Malaysia Diaries May 2019: Last Few Days

It's very comforting living so close to all my extended family members; even if only for a couple weeks.  There's big family dinners and lots of socialization.  Sometimes it's exhausting keeping up with everyone's lives, but it's even harder when you live a 21 hour plane ride away.

When I was younger, I used to come to the Garden with my sister and Kong Kong.  We would spend hours in the park.  I felt very nostalgic visiting it this time around even if it was only for a short stroll.

At my uncle's wedding, I ran into one of his friends who went hiking with me in Cameron Highlands 6 years ago.  We managed to squeeze in one last hike at Ketumbar Hill before I got on the plane the next day.  It was great hike, but I am definitely not as fit as my former 13 year old self.  At least there were wild boar and monkeys at the top of the hill!

This fella loved me giving him a good ol' back scratch that he actually laid down haha.  He must have been really enjoying himself.  Glad I could be of service :)

Dinner at LK Soup House two nights in a row.

 Delicious Japanese cheesecake!

One last picture at the airport.

Now I've moved into my new place in Peterborough.  Here's to the rest of summer!

P.S. I miss you, Kong Kong.

Malaysia Diaries May 2019: Cameron Highlands

Next up, we drove 5 hours from Awana to Cameron Highlands to visit my moms friend Poh Fang.  This was my second time in Cameron Highlands, the last time (in 2013) I went on a hiking trip with my uncle and his friends.

We arrived in evening, just in time for the Pasar Malam and dinner straight after!

The next morning, after a delicious and huge breakfast at Poh Fang's family store we set out to BOH's  Tea Plantation and Mosey Forest.

Albeit the gorgeous views, BOH is really a tourist company selling well marketed mediocre teas.  It's free to walk around, but I wouldn't say purchasing any of their teas is a must.

Needless to say, it was a great trip with incredible plants I'd never seen before!

Thanks Poh Fang for letting us ride the back of your pickup truck!

Malaysia Diaries May 2019: Awana and Janda Baik

I'm finally writing about the real reason we came to Malaysia.  My uncle's wedding!  Of course all the pictures I managed to take were of the trees and my Kong Kong "hitting the whoa".  So all the fancy wedding pictures were taken from Facebook including the ones taken by WYK Catering.

The wedding location was in the gorgeous tourist destination of Genting Highlands.  More specifically in Puncak Dani Genting Highlands AirBnB in Awana.

This was the first wedding I ever attended.  Prior to coming, I kept pestering my mom about what to expect.  Is it the same as western weddings (one I'm more familiar with)?  Is the attire different?  But she wasn't too sure herself albeit her wedding 20 years ago.

In the end, the wedding was a mix of western Christian and Chinese traditions.

The next day, we headed next door to a resort where my great-aunt was staying and ate lunch.  Then my mom, sister, and I were back on the road to Janda Baik to visit her university friends: Yen Yen, Pauline, and Mayine.

We stayed one night in a chalet, ate steam boat for dinner, walked across a river, and pretended to climb a coconut tree.

I had a lot of fun meeting her friends and seeing the similarities between her friends and mine.  They're all so different and yet they have stayed friends for over 20 years.  It's incredible and I hope the same for my best friends Dana and Serenity.