Momentous Day

After about two weeks of waiting to move to our new house we finally got the keys today. Yes, the keys Kyle is holding are ALL the keys to the new house.  Each room has a lock on the door and each has a separate key.  Crazy huh?  The good news is we only need to carry the front door key.  Whew.  Now all we need is a signed lease.  We are still waiting for it to be signed by the CEO of Dresser Rand.  At least a letter of intent got the process moving and the landlord let us go ahead and move.  Now we can make some progress on settling in.  

I hired a maid to help us clean because the place is DIRTY.  I think we will go through about 6 bottles of the Clorox bathroom cleaner with bleach.  Once done the place is going to be so nice.  

We had big delivery from Ikea too.  The extra 5% we paid for them to install was worth every penny.  Poor Kyle and Wendell would still be putting crap together if not.  We got most of the furniture but we will still need a few more things before we can sleep there.  Including our shipment from the states because it has all our towels and sheets.  I hope to have that delivered early next week.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

Cheeky Monkey

While exploring the shopping center right by our new house we found this adorable kids haircut place.  Just like snip its with cute chairs and videos for the kids.  So today Kyle took Samantha down there to get a trim.  Poor Samantha.  Evidently there was a misunderstanding with Kyle and the stylist and so Samantha got more than a trim.  The style itself could have been cute but the butchered version is not so cute.  

Samantha doesn't care one bit.  We told her that we loved it so now she does too.  I have a feeling that when she wants a pony and it won't work then she might change her mind.  Oh well, maybe we will wait for a different stylist next time.

Petronas Tower

For Father's Day we decided to tackle the Petronas Tower. This is probably the most recognized landmark in KL. Most people have seen it in Entrapment, the movie with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones. You can tour the skybridge, which connects the two towers on the 41st floors, for free. You have to get there early in the morning and wait in a long line for tickets. They start handing out tickets at 8:30 and about 9:30 they are gone for the day. We got there towards the end of the line so our tickets were for 5:00pm which worked out great because we could go home and then come back. After a short video they load the elevator and in about 5 seconds you are on the 41st floor. It was the wierdest elevator becuase you would expect it to shoot right up but actually you can hardly feel it moving. Once there you have about 10 minutes to wander along the skybridge. It turned out to be raining while we were up there but nonetheless the view was amazing. Enjoy our pictures.

Samantha's School

Last Thursday I took Samantha to her new school to check it out. It is a local Montessori school called The Children's House. On her first day she wanted to stay and play so that was a great sign. Then she went back on Friday and was just fine. Whew, we are so glad she likes her new Aunties (teachers) and her new friends.

Today was Open Day 2009 which is the annual performance and open house for the parents. Their unit of learning for the term was "My Body...I Can Move It". The kids were so cute and the school was decked out with a huge tent and decorations. Some of the kids were show offs and others just stood up there and didn't move at all. Samantha sat on Bepa's lap because she was nervous and with only one day of practice that was understandable. Tomorrow is back to a normal school day, well the new normal which is only 9:30 - 12:30pm. You can drop them off an hour early and they can stay one hour late but that is the extent of school here.

Believe It Or Not, I Am Driving!

Day three and I have to take Kyle to work. The fact is that KL is a bustling city and considering our taxi experience it was going to be hard for us to get around with the kids and stroller without driving ourselves. As you can imagine I am nervous because they drive on the other side of the road, the wheel is on the other side of the car, I have no idea where I am going, they follow very few driving rules and then throw in the million kamikazes on mopeds.

So Wendell goes with us and Kyle drives to and from his office so I could see where to go. Then I drive there and back with Kyle and the car to make sure I know where I am going. Then I drive back to the office and drop him off. Now Wendell and I are on our own. I didn't do too bad. Only one incident when I went to turn around where I hit the left side of the car on a huge curb. It made the worst noise but thankfully just scratched up the tire. That seems to be the worst part for me. It the states you sit on the left side and the rest of the car is to your right. Here you are on the right of the car so it has been hard to get used to the other part of the car on the left. My depth perception is still adjusting.

The second day I took Kyle and we get there just fine. On my way home I got completely lost and this time I was by myself. Thank God for the GPS. I typed in home and a few recalculations and some winding streets later I made it. That was probably the best thing to happen because then I knew I could conquer this driving stuff. From there on all of us could pile in the car and set off with the GPS exploring. I even parallel parked, now that was impressive!

Keep me in your prayers.

Teksi (Taxi's)

Well week one has been nothing short of interesting.  Day one we all go to Bangsar Village to pick up a few groceries.  At this point we have not picked up the company car yet so we all (Kyle, me, his parents, both girls, stroller) pile in a TINY taxi.  Talk about a clown car.  We head just down the street.  We go to the store and pick up enough food for a couple of meals and some bottled water.  The water here meets world health standards but the locals boil it first just to be sure.  We decide to just buy some to start.  So now we have to find a cab.  The cabs here are like the Mafia you can wait in a huge cab line only to get to the front and if they don't like your destination they can say no and move to the next in line.  Then you go to the next cab and the next until someone agrees to take you.  You can see where I am going with this...four adults, two kids, stroller and a crap load of groceries.  Now add to the equation 90 degrees.  Kyle was standing on a corner and finally flagged one down and then he saw all of us and swerved right back into the traffic.  Thankfully we saw a guy sitting next to us and it turns out he was waiting to pick up his mom.  He was sympathetic to our situation and agreed to take us up the hill.  Once we all squished in Sharon and I could not stop laughing.  It was an experience to say the least.  

And We Are Off

After a tearful goodbye to Tima and Grandpa we headed to Newark to begin our journey to KL. We arrived at the airport where we met up with Kyle's parents. Now we had even more stuff but luckily they travel light and were able to check some of our stuff for us. Believe it or not we escaped with no extra fees!

Our flight left at 10pm which worked out great for the girls. We let Samantha run around the airport and then I gave both of them some Benedyrl which worked it's magic. The first flight to Stockholm was about 8 hours and we all slept most of the way. It went by really fast. The second flight from Stockholm to KL was more like 12 hours and that was tougher although the girls were angels. That is not "mom" talk either. Samantha did not cry once the entire flight and Emily slept a ton and then just sat up in the bassinet and played. We really could not have asked for a better flight. I am always nervous about traveling with the girls but they are troopers.

We arrived in KL on Monday morning local time. We took two vans to our temporary residence which is very nice. Hopefully we will be here less than two weeks or so.

RV Road Trip

After we left Michigan the girls and I packed our stuff (yes ALL of our stuff) in my parent's RV and we took off for out east.  In the meantime Kyle headed back to Houston for a week of work and then to Orlando for a week long conference.  The plan was to meet up outside of Newark the day before we left.

First we headed to Nigara Falls, what an amazing sight.  I will update with pictures soon but my dad and I took the Maid of the Mist boat ride and it was very cool.  We stayed at a beautiful campground right on Lake Ontario.  The weather was COLD so no swimming but the had an awesome playground so Samantha was happy.

Then we were off to Watkins Glen which is nestled among the finger lakes of NY.  It was a quaint little town but not much happening there.  We went to the state park and visited the Gorge Trail.  A long path cut out of sheer rock the follow a stream consisting of many waterfalls.  Truly gorgeous. 

Our last rendezvous was Newburgh, NY which is about an hour north of NYC.  The KOA campground was great for Samantha.  They pool that of course even in freezing temperatures she wanted to swim and poor Grandpa was elected to join her.  Friday night was also a big dance which we could not miss.  Also while here we took a road trip over to West Point.  Now that is a scenic college.  I guess with all the stresses put on a poor student there they at least have a picturesque campus.  

Michigan

Once the suitcases were finally packed we headed to Michigan for my cousin Joel's wedding. We arrive at the airport with 6 checked suitcases, two car seats, one pack & play, a stroller and 3 carry on bags. Needless to say, the skycap was the best $20 we ever spent. The funniest part is that when we parked car and were loading all our crap on the shuttle bus this lady says to Kyle, "so are you not coming back?" then Kyle got to say "actually we are not."

Once in Michigan we had to upgrade the planned mini van to a Expedition XL to carry all our stuff. It was black with tinted windows so we felt like we were in the presidential motorcade. Then off to Bay City for the wedding. It was so nice to see all of our family and spend time with Joel and Rachel on their special day. After the wedding we headed to my Aunt Mel's house for a few days and then to Chicago with my parents, sister, brother in law and all of us. Megan found a sweet condo with the most amazing view of the city, as seen in the picture. My parents watched the girls one night and we went to Second City comedy club and sushi dinner. It was nice to have any evening out without kids. After Chicago we went back to Jackson to see my Grandma and stay at Aunt Judy's. I am not sure what we were thinking when we planned hauling all this stuff to so many places. None the less we had a great time with family.