July 24 - August 2, 2015

We were loving our new hotel in Kuala Lumpur. We were ready to relax in comfort knowing that this was our last stop before we headed back to North America. Our first priority was to secure our flight back. We ended up with a less than desirable time frame back. We were no strangers to rough travel days, but we were definitely ending our adventure with a trying travel experience.

So with that plan under our belts, we were ready to enjoy more of Kuala Lumpur....except this happened on our second night.

The fire alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. We weren't sure if it was real or not. Surely, just after it went off, a loud speaker announces that it was a false alarm. But then it happened again....and again. So the third time we left the room. We saw several other guests looking as confused as us. To top it off, we were on the 28th floor. We would have to start walking down. At the 27th floor the false alarm notice comes back, but this time it was not a recording, so we headed back up. So that was fun. Guess something triggered the alarm in the basement. My guess is someone was smoking in a prohibited area.

We finally had some time to explore Kuala Lumpur. We took a little tram tour of the city.

Supposed to refer to Kuala Lumpur, but I say Kristin Lordots

One of our walks around our hotel area took us to Little India.

Many shops making and selling decorations with fresh flowers

One day during the week Michael wasn't feeling well. I decided to take the kids exploring and we let Michael rest in the room. We grabbed the local train to the Batu Caves - about a 40 minute trip. Once again I enjoyed navigating our way in the station to our destination.

One of the first statues seen as you enter the cave area.

Maeve posing....because she saw Demi Lavato pose here a couple of weeks earlier.

We heard that there were many monkeys that hang out near the caves. We were not disappointed. They were everywhere. We were also warned about them taking food and bags from you.

After our share of experiences with the monkeys, we decided to take a guided tour into one of the caves. I was so glad we did this. Our guide was excellent. We had been through our share of caves on this trip and this one was probably the biggest. It was quite dark in sections and we heard bats and saw insects that only live in caves here.

Maeve and Liam enjoying our guided cave tour

so if a monkey has a drinking habit I suppose you can't say he has a monkey on his back....well, he might.

sadly the monkeys eat a lot of junk food from tourists

We returned to our hotel only to find Michael sitting near the toilet. He was very sick so we went to the mall next door and got some soup, fruit and medicine. Then we evacuated the room....poor Michael.

Maeve and Liam had become germaphobic on the trip. I also had to purchase face masks and Lysol spray otherwise they would not enter the room for fear of catching whatever Michael had.

Our last day of our adventure had arrived. We had an overnight flight out of Kuala Lumpur. We had planned a late checkout from the hotel and checked our luggage there as well. Then we headed to the mall.

We found a burger place called Built that has its only other locations in California and Florida. They have the best veggie burgers I have ever eaten. You watch them make everything and choose your toppings and sides. I think we went there at least three times during our stay. The plan for our last evening was to eat an early dinner, catch a movie at the mall, then grab our stored luggage and head to the airport. It was a pretty American ending to the trip.

We agreed to see the latest Mission Impossible movie figuring it was something we would all enjoy. While we waited for the movie to start I was pondering what the next couple of weeks would bring. We would be starting from scratch in St. John's, Newfoundland. The kids seemed excited for something new and Michael was definitely thrilled to be settling near his parents and friends.

The movie began and all of our jaws dropped. One of the first lines is, "I thought you were in Malaysia." What?? We were in Malaysia. Then the scene cuts to Ving Rhames on the Kuala Lumpur Tower saying he is in Kuala Lumpur. How strange was that? It seemed so odd to be watching an American movie in Kuala Lumpur that has its opening scene in Kuala Lumpur.

That wasn't the only weird moment. Later in the film one of the characters references a Rudyard Kipling poem. I blogged about this poem during our trip. It was one of Michael's favorites and he read it to the kids and did a mini lesson as part of their home schooling curriculum. Then during the film an important password 'Rikitikitavi' is revealed. This is another piece by Rudyard Kipling and a story Maeve and I read as part of her seventh grade curriculum at the beginning of our trip. It was also the name of our hotel in Kampot, Cambodia.

Michael and I have a philosophy about these types of incidents generally called coincidences. We believe it is sort of the universe telling you that you are on the right path.

With some additional confidence, we boarded our plane to London where we would connect to Chicago to see my family for a few days. Then we would be off to Newfoundland where a new adventure would begin.

Michael's beard trimming scissors were confiscated at the Kuala Lumpur airport. I thought it was funny that he made it through the whole trip with these and had no issues....plus it was the only item in the no-no box.

"Leap and the net will appear." Zen saying