City Life for Christmas

We spent the last few days enjoying the city and spending time with Bubba and Yaya before they left for Bangkok. We went with Yaya to the KL Central Market, where we enjoyed some local food and merchants and strolled through Chinatown.

Tilly really wanted to let the fish nibble her toes at the Central Market so Yaya and I said we would do it with her. I remembered seeing the same booth when we were at the market 5 years ago but when I saw the fish I had second thoughts. They were waaaay bigger than they were before, I guess they are the same fish 5 years bigger! It is supposed to be great for your circulation and foot health, and they say the fish are toothless, but it feels like they are biting your feet and ankles. We could not stop laughing the whole 15 minutes!

On Christmas eve the kids were so excited that Christmas would happen a whole day earlier than back home. One of our traditions is to follow Santa's progress on the Santa Tracker so it was really fun to show them how much closer Santa was to Malaysia than Washington before they went to bed.

And in the morning they were thrilled that Santa found them! Tilly wrote Santa a note explaining that they were 'only allowed to receive one present and that she really wanted a Seahawks jersey' and that she decorated the tree all by herself. Santa delivered!

After breakfast we all headed downtown for the aquarium and to see the sights of the city.

The aquarium was super busy, but fun. We had been there on Christmas Day 5 years ago and did not remember it being as busy as it was this time but it was still worth it. They have a conveyer belt that you ride through an aquarium tunnel so it feels like you are underwater. And we were there during sting ray feeding time, which was really cool. Even Scuba Santa made an appearance!

Outside of the aquarium we got a great view of the Patronas Towers.

We met up with Bubba and Yaya and checked out the crazy scene at the mall on Christmas Day. Unlike malls at home, these are all open, and even busier than on a normal day of the year. The holiday displays and festivities are really over the top, which I find so interesting in a mostly Muslim country. We had to fight crowds of people just to catch a glimpse of Santa, and enjoyed the rest of the scene from above. I even caught a bunch of Mrs. Clauses performing a choreographed routine to Christmas music.

Just a typical scene at the mall's valet parking area - a couple Ferraris and a Lamborghini. I guess orange really is the new black?

When we got home we were getting the kids ready for bed and a huge thunderstorm rolled in. There have been a couple small storms while we have been here but this one was really big and close. After one particularly loud thunder crash the phone would not quit ringing! We actually had to unplug it. Tilly and I braved the deck for a while to experience the thunder and lightening close up.

We are enjoying our stay in the city, but since Bubba and Yaya headed to Bangkok, and the weather has been increasingly rainy, we decided to make one final trip to Thailand before our adventure ends. We found last minute tickets back to Krabi, so are off again tomorrow. We are all excited to get back to the beach!