iPhone Pics & Pizza Delivery

I know we do seem to live a pretty glamorous life - you know, with all our posts about grocery shopping at Publix, time at the dog parks, reading the Economist, trips to Alabama, etc - but sometimes we just need to stay home on a Saturday night.    :)

This weekend was one of those times.  I was battling a slight cold (which I have now given to James, oops), and James was coming off of a very stressful week where he slept very little each night.  We were in no shape to go anywhere!  But, as documented on my iPhone, we did have a very fun and exciting night, including a first for me.

It all started when James suggested we open a bottle of red and sit out by the fire pit.  I am so glad that he had the brilliant idea to run a gas line under the new patio for this baby - it's fantastic!   Definitely enough power to keep us warm when the GA temps drop to 40.  Enda loves it, too.

After an hour or so of chatting around the fire (and chatting with the neighbors over the fence - who were particularly friendly/chatty on Saturday), lo and behold, we had killed the bottle of wine*.

And I was obviously no longer that committed to making my planned meatloaf dinner.

As I was curled up in the chair, enjoying the fire, James had another brilliant idea - let's order a pizza!  Now, this may blow your mind, but I have never ordered a pizza in my entire life.  Being raised out in the country, pizza delivery boys did not come to visit.  In college, I was too busy making poppyseed casseroles and ramen dishes to be bothered with take out.  (I do recall throwing a"build your own gourmet pizza" party at my apartment, using english muffins.  CLASSY.)  Now as a married grown up, I still like to cook at home or eat at a restaurant - very black and white and no in between!

However, a little tipsy on wine (and cold medicine), plus not wanting to get up from my warm seat, I was SUPER EXCITED about experiencing the whole pizza delivery phenomenon.  James was super high tech and ordered through the Pizza Hut app.  And then I waited like a kid on Christmas.

We moved inside and enjoyed the pizza by the indoor fire.  It tasted delicious. Perfect Saturday night, and hopefully got us the rest we needed to survive this week.  :)

* "Killing a bottle" meant we both had 2 glasses.  I fully recognize now that does not put me in a Bad A$$ category or anything, but somehow - at the time - I was thinking "wow, we're CA-RA-ZY".  Ah, we're getting old....

No Gifts, Please

I think I should probably drag out the KL posts as long as I can, right?  I mean, a trip to Malaysia is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now.  James is in Alabama this week, which I think we can all agree is not going to produce any great cultural experiences worth writing about.  (Just kidding, all my sweet friends and readers in B-ham, you know I love to tease about those skies so blue!)  ;)

When I travel abroad, I usually try to bring something back for my sweet husband.  He's a hard one to buy for - especially in foreign countries - so sometimes I resort to local candy and sweets.  Since it's the New Year and we had "Be Healthy" on the ole resolutions list, I decided to forgo sweet goodies for something else.

I was very tempted to buy him a fake Gucci wallet from the expansive China Town, but then realized he probably wouldn't care about having a REAL Gucci (much less a good knock off).  I found lots of menswear in Malaysian Batik - a style of fabric which is super colorful and bright - but it's just not really James' style.

Malaysian Batik - credit

My search through the Central Market on the last day had me grasping at straws, until I saw what I thought could be a great gift - coffee!  James is a big coffee drinker, and I have brought him back local coffee before.  Usually from places known for coffee, but, hey, maybe Malaysian coffee is the new thing?  Plus, this was the "world's most exclusive coffee"!

I ventured in and a small Malaysian man was eager to help.  I started smelling the bags and checking out the price, trying to do the math in my head to figure out the conversion.  The price was my first clue that something was off - nearly $150 for a bag of coffee!?  Then, the gentleman starts to explain why this is so exclusive:  it starts with rare coffee berries from Indonesia....that are eaten by a small cat...that has special enzymes in his stomach which ferment the berries...which are "passed" and "collected" in order to make the coffee...  Yep, you read that right.  PASSED.  I'm no biology genius, but I'm pretty sure the only way that animals "pass" things they eat is through...you know.... 

GOOD GRACIOUS, how do people think up some of this stuff?

After the poor guy tries to assure me how delicious it tastes (really?)  and I stop laughing (obviously very mature about the whole thing), I explain to him that I would not be purchasing this for my husband.  If there is one thing my husband hates more than cats, it's cat poop.  

So, I came home empty-handed, but I think James was quite okay with that.  :)

(Now that I'm home and can look this up on Wikipedia, I see it's actually real coffee! Oprah even did a show about it, so you know it's legit, y'all.)

Photos from Kuala Lumpur

I am back from Malaysia, and happy to be home with my all my loves.  I don't even mind the cold snap that has taken over the South (after 6 days of heat and humidity), and I've been stuffing my face with things like chips and dip, plain green veggies, and steak.  James had the nerve to ask if I wanted to go eat Pho this Sunday, and I answered with "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR EVER-LOVING MIND?!?"  It will be a long time before I can bring myself to eat another noodle bowl...

I'm well aware that probably no one wants to hear me rant anymore about the food, the heat, or my sleep habits (if you are interested I had a few updates last week, click here and here); so, I'll move on to some more exciting things, like pictures.  I have struggled tremendously to limit to a few favorites on the blog, but if you'd like to see more than you ever wanted , feel free to check out the slideshow from my Picasa site: KL Album

Let the fun begin... :)

The first day we arrived, we visited the Batu Caves, one of the most popular Hindu temples outside of India.  There are 272 steps from the ground up to the caves, and once inside there are various shrines and temples (along with hundreds of monkeys).  There were lots of tourists, like us, along with many Hindus who were there to worship.  A very beautiful place, and great way to start off the Malaysian adventure!

Once inside the cave, there were many different ceremonies going on, which were fascinating to watch.  Out of respect, I tried not to disrupt with any picture taking of the observers themselves.

I was, however, not opposed to snapping shots of the millions of monkeys coming down the cliffs to snack upon all the food and flowers left by the pilgrims. 

After we made our way down from the caves, we walked around a bit (while trying not to melt.) Being a Sunday, the area had become quite busy with worshipers, tourists, entertainers and vendors.

The city of KL itself has very interesting architecture, from new skyscraper to old mosques.  Plus, a lot of very nice and very run down areas - all within a block of each other!

During the week, we made a couple of trips to Central Market and Chinatown for a bit of shopping and exploring.  The place was known for more artisanal items, including Batik and woodwork.  You could also find some pretty good designer knock-offs, if you were so inclined.  We didn't take the time for any real haggling, mostly because it was so chaotic you could barely walk through!

I also decided to try out something that Asia is known for:  feet-nibbling fish!  Honestly I would probably never try this again (nor is it recommended by anyone in the West), but I couldn't pass through Malaysia without sticking my feet in the tank. (The fish experience was following by a 1 hour foot massage - that part was SO FABULOUS!)

Although I spent most of the time working (granted, this was a work trip), we also tried to get out at night for some more sightseeing - when the weather would cooperate, that is.  Being monsoon season, we could expect a downpour each night.  On one occasion, we spent 30 minutes under the metro awning until it was safe to venture out.  Umbrellas were pointless with this type of rain.

Other nights we took advantage of yet another thing the city is known for:  SHOPPING.  I actually did not know this about KL, but some of the others quickly informed me that it's the "shopping capital of Asia".  Well, I wasn't about to be in Malaysia and not participate in such an important piece of the culture!

I can't even describe these as shopping "malls".  They were unlike anything I've ever seen before. Seven+ stories of every brand (from top designer and down) known to (wo)man.  Unfortunately, the higher end things are still quite expensive, so I stuck with some of the less expensive brands that I can't find in this part of the States.  (Such as Uniqlo, a Japanese brand that was described as the "H&M of Asia".  Too fun!)

Our last night in KL, we ventured out to the Petronas Twin Towers - a very impressive structure that is really the highlight of the KL skyline.  They were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, but probably are still the tallest twin towers.  I had seen them multiple times during the day, but, to get the true effect, a night visit was warranted.  At night, they don't even look real - it's almost like a painting in the sky.

Of course the place was swarming with people - even at 10PM - because the grounds and the buildings are so lit up and beautiful.  We ventured up to Sky Bar, another famous place on top of a hotel facing the towers, for another fabulous view and Tiger Beer.

Overall, the entire trip was fabulous.  I am so appreciative of the opportunity to explore such an interesting part of the world! 

  

More from KL!

Well, day 5 here in Kuala Lumpur, and things are still going well! Jet lag has been minimal, minus the fact I am dead on my feet by 10 PM and bright eyed and bushy tailed at 545 AM. (This is certainly not my norm - I am a night owl and HATE getting up early). Except for one super long day of meetings from 8AM to 11PM, I have been able to explore the city at night with work pals. Very fun!

By way of an update, I will provide a few more observations about KL and my experience here:

- Our Sheraton hotel must be super swanky, because the Malaysian royal family has been here twice this week already. Now, I don't have the same fascination with them as the British royals, so I wasn't stalking the lobby or anything. Still, sort of fun to walk in from dinner on a red carpet, pass Ferraris at the valet, and run into well dressed "famous looking" folks in the elevator.

- Even though I am not a royal, I am certainly treated like one by the hotel staff. WOW! I had dinner by myself the other night (having to skip the group dinner due to late night calls with the US) and there must have been 5 people devoted to me. One for my water, one for my meal, one to bring me bread, one to pull my chair out for me. They referred to me as "Miss Jennie" and I felt like someone super special. At first it was weird, but I quickly got over that...

- I wake up every morning to the Call for Prayer coming from the mosque. I can't even imagine how they broadcast across the entire city, but I can hear it from the bed of my hotel room. Although it startled me at first, I have now grown accustomed and find it soothing. It's almost like a monk's chant.

- Like clockwork, it rains every day in early evening (the moment we step outside to go somewhere.). And by "rain", I mean "downpour". Then it stops as quickly as it started, and I am left with terrible hair for our excursion. Blerg!

- I want to be open minded and cultural...and I want to not complain...but OH MY GOODNESS I am so tired of the food. I have resorted to eating massive quantities of desserts, Naan, and anything I can find that looks bland and plain. Yesterday it was French fries. You can see why my healthy self is struggling. Don't worry - I plan to devote a whole blog post entitled "What the heck am I eating?" to demonstrate my struggles with the buffets here.


I will leave you on that swell note. :) Things really are fun, and can't wait to share more photos from this fun city!

Selamat Datang!

Good morning from Malaysia! Selamat Datang means just such in Malay, and I can promise I have butchered that a few times already today.

I thank those well wishers for the flight last Friday, and happy to report that I survived the loooooooooong haul over fairly well. The top highlights included watching a silly rom com without feeling guilty for wasting 2 hours/$10 on a (sorta stupid) movie; multiple episodes of Glee without protests from my husband; and Clarins products in a Tumi toiletry bag (WOW, Malaysia Air!). The only "bad" things were, well, sitting / sleeping on a plane for 20 hours, and the smell of fish at 5AM for breakfast (really, Malaysia Air?) Still, not much to complain about.

After arriving on Sunday at 7am, some colleagues and I wasted no time in starting to explore the city. I have so many pictures and stories to share in the near future, once I get home and can work on the photos. For now, I will update on a few key/random observations I have made in my first 24 hours in this interesting country:

- KL might rival Houston as the most hot/humid place on the planet. So thick you could cut it with a knife. In most pictures we took of us, it appears that we are melting. I have already warned my colleagues that my hair is going to be big, poofy, and downright awful-looking for the week.

- The coldest place on the planet may be the conference room we are meeting in for our workshop. I can't even recognize my own handwriting in my notes because my hands are so frozen. I am having to sit with my legs under the tablecloth for warmth!!

- I have had noodles for every meal so far, including breakfast and snacks. This is for two reasons: first, I adore Asian noodles and will eat them if offered (even on a breakfast buffet) and 2) they are general not spicy. The spice level here on EVERYTHING is off the charts - like, 4 chilies on the Thai takeout menu hot. I have to carefully navigate the buffets and menus (of food I have never heard of) to find something that won't be too spicy. Although I can handle a little bit of heat, my gastro system considers it a punishable offense.

- The good thing about jetlag is that I go to bed at 9:30PM and wake up at 5:30AM. This gives me time for a good, long workout before the meetings. That is key for this week (see above - NOODLES EVERY MEAL!)

- It is a little hard to sit in a big process design workshop all day long as "the client" without missing my former life as "the consultant". Facilitating these babies was so much fun! I have tried to convince the D friends here that I could help run a breakout, if they need me to... :)

Hope all is well across the Pacific, and I will try to get into something fun and non-spicy this week to report back on!

And I'm off!

No one be concerned, but I may be a little quieter this next week on the blog.  I'm off on another adventure!  This time to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and, yes, it's "work travel" not "fun travel".  That being said, I always try to have as much fun as I can.  I plan to use every non-working moment to explore a country I've never seen.

Just for reference, KL is here:

I didn't know that until last night when James said "where is it again?"  He did not like my "somewhere in Asia" answer, so he looked it up for me.  :)

My flight today takes me from Atlanta to Amsterdam, and then Amsterdam to KL.  I leave tonight (Friday) at 5:35PM, and land in KL at 7:00AM on Sunday.  On the way back next Friday, I leave KL at 11:20PM and arrive in Atlanta at 9:30AM on Saturday (following a brief stop over in Seoul, Korea).  That's a whole heckuva lot of flying, folks.

To keep me occupied throughout all these long flights, I have the following:

1) Breaking Dawn 

Yes, that's right, I'm supporting my goals to "read more" with this excellent piece of literature.  I just finished a great, quality book about Germany in the 1930s (In the Garden of Beasts - highly recommend), so I feel like I deserve a little trash time.  Plus, I need to close out this Twilight series, and I refuse to watch the movie because I don't care for that pouty Trampire, Kristen Stewart.  

2) Bejeweled

I had cut myself off cold turkey from Bejeweled early last year, deleting the app completely from my iPhone and iPad.  I just downloaded again last week, and I'm so glad it's back in my life!  Hey, I need something to occupy my time on the flight, and I can definitely kill a few hours trying to beat my high score...

3) NANCY K!

Fortunately, I have a good friend from my consulting days to share this flight over with.  Many hours of girl talk - can't wait!   We're already good travel buddies, having traveled to several countries together over the past few years.

Bears in Berlin! (2010)

I'm going to miss my honey and the furbabies, but looking forward to this opportunity to see a different part of the world. Talk to y'all on the flip side!