...work is really going to cramp my style and mess up my social calendar!
July 22 we drove our "new" Proton Waja (Alyssa loves to say that?) to Melaka which is about 180 km away. It is an interesting city/state as it was occupied for many years by the Portugese and after that, the Dutch, followed by the Brits and finally, by Malaysia.
We took "back roads" from Port Dickson and so lots of neat jungle scenery and lots of palm oil plantations. We arrive at our hotel in the early afternoon and it is definately the nicest $90 hotel I have ever stayed in ~ in fact, it was 5 stars...we are definately in a different income bracket here!
We spent most of the afternoon hanging out at the pool and in our room, but did take a short walk to the historic district of town to plan what we would do the next day.
Alyssa is dying for hair, and although it is growing, she still cannot put a "big" ponytail in like Kayla and Cassidy. So, I made her some hair out of my sarong. Here she is performing on her bed...I mean stage. You probably don't want to know that she is singing "Like a Virgin"...luckily, she only knows the first verse (who's child is this???)!
Then, down to the pool...
Hayden really likes the water, but often prefers to sit on the edge rather than in the pool...I think he may have control issues...
Alyssa, as you can see, has sprouted fins and gills and can't get enough swimming. In fact, she already likes to "swim" alone in the kiddie pool. She puts her head under and kicks like mad, but really doesn't go very far.
Super Alyssa!
Melaka is famous for it's tacky trishaws. Yes, we fell for the ultimate tourist trap, but it was cheap and a cool way to get around and see things quickly. It made for a lot less walking!
Yes, they are all "decked" out in the finest fake flowers and Xmas garland. Some much fancier than others. Some even have radio/cassette players and blast crazy songs like rap and 80s rock!
Alyssa waiting for us to go after a stop. She had quite a lot of fun...and the driver got quite a lot of exercise peddaling up hill.
Hayden and Steve try some local, Malaysian food ~ Nasi Lamak...rice cooked in coconut milk, surrounded by some very hot pastes/sauces (which Hayden grabbed right away but we managed to get it away from him before he was able to get it in his mouth...lucky).
On our way home, we stopped at a local beach.
The hotel had packed us a picnic lunch and the intent was to let the kids play in the sand and water, then eat lunch, play a bit more and head home...but, things don't always go as planned.
After some playing and splashing (which both the kids loved)...
...the monkeys came. The jungle is right beside the beach. It was really cool at first. There were a few coming out, looking in garbage cans and around the trees for fruit. Hayden was excited and trying to chase them. Then, they told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on. The beach was literally being INVADED by monkeys of all shapes and sizes. Now, I know that monkeys are cute and they are my favourite animal at the zoo and it was really cool to see them swinging from the trees right in front of me, but apparently wild monkeys can also be quite aggressive. I didn't get any more pictures as I was guarding the cooler....
....except this guy who was almost on our blanket. At this point, he is watching Steve (try to lure him away by) putting a bag of french fries in the garbage can. He left, but not for long. I was scared one of the monkeys was going to attack the kids for their food. So, we moved closer to the buildings and found a secluded picnic shelter. All was well for about 5 mins until they found us again. 2 monkeys had a hissing match quite close to Alyssa while we were again packing up to move our stuff back to the car. I didn't care how mess lunch was, we could eat it and drive ~ with no monkeys. No sooner did we have the car 1/2 packed than the monkeys found us again. Argh! This was getting crazy! We got packed and left. I will have to find out what to do so that I can effectively rid our picnic area of monkeys...hmmm somehow I never thought I'd say a sentence like that....but, we are now home and had no stow-aways in our car.
Cheers!
Checkin out the boats on the ferry ride to the island
View from our hotel room patio
For the birthday girl!
In case you are wondering, this is what 1 kg of cake looks like (seriously, that's how you order it)
Favourite new past time ~ throwing sand (especially at his sister as it ellicits a great reaction!)
Hayden had a love/hate relationship with the ocean...sometimes it scared him, other times, he laughed his head off
View from the restaurant
Hornbills ~ they feed them morning and night to keep them coming around. Hayden loves to look at the birds!
Hanging out on the beach with dad and Mr. Lucas
Mr. Lucas showing Hayden a baby crab ~ the beach was literally crawling with them when the tide went out.
Another new favourite past time ~ collecting leaves
Alyssa and the ocean sunset
The view from the pool ~ pool/ocean
JUMP!
Hangin out in the pool ~ Alyssa loves to swim, Hayden is "getting there"
Digging to China ~ not nearly as far from here...
Playing trucks with our friend Aiden
At the KP (Kindergarten Prep) playground, basement level of the school
