I bought a scooter!!!!

Couch Party

The fruits of staying in on a Friday night!

Breathe..

I forgot to post this photo of the two of us in the Cameron Highlands. I really like it, so I thought I would share! 

Ps. Happy Turkey Day!  Miss all of you!  -Kim

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; we have always pulled it off well, and developed some great traditions.

Back in the Barker days it was good food and good fights; 2nd cousins smoking cigarettes and the dream that one day, Meem and Bup would get that derelict jacuzzi running. Whether it was at our house with Mom somehow pulling 11 pies, 2 turkeys, and all the fixin's (goooooooooood eatin') out of one oven, or the same spread of food and music DVDs at Uncle Keith's, it was always a great time...REAL family.

Later on as we grew older and the family started to fragment, Thanksgiving was a moment of hope for us all...one last stab at a 'normal' family. I was coming home, full of fight (fight for family, not with)...then leaving with an overwhelming sense of flight. These times were rough, but the dinner was always 'safe ground' where everything was alright.

Now that we are in the early adult stage, the holiday has changed quite a bit. We still eat copious amounts of food all day, watch tv, enjoy the cool fall air; but the guests are a delightful assortment of new family, old friends, new friends, co-workers and neighbors to metion a few. There were over 20 people last year at Liz's place on Hopkins!

While everybody is now in there respective part of the world, we are looking forward to yet another wonderful Thanksgiving. We will fill our table (at Chili's! HA!) with good people, eat good food, and as always, go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

As for the rest of the family, Liz and DK will be joining the Olden's for their dinner; Dad, Mary, Joe, Missy, Nate, Brent, and Brittany will have dinner in Michigan; and Andy will be with his friend James and the rest of the crew in St. Croix (No turkey, just rum).

We are spread all over, but we still have all the necessary elements: Good food, people you trust & love and a strong appreciation for all that we have.

Fun. Fresh. Flavorful.

Have you ever heard of an American chain restaurant called Chili's? Oh, you have? We do to!  There is one located at the mega mall KLCC just a few minutes walk from our hotel.  

Since we have an extremely tiny kitchen without an oven, I decided to cancel any attempts at making a Thanksgiving dinner this year. (Maybe next year in our grand apartment?)  Now, what better place to have dinner then at our all American restaurant Chili's on Thanksgiving Day? We'll let you know how it goes! Maybe we'll even get to dip our burgers in some curry. 

Cameron Highlands

Before I start this blog I would like to mention the unique combination of music that we listened to during our long drive. It's quite the selection!  Bjork, best of Miles Davis, Gorillaz, early Greenday, Calypso compilation, Justin Timberlake ('cry me a river!') , Sonya Kitchell, and to top it off KORN! 

On Saturday at seven o'clock in the morning David and I get up, grab our bags and head North in our 1.6L Nissan rental car to the Cameron Highlands. This area is known for its lush green rolling hills, tea plantations, and British colonial architecture. 

                                                   

We find our way out of K.L. with two maps (yes, two) and drive for two hours on the Expressway past palm oil plantations until we get to the town called Tapah.  From there they say that '60km on a long and winding climb with hundreds of bends can make an uncomfortable

journey' but David and I are extremely entertained!  We dodge cars, large trucks, dogs and kids while I scream pretty much at every single turn.  Note that David has a big grin on his face this entire time.  Yes, very entertaining I must say.  At the 20km marker we get out of car, stretch our legs and view the beautiful waterfall and visit a number of roadside shacks that sell produce and handy crafts.

Finally after an hour and a half we reach Tanah Rata which is the town we are supposed the spend the night.  We drive through town but realize it isn't the small, colonial, quiet town that we expected.  It's dirty, noisy with construction and tourists everywhere!  We drive to the next town but it gets worse!  We left K.L. in order to get some fresh air, but instead inhale nasty fumes and there's trash everywhere! David pulls over and stares out of the car window for a very awkward five minutes.  At that point we decide to call it a loss and head  back to K.L. (This is when things started looking up) On the way back we stumble upon a cozy British cottage and have a cup of local tea and hot biscuits.

With that out of the way, we stop at a place that sells all sorts of plants and cacti.  We buy a lavender plant and 5 cactus plants for only $4!  Our next stop is Ee Feng Gu Honey Bee Farm. We walk around the flower and bee filled gardens and taste some of the honey straight off the honey comb!  yum yum.  On our way back to the car David notices a sign to the Boh Tea Estate.  After 8km on another small, windy road (this time only one lane) with amazing views of the lush tea plantation we finally get to the main entrance.  David parks the car, we step out and follow directions to the look-out point.  We slowly climb the hill and get to the top and the view is just absolutely amazing. This is definitely worth the drive to the Cameron Highlands.  We are a long ways away from the dirt, the noise, the people. We take a deep breath and enjoy the peace and the lovely smell of the fresh tea.  Loving the world once again we decide to go home.  

Right before we get to the main road David asks me, "do you hear that?" "Does that sound like a rock or does our tire have a leak in it?" oh, oh!  I stick my head out of the window to look. Yes, definitely a flat tire..  We stop the car, change the tire, and on we go!  This is the part when we listen to our KORN CD.  After another 3.5hrs drive we get back the Ascott hotel and have the best sleep of our life, with a full day on Sunday to just simply relax! 

This one is not hot!

I bought 6 green chili peppers for our Malaysian Tacos to add some spice to them. When I tried a tiny piece it tasted just like a bell pepper! Even with the seeds. Bummer..

Rain or Shine?

On the 22nd floor of our hotel is a cute garden with all sorts herbs, flowers and plants. I've been wanting to go up there and draw some of these Malaysian plants but with my luck the last couple of days it has been raining! So, instead today I stayed inside the room and drew a garlic head with a CD of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong playing in the background. "Isn't it a Lovely Day?"

Progress!!!

The owners of our dream apartment have accepted our offer and we are set to move in on Dec 1st!!!! Yeah!!!!!

Happy Tree!

My fellow art friends, you can now visit me here in K.L., because I have found an art supply store!  I have to warn you, it is not as big and entertaining as Texas Art Supply in Houston, but it is located in Chinatown and they do carry all sorts of brushes, paints and canvas.  In Bob Ross his own words that's all we need to paint a happy tree!

 The sketch is the view from our hotel balcony. I spent about 15 minutes on it and remember, I can't use my index finger!!!

How to feed fish on the 6th floor at the Ascott Hotel

Step 1: Acquire fish food from front desk for FREE!

Step 2: Find location on your balcony to drop food

Result: Lots of Fish!

Notice: fishing rods are not available..

-Kim

Memory Lane

I was playing with iMovie Sunday evening and I put together this compilation.  Enjoy!

~Deek

P.S. Can you tell I miss A. Katie-beans and B. Cold air?  haha

Quantum of Solace...the short version

Last night we went and saw the new Bond film, and were a little disappointed that the there were several edits to the film, most noticeably in the opening scene.  Essentially, the 'sexy' was taken out of Bond...

We will have to get back to the states to see the full version...which is a bit sad...homesickness setting in!

KL Nights

It's Friday!!!   And a long one too...  Things are really picking up with the office here in KL, which is very exciting.  

I got off work 

and headed home to check up on Kim.  She was in much higher spirits than earlier that morning so we went out for a drink at the Traders Hotel.  It's a short walk through the KLCC gardens and directly across from the Petronas Towers. 

 Great view and expensive drinks.  

We stayed for a bit and then met up with our friend Subra, who led our expedition through a maze of side streets, shopping malls and open markets, to a bar called Twentyone.

We sat there for about three hours, and had great drinks, an excellent dinner and semi-intelligent conversation!  

Midway through the evening a heavy rain came through and cooled the air down.  All up it was a great night out.

We navigated out way back, taking a different route, all the while keeping eyes on the tower as a point of reference.  

The towers were lit up blue, which was a first for us.  

We said goodbye to Subra and crashed when we got home.  It was 10:30...  I'm going to use Kim's jetlag as an excuse for turning in so early!  

Big weekend planned!  

Why mom is always right

The week before leaving the States, mom suggested that I pack some band-aids and Nestosyl (Dutch Neosporin) just in case I have an accident.  I roll my eyes thinking what could possibly happen? I never get hurt! Wink, Wink.  Actually, I am possibly one of the more clumsier people here on earth, but that's another story.  I eventually throw some band-aids and the Nestosyl in with my toiletries and go my way. 

This morning I get dressed in my brand new NIKE work-out clothes made in Malaysia, and take the elevator to our hotel gym on the 22nd floor.  I open the door, and step on through. The door closes quicker then I think it will and smashes my index finger! OUCH!  I look at it and it actually cut open my finger pretty badly.  I wont get in too much detail, but I freak out and think that I have a broken finger or that I need stitches.  I quickly go to our apartment and call David at work and tell him the bad news, all the while crying like a little baby.  He gets here in five minutes and looks at my smashed up finger. No broken finger, and the cut isn't deep enough to where I need stitches.  But what I actually need is a band-aid and Nestosyl!  

Thanks ma! Thanks David for coming to my rescue! 

And let the drums roll...

 As of today, David and I are officially residents of Malaysia! 

                                                                                                

The Durian

A couple of evenings ago, after attending a cocktail party, Mike (David's boss), David, and I had an appetite and decided to get some food down the road from our hotel.  David and I shared a plate of some kind of chicken, rice and hot sauce that I don't know the name of.  It was delicious!  By the way, pretty much 50% of the time I have no clue what I am eating, and the majority of the time the food tastes perfectly fine.  Then we have the durian..

Wikipedia says, "the durian is the fruit of trees from the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows, and linden trees.  Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as "King of Fruits", the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk."

After our tasty dinner we head back home and pass up a stall with hundreds of spiky, smelly durians.  Should we get one? I heard they actually taste pretty good. Yes we should!  We pick one out. The guy splits it in three pieces and there we go. The first reaction was from Mike. He said "it's an acquired taste, isn't it?" Secondly was David.  It took a few minutes but he was very vocal about not liking this "King of Fruits".  "I just can't get over the custard like consistency!"  Local's are laughing at us at this moment, and screaming "DURIAN!".  All this time I'm still wondering if I like it. The hard thing is to separate the taste from the smell. Shouldn't the things we eat smell good?  OK-I have decided. I am not a fan. Where's the trash can?

Since this was one of our first smellable K.L. experiences we have decided to name our blog Durian Delights!  Hope you enjoy!