It's hard to believe that it is true, but we are finally in Malaysia. When I was offered the job in February, I thought that we had lots of time, but those months flew by, and, here we are in Kuala Lumpur.
We left from Winnipeg on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:55 pm. We drove up from mom and dad's the day before and stayed in a Holiday Inn "Kids Suite" which I would highly recommend for those of you travelling with wee ones. To tire the kids out on Tuesday, we met up with Andrea Hall and her son Nolan at the Children's Museum at the Forks. What an awesome place ~ Alyssa's favorite was the kid's potties as she didn't need any help to go or wash her hands! Now, the question about every bathroom is: "Does it have a little potty just for me?" Good times, good times. My friend Amara (whom I hadn't seen in 10 years) also came down to the Forks and we had a brief hello with her mom and dad as well.
Then, it was back to the hotel for a quick shower, check out, say goodbye to the van (thx to Dennis and Janine for taking it "home") and the shuttle to the airport. Laden with bags, the four of us got our boarding passes, checked our luggage (with only $400 in overweight fees ~ as expected) and waited for the plane to arrive.
The first flight went fairly well. Alyssa watched a movie and sat beside a nice lady who bought her pringles (flying is pretty good!). We landed in Vancouver and had to wait until 1 a.m. for our flight to Hong Kong. It took us a while to cart all our carry ons to international departures ~ thanks to the nice Air Canada lady who took Steve and the carry ons most of the way to our gate! We had some "unnecessary" baggage which was a pain, but it's all here now. Hayden played on the floor and Alyssa slept in the backpack almost the whole time.
We made our way on to the Cathay Pacific plane bound for Hong Kong and tried to get settled in...our first problem was the carseats didn't fit on the plane seats (the unneccessary luggage). So, with a little bit of reorganizing, the flight crew stored them away and gave me a special seatbelt to put Hayden on my lap. The problem with the seatbelt was Hayden HATED it. He screamed bloody murder for the 20 minutes it took to get the plane in the air. The stewardesses tried really hard to make him happy, but it didn't help. It was at this point I realized that this journey may have been truely a crazy idea! We were a sight...alyssa whining to be held as we had to wake her up to get her on the plane, Steve trying to get her to stay in her seat, Hayden screaming his head off and me crying as I was so tired by this point (tiring the kids out good idea, but forgot to think about how tired the parents would be!). Soon after take off, Hayden fell asleep and he and Alyssa slept on and off for about the first 1/2 of this 13 1/2 hour flight ~ yes, that's right. For the most part, the kids were good on the plane, being entertained by the flight attendants and playing with toys. A few minor meltdowns for the kids due to cramped quarters and changing schedules, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Near the end of the flight, Steve started to look a little "green". Not sure what it was, but the flight crew was even concerened and took his temperature as we left the plane.
We "trucked" all our gear (again) through the Hong Kong airport and through security for international flights. The good thing about the way we flew was our baggage was checked and we didn't have to go through customs until Malaysia. It was 5:30 a.m. (local time) and I was desparately in need of a coffee. I think I only slept about 3 hours since Tuesday morning in winnipeg (and I don't think Steve had much more, but he wasn't feeling good so no coffee for him). We had a 3 hour wait for our flight, so we all "refreshed" ourselves by changing clothes and washing up in the bathroom. The kids were both quite awake and played while we waited for our flight. I went in search of coffee and bought a latte, 3 muffins, 2 water and a San Pelligrino for $131 HK (which I thought was a little high, not knowing the exchange rate). When I asked Steve what the rate was he said he thought it was almost equal, but later we discovered it was about 10:1. Thank goodness as that would have gone down in the books as THE most expensive snacks ever!
The 3 hour flight to KL was uneventful with Alyssa playing with her new "Belle" barbie and horse, Hayden sleeping and Steve looking green. At KLIA, we boarded a train shuttle to the baggage carousel, claimed all our luggage (3 very full luggage carts worth), went through immigration and customs. We were thinking customs would take a while, but they asked NO questions and we just walked out ~ thank goodness! Patrick from the school was there to meet us and helped us pack all our luggage into the school van. The fellow who drove the van, Chu (?), was also helpful and got us safely to the hotel. Seatbelts and carseats are not mandatory, so Hayden enjoyed being held and Alyssa bounced around the van with her mom freaking out quite often hoping alyssa wouldn't fly through the window with a sudden stop.
Our hotel is beautiful and the kids fell asleep at about 4 pm with mom following shortly at 5 and steve staying up until 7. The kids were up from 2 - 4 a.m. (gotta love jetlag), but other than that, all went well. We went exploring today around the hotel and steve bought a "hand phone". Then, we tried out the pool (which is extremely refreshing) and now the kids (and steve are napping). I will post some photos of the trip soon, although there aren't many.
We are all well and settling in to life in Malaysia. I don't start school until July 30, so we have a lot of time to get things organised. The school pays for 14 days at the hotel and I think we will stay the whole 14 days! Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing!
Our first venture down the streets by the hotel.
Dancing in the streets. 
Hayden and Steve hanging out at the hotel pool. It feels really cold at first, but is soooo refreshing! Hayden LOVES it!
Alyssa at the hotel pool. Tried to get a shot of all three, but Alyssa was doing her own thing after 27 hours of travelling.
Vancouver Airport 9pm-1am. Hayden was happily playing, but as soon as I got the camera out he wanted to see it! 
Alyssa sound asleep in the backpack at Vancouver. She was awake the whole flight there and crashed shortly after. 
Hong Kong Airport 545am local time. Hayden was hungry so we just gave him some plastic to chew on. Poor second child!
Hanging out at the Winnipeg Children's Museum with Andrea and Nolan before we depart...it was super fun! 
Steve and Hayden "driving" the CAT...not sure who was having more fun!
Pony rides are the favourite!
Alyssa and her friend Cassidy pose for photo ops
3 Goofy Girls ~ Alyssa, Kayla and Cassidy
