The trip began in the wee hours of the morning a little over two weeks ago, when Richard, Dorothy, and Susan arrived in the KL airport. (They had flown through Seoul and had been on a flight with George's parents, Dr. and Mrs. Jemison, on the way over. They were on the way to visit George in Korea, and we were thrilled that they were on the same international flight -- what are the odds?)
Because I have spent several weekends in KL, I was happy to play tour guide there and take my family to some of my favorite places. Our first stop on day one: shopping on Petaling Street. This turned out to be a huge hit, especially with Susan, who stocked up on tons of fake Polo, Lacoste, Coach, and Tiffany's stuff. Poor Dad -- we quickly ran through all the ringget he had gotten from the ATM that morning.
After our shopping spree, we headed to the Batu Caves so my family could see this impressive and unique Hindu temple-in-a-cave. We climbed all 272 steps to reach the cave's entrance, and had fun watching all the monkeys who live around the caves.
Day two in KL started bright and early because we wanted to make it to the Petronas Towers early enough to get free tickets to the skybridge. Thoroughly nourished and extremely content after our amazing breakfast at the Hilton, we happily waited in line for our Petronas tickets and then had a little time to kill before our scheduled skybridge time.
To help pass the time, we each got hour-long foot reflexology sessions, followed by 30-minute back massages. It was pretty glorious, and we were a relaxed bunch and ready to check out the view from the towers.
Next up: a trip to the Lake Garden's Bird Park, supposedly "the largest bird park in the world." We enjoyed seeing the many interesting birds (some more hilarious looking than others) and even got to hold newborn baby chicks. We made it out of the park just before a huge rainstorm hit, too, so we were pretty fortunate.
For our last dinner in KL, we chose the Coliseum Cafe after reading this intriguing review in Frommer's: "What can I say about Coliseum? Okay, the place is 86 years old, and so is the staff (seriously, some have worked here their whole lives). Located in the grottiest hotel I've ever witnessed, with stained white walls, worn tile floors, and threadbare linens, this is KL's authentic "greasy spoon." It sounds dreadful, but the place is legendary, and someday it will be gone and there will never be anything else like it." Sure enough, we found the staff to be, well, quite practiced, and the building to be smoky and grungy, but the food (steak!) was excellent and we had a great experience.
The next day it was time to head south to Kluang, Johor, but we had time to squeeze in a quick visit to the National Museum before we left KL. The museum only costs RM2 (about 60 U.S. cents) and gives a helpful overview of Malaysia's history as a colonized nation. Perhaps the best discovery the Swindle family made at the museum, though, was our love for the Malaysian "corn-in-cup," which is, just as it sounds, a little cup filled with warm corn mixed with salt and butter. We went on to enjoy many a corn-in-cup over the next two weeks.
To get to Kluang, we took the train down from KL. I love riding on trains, and we were able to see lots of beautiful countryside (including countless palm oil trees) on the way. We were so excited the whole time to visit with Sharon Lim-Harle's family and to see the town she grew up in!
Arriving in Kluang, we were met at the station by Sharon's brother J.P. and her father, Mr. Lim. From the second we arrived until the second we left Kluang, the Lim family showed us nothing but genuine hospitality and wonderful companionship. We enjoyed eating at many of the Lim-affiliated Chinese eateries in the town, and were especially impressed by the kaya buns at the Kluang Railway Coffee shop.
Our time in Kluang was limited, but Mr. Lim was a thorough tour guide and so we made the most of each minute. We even squeezed in a short visit to Melaka, where we saw the famous Portuguese-and-then-Dutch occupied city, something I had been interested to see for a while.
Although the architecture and history of Melaka was intriguing, I think my dad's favorite part of the trip was sampling some Indian vegetable fried puff things. He talked about them for the rest of the time he was in Malaysia!
Other highlights of our time in Kluang include a visit to Mrs. Lim's grave site, a tour of Sharon's old high school, and a great breakfast send-off when we boarded the train to Singapore.
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