Ipoh, Malaysia

Approaching Ipoh, lovely limestone cliffs rise up to greet you, surrounding the city with ethereal wonder, and form the majestic backdrop of The Lost World of Tambun. Its mist-shrouded cliffs lend a mysterious air to this theme-park that beckons you to come and play. We checked in to the Lost World Hotel and were pleasantly surprised by our lovely Executive Suite, complete with separate bedroom and flat-screen TVs.

After caking on the sunscreen, we headed straight to the water park and spent the afternoon splashing in the wave pool, flying down tube slides, and swinging from the rides. We also saw the tiger-feeding show (live-feeding would have been more exciting, but not kid friendly!), panned for tin with our dulangs, and peddled swan boats. There was also a petting zoo/animal encounter and a walk-in aviary.

In the morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet (nasi lemak and curry chicken--yummy!; pancakes for the kids!), then we drove 20 km south to explore Kellie's Castle in Batu Gajah. This lovely and mysterious castle was built by a Scottish man named William Kellie-Smith who traveled to Malaya in 1890 to seek his fortune.  He became wealthy in the rubber industry and built his first mansion, Kinta Kellas, in 1909. (Most of this structure was later destroyed in WWII.) Five years later, he laid the foundation stone for his second mansion, which proved to be his ultimate folly. During construction, illness broke out killing many of his workers. He immediately halted construction on the castle and instead built a Hindu temple nearby to appease the gods (accessible by a secret underground tunnel from his estate). Work then resumed on the castle, but unfortunately, Kellie would never live there and it would never be completed. He died from pneumonia at the age of 56. Some say his ghost still wanders the estate at night . . . , but we were only there during the day.

 Before heading back to Penang, we drove back through Ipoh and enjoyed gourmet burgers and crepes at the quirky and eclectic Burps and Giggles Cafe. (Mine had jalapenos; oh, how I've missed you!) Throughout, creative items hung from the ceilings and the walls were decorated with artwork and unexpected phrases. We chose a table under a painting of some fat ladies in bikinis. =) In the back, we enjoyed a local art gallery, and my daughters spotted some kittens they wanted to take home. (Mean momma didn't let them!)

Phuket, Thailand

Taking advantage of the kids’ Spring Break, we just returned from the beautiful Thai island of Phuket. Four nights spent in this tropical paradise was just the refreshment we needed!

We arrived via Firefly Airlines on a direct flight and then taxied to our hotel in Patong, an hour’s drive from the airport. We chose Novotel Phuket Resort, happily perched on a hillside overlooking the ocean, and we enjoyed the very comfortable rooms and three-tiered pool. The service and breakfast buffets were excellent, the kids were given locally-made elephants (“chang” in Thai), and Mark enjoyed being greeted as “big boss”! After a few hours in the pool, we walked down the hill and enjoyed dinner overlooking the beach at Belgian Beer Café.

 

For our first full day, I had booked a daytrip to Koh Phi Phi with Offspray Leisure (recommended by Lonely Planet). Our perfect day did not disappoint! We were picked up from our hotel in the morning and transported to Chalong pier, where we waited for the 17 guests in our boat to arrive. Soon we set off in our speedboat. It took about an hour to get to the islands, but we enjoyed calm seas, picturesque scenery along the way, and free drinks and bananas. Our driver stopped at a lovely secluded spot, and we enjoyed snorkeling for an hour amongst technicolor corals. There were many kinds of tropical fish, and we also saw huge, colorful starfish and large oyster shells. So cool!!!

After leaving this spot, we went on to see Maya Bay, the famous backdrop for The Beach starring Leonardo Di Caprio. We also saw Viking Cave, where daring entrepreneurs collect swallows’ nests to sell as a delicacy. We then enjoyed a fabulous Mediterranean lunch of gourmet salad, bread, cheese, and salami (even smoked salmon!) on a secluded beach. Everyone enjoyed playtime on the sugar-fine sand, and a highlight for me was spotting a pipefish! (Resembling a small stick, it is in the same family as the seahorse.)

On our way back, our exhausted kids slept in laps while we talked to others on our tour. I was very pleased with Offspray; our guides were very friendly and organized, passenger numbers were kept small, and they successfully avoided the other tour company crowds by selecting secluded spots to explore. (I will completely recommend Offspray to my friends!) After our boat excursion, we stayed at our hotel and enjoyed Latino buffet night.

Unfortunately, the next day didn’t start out well. On the way to breakfast, I almost stepped on a scorpion, but Adam warned me just in time! Worse, Mark suffered from nausea most of the day, and embarrassingly threw up in the middle of the entrance to the breakfast buffet! Needless to say, we didn’t do too much, but later in the afternoon, Mark recovered enough for light swimming, and Abigail and I tried our hand at batik painting.

That night, we had made reservations for the Thai cultural theme park and show FantaSea. The kids really enjoyed the colorful displays, feeding fish in the koi pond, and seeing a rare white tiger. The show itself was excellent, sharing Thailand’s heritage through traditional dance and costumes, an elephant show, and even some magic and circus acts. Afterwards, we got to feed sugar cane to an elephant!

For our last full day, we swam at the pool for hours, enjoyed Thai food and tropical drinks, and played a few rounds of darts. Later in the afternoon, we hopped in a tuk tuk to the center of town, did some shopping, and ate Thai food for dinner. After, we spotted a Baskin Robbins on a blocked-off side street, and while the kids ate their ice cream oblivious, we got a taste of the “dancers” and party scene across the street at the Tiger Club. Not wanting to answer any hard questions, I distracted the kids and walked out quickly!

Alas, school and work called us back to real life again, but we had a wonderful time in Thailand. We hope to explore more of this beautiful country next year. In the meantime, we enjoyed our last short flight; our next plane adventure will be somewhat longer . . . almost time to see family!