Day 4

It’s 4:01 am.  It’s just like when I was pregnant and woke up in the middle of the night, confused, starving and in a bad mood.  So, jet lag is reminding us that we are still ready to wait for another baby.

I also have had one of my awful headaches for 24 hours now.  I think it is because of this haze that has moved into the city. It arrives here during the summer from the burning (of the rainforest) that is being done down in Indonesia.

(This was on our way to KLCC... a local school practicing marching band. Here the public schools are so overcroweded the students go to one of two sessions 7:30 to 1 or 1 to 7:30)

Moving onto to our update, we had another busy, busy day here in KL. Asusual, we woke up early and headed straight to our buffet breakfast.  After breakfast, we headed out to KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre).  The iconic Petronas Towers are at the center of the city, along with that huge shopping mall and park. 

We had such a great time exploring the park, while waiting for the grocery store to open.  It is not quite as big as central park, but has a similar feel. Surrounded by buildings and nestled right in the heart of the city, it is so green, so beautiful and a great place to relax.

One of my favorite things already is all the trees; each unique and beautiful. 

It was really neat to see the mix of cultures experiencing everyday life together.  I tried to nonchalantly snap this photo of the very distinct ethnicities strolling the park.

We also stumbled upon the most spectacular playground I have ever seen. One day, we will have to actually count them, but I am guessing maybe 25 or 30 individual playgrounds all placed together to create one massive playing experience. Of course Jaxson took of running and screaming. 

After the park, we headed into the Mall. I thought my skin was adjusting well to this humidity. Keith had actually just complimented my face saying how clear my skin was.  I decided to go ahead and get some Clinique face wash. As the cute little Clinique lady “tested” my skin I was reminded that maybe I’m not handled the humidity as well as I thought.  Her test consisted of looking at my skin under a magnifier and fluorescent light.  She told me about 3 times, “You sweat a lot!” Each time handing me a tissue and motioning to dap my forehead.  I wanted to say, what do you expect lady it’s freakin’ hot outside! 

We then headed to the grocery store.  We had plans to eat dinner with Lori.  She is a teacher at my new school and we decided to move in with her for a couple months or weeks before deciding on our own place. That way we can really take our time and enjoy our stay at the hotel without the pressure of finding our new home immediately. Anyway, we were responsible for brining the salad. Hence, we made our way to two different grocery stores. We found a Caesar salad kit just like you would in the states. Quick snack break at Auntie Anne’s pretzels, where the beloved cinnamon and sugar was replaced by a seaweed option, and we headed back to the hotel. (We opted for a plan and sesame pretzel.)

I was proud of myself for making time to workout at the awesome hotel gym while Jaxson napped. As soon as I came back it was time for our very eventful afternoon.

While Jax was napping, I was able to sneak in a quick workout at the hotel gym. 

We were picked up by a driver and taken to my new school.  There we met Lori and were given a tour.  The school is majestic and grand. My new classroom is enormous.  There is a swimming pool, science labs, art rooms, and even a teacher lounge! (Clifton Hills would understand my excitement on that one.)

After the tour, we then met Yuka and her husband back in the office. They handed us the keys and all the information we needed on the car.  A 1997 VW Vento is now in our possession. Keith had no time to think about what he was doing, it was now or never. We hopped in and followed Ms. Kanaga over to the JPJ. Basically, it was just insanity. Similar to a DMV, we almost were hit fifteen times just in the parking lot. Here no one follows basic traffic rules and it’s every man for him self. I decided to venture in with Ms. Kanaga and leave my boys in the car.  Once inside, there were maybe 200 people. We were handed a printed ticket that read 1444. I looked up and the numbers were on 1304. Great, only a 140 people ahead of me…. An hour and a half later they called my number.  I sat in the chair and smiled while Ms. Kanaga spoke with the teller in Malay.  The only part I heard was “Kristy Nicole?” to which I again smiled and nodded.

After all the waiting we had the wrong form.  So, Ms. Kanaga will venture back to JPJ on Monday and start that whole process again. I will not have to attend.

After JPJ, we followed her to Lori’s house. It was so sweet of her to take us there.  Keith felt so much better about driving opposite sides when he was just following the car in front of him. 

We met Jemma, her yellow lab and toured our new temporary home.  We enjoyed our salad and a chicken and dumpling Hungarian dish.  At about 8 pm it was already dark and thus Keith had his first experience of driving opposite sides in the dark without following anyone. I was very jumpy and a ball of nerves, but he got us back safely.