Elephant Sanctuary

On Dec 26th we went to the Kuala Ghanda Elephant Sanctuary.  It's northeast of where we live, deep in the jungle. The kids have been looking forward to this since before we even came to Malaysia.  They were so excited to spend the day with elephants.  The sanctuary is funded by the government and free to the public.  It is focused on elephant rescue, bringing the injured elephants to the sanctuary and relocating healthy elephants to the Malaysia National Park.  The people from the sanctuary have been called to Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore to help with elephant rescues.  They are really good!  We were able to set up our visit with a guy who the locals refer to as "The Elephant Man".  He's famous for rescuing elephants.  He's been doing it for 20 years and plays a key role in taking care of the elephants at the sanctuary.  He was our guide for the day.  We learned a lot from him.  He arranged lunch for us, made by a local woman's association (see pics below, Patrick loved the watermelon).  It was quite an experience.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Santa made it to Malaysia so the kids were excited!  :)  It was quite a different experience, having a warm Christmas this year.  We went swimming yesterday on Christmas Eve!  We had a great sacrament meeting today and have had fun hanging out, enjoying the holiday.  We miss our family and friends at home though!  Only 18 more days and we'll be heading home!

Christmas Eve...

Putrajaya

Putrajaya is a new city that was created in the last 10 years for the Malaysian government.  

It's a master-planned city and it's absolutely amazing!  We went inside a mosque.  

What an experience!

Melaka

Melaka is located in southern Malaysia on the Straits of Malacca.  It is about 90 minutes from where we live.  It is a really old place, one of the smallest Malaysian states, settled by the Portuguese.  It was fun to visit.  Very historic.

 The humidity does wonders for our hair.  

It makes it so, how should I say it, um...boofy.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to everyone!
The Christmas decorations here are amazing.

(we're carrying groceries back to the apartment)

 

Our tradition - making candy houses out of Pop Tarts.  

We found Pop Tarts here at the grocery store!  Wahoo!

We were excited we were able to find them.  :)

Package from Grandma Liz!  Thank you!

Package from Nana and Grandpa!  Thank you!

Both packages arrived on the same day!  Awesome GRANDPARENTS think alike!

We love you! xoxoxoxoxo

Pewter Factory

Royal Selangor, here in Malaysia, is the biggest pewter factory in the world.  We went to visit it yesterday.  Sounds very boring, but it was really fun!  We saw the process of making pewter pieces.  All the pieces are completely handmade.  They are beautiful!  The kids took a half hour workshop.  They made a pewter bowl using old school methods and tools, how a bowl would have been made 100 years ago.

This pewter mug made the Guinness Book of World Records.

Petaling Street- Chinatown

Chinatown here in Malaysia is somethin' else!  You can find all sorts of stuff for very cheap. We had fun walking through, even though we did end up getting totally rained on. We picked up Seasons 1 and 2 of Modern Family, as well as some watered-down perfume for me, and some other fun trinkets for the kids. I love a good deal!  Who doesn't?

Singapore

For Thanksgiving break, we went to Singapore.   It's just a 40 minute flight from Malaysia and flights are really cheap. Singapore is a very unique place.  It rained a lot!  It's really clean, nice, and safe.  No chewing gum though. :)

Butterfly Park

Who doesn't love butterflies, right?  The Butterfly Park here is amazing.  It's a beautiful habitat with a big net over it so they don't fly away.  It was a really warm day (you can notice many rosy cheeks). What started as a butterfly observing time ended in a butterfly "rescue" effort, as you can imagine.  See below. :)

Fraser's Hill

We ventured out to a place called Fraser's Hill.  It's a cute little town in the Malaysian Highlands about 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur.  People from Malaysia like to visit it since it's quite a bit cooler up there.  You travel on a windy road up to the tip top of the rainforest.  Once the kids survived the car ride, we loved the view.  It was so beautiful.

Random Pictures

The girls all got haircuts yesterday.  Isabelle and Anna got trims.  Marin got a big haircut.   The bob is back!  She recently lost her front tooth as well!

 Patrick opted for no haircut this time.  He said maybe next time.

Batu Caves

We go exploring on Saturdays.  Chris had surgery on his collarbone this week, but decided he was up for a day out (what a trooper).  So, we went to see the Batu Caves. It is a sacred Hindu temple. It was discovered in 1892 and is made of natural limestone. There are 272 steps. It is beautiful! We've never seen anything like this before!  The monkeys hung out on the steps and loved taking bananas and peanuts from people.

Central Market

After visiting the city center, we went to a place called Central Market.  The Central Market has been in Malaysia since 1888.  It's a fun shopping place full of unique gifts and handmade crafts at great prices.  We also got an interesting "spa treatment" while we were there (see below).

KL City Center

We visited the Petronas Towers at KL City Center. While there, we went to the Petrosains (Science) Kids Discovery Center, played at the splash park, and walked around the shopping area.  We took the Light Rail to get there and the kids loved it. Petronas is the national oil company in Malaysia.

Motorcycle racing is big here in Malaysia. Patrick loves that!

KL Bird Park

The girls loved holding these birds.  Patrick wasn't quite so sure about it until the lady put the red bird on his head, then he thought it was pretty cool.  If you are wondering about the sling on Chris- he broke his collarbone the day before we left for Malaysia. He was trying to get out for one last bike ride.  It didn't end very well...

First days...

First stop- Yummy food and Diet Cokes for mom and dad.

We live on the 29th floor.  Living in a big city is fun so far!