Popular Post maddmaxx ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Popular Post Share #1 Posted August 1, 2015 I'll try again with the vacation thread. In less than 9 hours a car will pick us up for the start of a trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Over the course of the two weeks we will pass through Taipei Taiwan and spend a short day in Singapore. During the trip we will be attending my oldest son's wedding, The Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix, several tourist spots and a whole bunch of places to try food etc. I may attempt a bike ride but with as many as 100,000 extra people in the city for the race I might wait for another trip. I'll post as many pics as I can without boring you. No selfies. This is the center of KL with the famous Petronas Towers right center. In the bottom left corner between the two greenish towers and the curved building you can just make out the tops of two shorter square towers where we will be staying. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted August 1, 2015 Share #2 Posted August 1, 2015 All I can think of is Satay. Eat well and enjoy your trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 1, 2015 Share #3 Posted August 1, 2015 Have a fantastic time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted August 1, 2015 All I can think of is Satay. Eat well and enjoy your trip. Mmmmm. I will eat some for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Share #5 Posted August 1, 2015 Max, I'll be thinking about you. Reads/looks like a trip of a lifetime. Please come back in one piece, I wish your son and new family all the best, and get back here and post those damn pics! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted August 1, 2015 Share #6 Posted August 1, 2015 Based on recent events, I would avoid flying in or out of Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines, if at all possible. (MH17 and MH370) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Share #7 Posted August 1, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted August 1, 2015 Based on recent events, I would avoid flying in or out of Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines, if at all possible. (MH17 and MH370) Absolutely not flying Malaysian Airlines. Flying China Airlines (nationalist) via Taiwan. Going the trans Pacific route rather than the middle east route. I'm reasonably sure it's safe to fly over Canada. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share #9 Posted August 1, 2015 The agony of packing is done. Gifts, bring me's, can you's all put away with 3 hours to spare. Time to shower dress and sayonara. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted August 1, 2015 Share #10 Posted August 1, 2015 12 time zones. That helps with the math....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted August 1, 2015 12 time zones. That helps with the math....... I don't care. I'm going to leave my watch on east coast time. I never know what day it is anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted August 2, 2015 Here we are 24 hours later in the airport in Taipai Taiwan. after 15 hours on a hot cramped plane I'm off in search of a rest room with washup facilities to clean up and change to another shirt. Another flight of 4 hours to go. I cannot in all honesty recommend a non stop from the east coast to out here. My previous trips have been from the midwest or west and the trans pacific flight was limited to about 10 hours which is bad enough. Economy seats on a 777 leave you immobile for the duration unless you walk a lot.We went north over Canada, back down over Alaska, Russia and Japan. The food however was great. Later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted August 2, 2015 Share #13 Posted August 2, 2015 While in Singapore... stop at the Peeking Duck restaurant... My friend said it was awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share #14 Posted August 3, 2015 The airport wifi is just too slow to upload any pics. It will have to wait till I get settles in KL as we will be boarding the next flight in just about 1/2 hour. And 34 hours in I am in my son's apartment for 1 day. For those inclined to humor: Pouring rain in KL today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share #15 Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) It's 2:30 in the morning here and I'm up. This means that I am almost completely adjusted to the time zone shift. I've been her almost 12 hours already. How to report my first impressions? It's hard for me to know what's unique because I'm a country boy looking at the big city and everything looks different. I now know why my relatives were so intrigued when I took them for a hike miles deep into my country. Last night was mostly the joy of getting a shower and a change of clothes after what amounted to 36 straight hours of travel. We went out for dinner in what turned out to be a tower sized mall. Sorry, no pics of that yet as the bulky camera was not something I wanted to carry. Picture a mall near you and substitute foreign names for some but not all of the shops.......you're there. Driving is on the left here and completely suicidal. I felt like I was in one of the early rounds of GT4 on a playstation. Walking is also done on the left, the same as in Japan. You will learn this quickly if you attempt to go up a down staircase. For the first couple of nights we are staying at my son's apartment about 6 miles away from city center. First pic, the night time view from his deck. Almost all of the buildings you see to the left are new construction and I hear the sound of banging and work even at this time of the morning. The country is less than half Chinese but the government is almost 95% muslim. Graft and corruption is normal here. Some people are very good at their jobs and others........well for example let's examine customs. After passport control we picked up our luggage and went in search of customs. After a while we found ourselves at the exit of the airport being picked up by the kids. Customs.......never found it. later. Amd....umm.....sorry no cats yet. Edited August 3, 2015 by maddmaxx 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 3, 2015 Share #16 Posted August 3, 2015 Great pics Max! Keep 'em coming. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share #17 Posted August 3, 2015 We will be going here today. http://www.sunwaypyramid.com/ Yes, it is one of the largest malls in the world. It seems that much of the shopping and many of the restaurants in KL happens in places like this. It turns out that if I take the big Nikon everywhere that I become a target for the snatch and grab gangs so I will take the smaller camera in a pocket. I will attempt pics of the food though so you can see what you're missing. It does not seem that I'm going to lose any weight here. Since I was up before dawn I was able to listen to the Farj prayers called at 6am while taking pre dawn light like this. This is the KL Tower from about 6 miles away. Found here https://www.menarakl.com.my/detail1.html if your interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 4, 2015 Share #18 Posted August 4, 2015 This is why the internet is cool. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share #19 Posted August 4, 2015 While you were sleeping I had lunch at the mall. Actually at a world class Thai restaurant associated with the hotel at the mall. I sampled it for you guys. It was great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 4, 2015 Share #20 Posted August 4, 2015 Don't know what that is, but it looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted August 4, 2015 Share #21 Posted August 4, 2015 This is why the internet is cool. Very cool. Great thread MM. We all get to tag along on MM's trip to Malaysia. Sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share #22 Posted August 4, 2015 And more restaurants this evening. Morning for you. Perhaps I can tell you the future as it is 9:33 pm on the 4th here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share #23 Posted August 4, 2015 Don't know what that is, but it looks awesome.The upper pic was bits of chicken on a bed of rice all in a pineapple bowl. To the left you can just make out a small bowl of thai chili which was served with small leafy cones of chicken prawns and rice again. Behind is a small bowl of flat bread and a large bowl of red curry. In the lower pic you are looking at the side of a fish curled around the plate. The tail would be to the lower left and the head at the upper side. This is just the dried baked outside of the fish as all of the meat is in chunks around the plate, again in a spicy sauce with a dash of sweet this time. All of the dishes are served to the entire table on a turntable in the middle and we all share. They were worried that Thai food would scare away Americans. Little did they know. I'll eat almost anything. This was a high end Thai restaurant inside the Sunway Pyramid mall next to the luxury hotel. You can go there and never leave for an entire vacation. There is a water park out back, bowling alley, archery range, 900 stores and a hockey rink along with more food than you will ever need. I didn't provide pics because the link is in a post above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted August 4, 2015 Share #24 Posted August 4, 2015 The upper pic was bits of chicken on a bed of rice all in a pineapple bowl. To the left you can just make out a small bowl of thai chili which was served with small leafy cones of chicken prawns and rice again. Behind is a small bowl of flat bread and a large bowl of red curry. In the lower pic you are looking at the side of a fish curled around the plate. The tail would be to the lower left and the head at the upper side. This is just the dried baked outside of the fish as all of the meat is in chunks around the plate, again in a spicy sauce with a dash of sweet this time. All of the dishes are served to the entire table on a turntable in the middle and we all share. They were worried that Thai food would scare away Americans. Little did they know. I'll eat almost anything. This was a high end Thai restaurant inside the Sunway Pyramid mall next to the luxury hotel. You can go there and never leave for an entire vacation. There is a water park out back, bowling alley, archery range, 900 stores and a hockey rink along with more food than you will ever need. I didn't provide pics because the link is in a post above.Must be chili - I see beans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share #25 Posted August 5, 2015 I expected bizarre things here in Malaysia, but a temple for dotman was beyond even my expectations. Only part of the water park at yesterday's mall though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maddmaxx ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Author Popular Post Share #26 Posted August 5, 2015 OK. Moved today to our final destination in KL. This is the view down from my room. And we are a 15 min walk from KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) which is the park and immediate area around the Petronas Towers. The towers sit on top of.........you guessed it, a mall (2 malls). I know believe that many people who live in this city stay indoors most of the time. The best restaurants are in or next to malls. We walked there for lunch, a group consisting of My wife, older son, younger son, a Scotsman and an Australian from Tasmania and myself. The heat index is high. It will take some acclimating to daytime travel outside here. This is the park across the street from the Petronas Towers. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2015 Share #27 Posted August 5, 2015 Nice pics. Climb to the top of one of the spires atop the towers and take a shot straight down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share #28 Posted August 5, 2015 No. Hell no. Did I say no. There is a tour up and across the flying bridge then up to the 87th level but I won't take it. Now for some non touristy pics for Page. The nights pub crawl and a street market/vendors for all sorts of stuff. All sorts of stuff. The gentleman drinking the tower of Carlsberg is a friend of the groom from Scotland. Our party also included a very large Tasmanian so the liquid was flowing freely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Share #29 Posted August 5, 2015 I expected bizarre things here in Malaysia, but a temple for dotman was beyond even my expectations. Only part of the water park at yesterday's mall though. I couldn't figure out why you called me out in the first photo... but it became all clear in the second one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Share #30 Posted August 5, 2015 Thread of the year maxx. Keep it goin! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Share #31 Posted August 5, 2015 Yep. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share #32 Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) I have to find a bycicle to take a pic of. I think I saw one today but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. The two wheeled transportation of choice here is a scooter or small motorcycle. Most riders are riding with a jacket on backwards as a form of poor man's leathers. It has to be the national uniform for motorcyclists here. They have the largest death toll in the world for cycle riders. They are insane in traffic. But it's 1am on the 5th here and I must get some sle Edited August 5, 2015 by maddmaxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share #33 Posted August 6, 2015 Yikes! They weren't sure what to do with the roof when they built the condo so they did this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share #34 Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) Still here, but with the wedding only one more day away we have been working in the kitchen to get ready for about 200 guests. Yesterday we did go to the restaurant where the post wedding meal will be served to those guests.I am certainly not going to lose any weight while I'm here.I may get to wander over to watch practice for the Grand Prix but at this point it's not clear that they will let me wander by myself and today everyone else is so busy. Edited August 6, 2015 by maddmaxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted August 7, 2015 Share #35 Posted August 7, 2015 This is the park across the street from the Petronas Towers. I have to give that guy credit for landing a whale with that skinny pole and fly fishing tackle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted August 7, 2015 Share #36 Posted August 7, 2015 The food looks great. Good luck with the heat and humidity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share #37 Posted August 7, 2015 And some pics from today's kitchen chaos. The top pic is the wet kitchen where grandma and at least 3 helpers have been cooking for 2 days already. On this side of the wall is the dry kitchen with the counter near the dining facility, oven, microwave/convection and various machines for coffee etc. The containers with the white tops in front are some cool Malaysian vacuum sealed containers to keep food fresh. They contain the results of mrs. maxx and my baking from this morning. The family thinks we could stay and open a shop. They eat most of it as soon as it's baked. There are at least 5 families living here at the moment. The latest just arrived from London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share #38 Posted August 7, 2015 (edited) Just as well I didn't go to the practice sessions today for the Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix. (not my pix ) Edited August 7, 2015 by maddmaxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share #39 Posted August 7, 2015 (edited) Forget my last. The rain stopped as only it can in a tropical country and we walked down to practice without any passes. This was as close as we could get. Sorry I couldn't get closer. DSCN0359.MOV Edited August 7, 2015 by maddmaxx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share #40 Posted August 8, 2015 Yes........the wedding is complete. Now the after party starts and serious vacationing can begin. My tiny little family is now numbered in the hundreds with several centuries of family tree and tradition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 8, 2015 Share #41 Posted August 8, 2015 Admit it. You were only there for the food, fast cars, and parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share #42 Posted August 8, 2015 Admit it. You were only there for the food, fast cars, and parties. Mmmmm fast cars, women and food, The very definition of vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted August 9, 2015 Share #43 Posted August 9, 2015 Got more pics?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share #44 Posted August 9, 2015 Got more pics?? Maybe. More food? A place we wandered into near the race The cone is a very thin sweet bread that you unwrap and eat bits of. The other bread is for dipping in the curry sauces. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share #45 Posted August 9, 2015 These are grown in Japan, seemingly in a square box to force the shape, and shipped here. The cube makes for a more efficient shipping package. This was a sample, but the real ones taste just like chicken. (watermelon really) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 9, 2015 Share #46 Posted August 9, 2015 These are grown in Japan, seemingly in a square box to force the shape, and shipped here. The cube makes for a more efficient shipping package. This was a sample, but the real ones taste just like chicken. (watermelon really)That's funny, we have watermelon growing in our greenhouse and my daughter heard of square melons and wants to try this. One of the videos we found of the Japanese melons said they weren't very tasty, essentially inedible, but sold for decoration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share #47 Posted August 9, 2015 (edited) That's funny, we have watermelon growing in our greenhouse and my daughter heard of square melons and wants to try this. One of the videos we found of the Japanese melons said they weren't very tasty, essentially inedible, but sold for decoration.When I saw that one I thought the same but my family assures me that they can be eaten. I've trusted them on almost everything so far and only a few items have slipped by that I wish hadn't. There was this river clam with the consistancy of a rubber band............ Edited August 9, 2015 by maddmaxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share #48 Posted August 10, 2015 OK. This vacation is becoming more about the food than anything. Today I checked off an item I have been looking for years for. I had to come all the way to Malaysia for Bangers and Mash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share #49 Posted August 11, 2015 Now for the touristy stuff. Into the Batu monkey caves: First a link for those who want to read about them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves Now some pics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share #50 Posted August 11, 2015 By the time most of you get up to read this I will be packing to leave KL. Next stop, Singapore. See you at the Marina Bay Sands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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