted to order a different one.

Me eating noodles. It's really hot!

After dinner we walked around a bit more. In the middle of the mall there were these people dancing in these bizarre golden crop-tops and sparkly black skirts. They all jumped around a lot. There was a huge screen behind them. They danced and sung and the people in the crowd sang along with them. Child 1, my sister, says they were you-tubers. After watching them for a while we went to eat ice cream. I got chocolate hazelnut but it tasted like regular chocolate. Buster, my brother, got chocolate. Child 1 got lemon sorbet. Mom and Dad got coffee.

The dancers

   So,

I hoped you liked my article about our experiences of the malls we've gone to so far- and even though four is pushing it, there's hundreds more malls in Malaysia.

Industrial Construction in Malaysia - Masonry

by Holly

If you are reading this blog, you may think life is all fun and games for us now that we are living in Malaysia. Trips to the mall, tourist attractions, great food, swimming pool - in other words, living it up! In fact the reason we have the opportunity to do this at all is my job. So what am I doing here at work?

The Bird Park

by Buster

This is near the entrance of the Bird Park in Kuala Lumpur.  It is boiling hot, as always.  But there are peacocks everywhere.  I thought the bird on my head, which you can see in the picture, was going to poo on my head.  But it didn't.

KL Bird Park

By Child 1

On Saturday, December 19th, we took a trip to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. Opened in 1991, it is home to the world's largest free-flight, walk-in aviary. As the park is covered by a net, birds are free to fly around the park, peck at people's food, and strut down the pathways whenever and however they like. The grounds are packed with peacocks, parrots, and more birds of all colors, shapes, and sizes. The landscape includes streams and lush rainforest habitats for the birds to live in.

The park is split into four sections, zone 1, zone 2, zone 3, and zone 4. Zone 1 houses the Love Aviary, the Flamingo Pond, and the Bulbul Land. The other zones house more birds, the second including ostriches, and the third including the Hornbill restaurant and gift shop, as well as actual hornbills. The fourth zone has a walk-in parrot enclosure with 20 different species of parrots and an amphitheater where daily bird shows are performed.

The bird show has birds, mainly parrots, that race each other, slide down slides, and do flips and tricks for all to watch. They are also trained to talk and sort shapes and colors.

All in all, the KL Bird Park is certainly an exiting and memorable place that's great to go to if you want to learn about Malaysia's birds and wildlife. And even if you don't, it still makes for a very interesting outing!

Christmas in Malaysia

by Becky

Merry Christmas from Malaysia!  Thanks for any comments you left on our blog last week...the kids love to see comments on their articles.  I got a special request to write a post on what Christmas is like in Malaysia, so here it is!

As you may know, Malaysia is a majority Muslim country, with about 60% of the population practicing Islam.  The remaining population is roughly 20% Buddhist, 10% Christian, 10% Hindu.  A small percentage of people practice traditional Chinese religions such as Confucionism, Taoism, etc.  The country itself is an officially secular state with freedom of religion granted by the constitution, but Islam plays a special role as there are some areas of the law that apply only to the Muslim population, and there is a "National Cultural Policy" that states Islam must play a part in defining what things are "culturally Malaysian". 

When we first touched down at the airport it seemed to me that 90% of the women there were wearing the hijab and had on clothes that covered wrists and ankles.  So I was a little worried that the clothes we brought were going to be too immodest and we would have to buy all new clothes.  However, as we have explored around town, in our neighborhood, at malls, and at tourist attractions, I changed my mind.  It's true that about 60% of women are wearing the hijab, but the remaining women are dressed in more Western style, with shorts and short sleeves being quite common.  When we visit a mosque we will have to put on full covering, but otherwise our regular clothes are OK.

If you look closely, you will see one woman in shorts and in the background, plus several women in hijab.

The grocery store near our house seems to cater to foreigners, and it has a lot of imported food.  The kids were very relieved that we could buy spaghetti and bottled sauce just like we can in America! There are also a lot of imported Korean groceries, I guess because there are a lot of Koreans around here.  At the grocery store there is a special "non-Halal" section where you will find alcohol and food that contains pork.  I've also noticed that restaurants at the mall will often say "non-Halal" if they serve food with pork in it.  Alcohol is not commonly found at any of the restaurants, although we've seen one or two that serve beer.

We've been taking Grab around town for most of our transportation.  It's basically the South East Asian equivalent of Uber.  So my main interactions with Malaysian people so far have been chatting it up with our Grab drivers!  From several drivers we learned that Christmas is a national holiday, and people who have to work on Christmas have to get paid double time.  Most Malaysians also seem to take Christmas Eve off as a holiday.  When our Grab drivers heard that Holly would be working on Christmas Eve they were really surprised.  In the end, he ended up working only a half day on Christmas Eve, then we all went to the mall to eat dinner.  The mall was hopping, and there were a bunch of Christmas themed decorations there.

We've actually been to several malls since getting here and they all had Christmas themed decorations.  At one there was even a Santa who gave the kids some lolly pops.  Child 2 is going to write a separate post about Malls in Malaysia....wait for it!

Christmas trees at the mall

On Christmas day we stayed home most of the day.  We went swimming at our neighborhood pool and there we saw some other people from the neighborhood having a barbecue together.  They were a group of both Muslim and non-Muslim friends (I say this based on how they were dressed).

So, from what I have observed in our one week here, which is to say this is just a first impression, religions and cultures mix quite freely.  Christmas is recognized as an official holiday, and Christmas commercial culture is alive and well!

Where in the World Are We?

by Becky 

Welcome to our family newsletter/blog!  We arrived in Malaysia on Monday, Dec 17th, after a grueling 24 hours of travel, and are happily settling in.  To begin, let me tell you a little about where exactly in the world we are.

Malaysian Fruit

By Child 1

Malaysia is a flavorful country filled with an amazing variety of delicious foods and drinks. Restaurants selling Malaysian food, as well as Thai food, Chinese food, Korean food and more can be found everywhere throughout the cities of Malaysia. But stepping away from the noodles and aromatic hand-made dishes, you find the cool and sweet native plants that grow only in humid and tropical heat.

Fruit is a vital part of Malaysia’s menu. Many fruits are found in Malaysian grocery stores that could never be found in American stores. Crowded markets sell heaps of different varieties of mangos and bunches of bananas under tents and coverings. Exotic fruits such as star fruit, dragon fruit, and rambutans can be found locally.

If you are not familiar with these fruits, a star fruit is a green oval-shaped fruit with five long flaps, so that when you cut it up the pieces resemble stars. It’s crunchy but juicy, with a slightly tart and grassy taste.

A custard apple, as it’s translated in English, is a soft, dark purplish-brown fruit with small lumps all over it. The inside has mushy, white, and extremely sweet meat with black seeds.

A persimmon fruit looks a bit like an orange tomato on the outside, but if you touch it you’ll feel it’s hard. It tastes very sweet and almost cinnamon-y, and its texture is hard and firm (but not crisp).

A rambutan is a ball-shaped fruit that is red with green spikes on the outside, but when you peel it it reveals translucent white ball with a seed inside. It tastes like a lychee, or a like a big peeled grape.

The fruit of Malaysia is different from that of the U.S. It makes a delicious and unique part of Malaysia’s food, and now you can appreciate it for all its glory.

Tour of How to Get to the Pool

by Buster

This is where you go in to where the pool is.  

House Tour

by Child 2

Since we’ve gotten here,

You’ve probably read at least one article from this newspaper— about our plane ride, and where we’re going. But you haven’t heard much about our house. So I’m going to take you through a little tour of it. 

This is our front door. It’s kind of heavy and hard to open, but the awesome lock thing makes up for it. Tap the screen and enter the passcode—but it’s on some kind of screen, which is kind of cool. 

Enter the door, and you’ll see this: 

Another door to your left, a staircase in front of you, and a clothes rack and a bench to your right.

Through this door to the left is the maid’s room. It has a place to hang clothes to let them dry and a washing machine.

The little area on the right has a chest with drawers. 

In the middle drawer,

We keep our shoes!

Up the stairs in front of you is a cute little room with a desk, chair, and beanbags. It’s comfy and is a nice place to spend your free time.

There’s another stairway to the right of this room, and up it is the tv room. There’s a comfy sofa, a coffee table, and a tv. On the sofa is an ideal place to take a nap.

Down a hallway to the left of the tv room is the dining room. It has a big table, a bookshelf in the corner, and some cool brick wallpaper behind it. This table is good for doing crafts.

Right next to the dining room (you can see the table and chairs from it in the bottom-left corner) is the kitchen. There’s a small counter and a lot of cupboards. There’s an extension of it to the left.

Up some stairs in the middle of the hall is the upstairs. 

The first room in the hall of the upstairs is Mom and Dads’ room. It’s awesome. It has a lot of secret rooms disguised as closets.

Down the upstairs hall 

there are two rooms. 

The one on the right I share with my brother, Buster. We even have out own private bathroom!

The room on the left belongs to my sister, Child 1. It has a huge bed, a huge closet, and a huge private bathroom with a shower and everything.

The end 

That was the tour of our big, very-many-staircases house. It’s cool, right? Well, talk to you in my next article!

-Child 2