White Water Rafting Down the Selangor River

Thursday morning we took a bus 1 hour north of KL to a place called Kuala Kubu Bharu for an adventure filled day of white water rafter, abseiling, and zip cording. The best part was that it was for a Shell and FMC team building event for the Prelude project. In other words, we got paid to go white water rafting...definitely beats a day of sitting in the office!

After our day was lined out and our usual safety briefing and equipment distribution, we headed out in groups of 5 with our raft. Me, Kaes, Kelly, Fletcher (our Aussie friend) and a new guy from Houston, Matt, all piled in for the 7 kilometers down the Sungai Selangor (Selangor River)

Kelly and I on the bus ready to roll out

Steven Grant (Shell) and our aussie friend Steven Fletcher

Kaes' boss Lee, Matt, and Chris Felt

The Selangor river boasts grades 1-4 on a scale of rapids. They were quite scary in several places and after our 4 hour journey down the river over rocks, and luckily only capsizing once, we were left pretty exhausted.

Fletcher, Kelly, Kaes, Me, and Matt

And we're off!

Our first big rapid

We made it through that one!

Another one coming up...as you can tell by my face...

Here we go...

Camera guy caught us right before we were overboard...

We weren't so lucky on that one...all of us were thrown out of the both after it capsized

After rafting, the plan was to partake in abseiling and the flying fox. I had a near miss drowning experience, so I opted out of anymore activities for the rest of the day. Kaes stood by and took pictures while Kelly and I cheered the brave souls on.

Kelly and I enjoying a drink after a long day

Down the flying fox

Brave souls getting geared up for abseiling and the flying fox

Our chicken (a.k.a. dinner) being cooked on the "grill"

 Everyone agreed it was a great outing with Shell to continue improving and growing our close relationship with our customer. Not too bad to get paid to go white water rafting...definitely beats sitting behind a desk all day :)

Cameron Highlands - Tea Plantations & Strawberry Farms

Kaes, myself, and his parents drove 200 kms north to a place called Cameron Highlands last weekend. It took us about 4 hours to get there; 1.5 hours of it climbing in the car going 20 mph up the side of the mountain.... 

We stayed just one night at a place called Strawberry Park Resort that had an English Tudor feel to it and was perched high on a hill looking out at the dense forests surrounding the hotel.

Cameron Highlands is known for their tea plantations, honey bee farms, and strawberry farm that  are very pretty to see. The high altitude in the mountains had rainforest weather and was quite a bit cooler than what we were used to in the city of KL. 

We visited local markets, tasted local steamboat (soup with fresh vegetables and meat that you cook yourself), stopped at the BOH tea plantation, toured the town of Tanah Rata, and even got relaxing foot massages!

A few pictures of our weekend getaway are below.

Waterfall up the side of the mountain

Small cacti at a local market in Tanah Rata

Small plants at a local market in Tanah Rata

Local street market in Tanah Rata

Local street market in Tanah Rata - Rotisserie chicken Malaysian style :)

Rainforest in Cameron Highlands

Rainforest in Cameron Highlands

Acres of tea plantations in Cameron Highlands

Acres of tea plantations in Cameron Highlands

Beautiful view of the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands

Norma, Dirk and myself in front of the tea plantation - Cameron Highlands

It was a nice, relaxing getaway for the weekend with beautiful views and cool weather! 

New Year's Resolutions...and what I have learned so far....

I know this comes almost a month now after New Year's, but I figured I would go ahead and post it anyway. After much thought, I wanted to discuss my New Year's resolutions...

The typical resolution of "I'm going to lose weight this year" is always a given, but I wanted to really stick to some New Year's resolutions that were not your "ordinary" resolutions, and something to make me a better person, as well as help me enjoy our new adventure in KL.

My first one is to try and be more positive. I say this in that as some of you may know, the first month here in KL was pretty rough for us. I would say it was our hardest move yet, and we should be better at it by the 4th move (in 4 years). KL is a wonderful city with a lot to offer, but like a lot of places, it has its own challenges. People do not operate and do things the way we do in the US. That being said, I have noticed that I lose my patience a lot more than I should (and need to) I guess that ties in with another resolution of being more patient. Not only for health reasons, but being patient and explaining things that you want done in a calm manner can get you much further than losing your temper. Knowing this is one thing...doing is another. Asians in general do not respond well to blowing up and being loud or yelling at them, and customer service doesn't really exist. They pretty much freeze up do not respond at all. So, I am trying each day to be more patient, calm, and to enjoy the new culture we are living in.

My second is to do a better job of chronicling our lives overseas. I usually write up about our most recent excursion to some other foreign country, but don't do a good job of discussing what we do here on the weekends, our new friends we meet, or touring around the city in search of a new market place to get great cheap food.

I will do my best to work on my resolutions in hopes that they become more of a way of life instead of a "resolution" (especially the positive and patient part)

So what are your resolutions for the New Year???? Would love to hear what new goals you have for the new year!!!

Love and Hugs,
Kim

Happy New Year from Kuala Lumpur!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and very Happy New Year!!!

Our Christmas was spent anxiously awaiting the completion of work on our new house in KL. Christmas day was pretty quiet and we missed being home with family and friends, but were invited to spend Christmas dinner with some friends. Traditional dinner of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, dressing, and more desserts than you can imagine, made the day seem like we were at home.

After moving to KL almost two months earlier, we finally got to move in! The movers delivered and help unload all of our goods, and the feeling of sleeping back in our own bed was indescribable. Oh how we had missed it so much!

The pups were excited to explore their new yard and Jaek couldn't wait to jump into the refreshing pool to cool off. He loves to swim!

I have been travelling for the past 6 weeks to Singapore during the week and come home on the weekends. I have to say I am definitely ready to finally stay home and enjoy our home (as well as finish organizing and unpacking the rest of the boxes!!!) The house is in livable order, but needs a bit more attention in the office area and bedrooms. Unfortunately, our office desk top (made of glass) was shattered in the move, so we are waiting until a new desk comes in. Hopefully we will be able to get the office all sorted and looking more organized after, but for now, our makeshift desk will have to do.

Below are a few pictures (minus the photos of unfinished rooms) of the kitchen, dining, living room, lounge, and pool area.

The lounge area looking out to the patio and pool

The dining room looking out to the outdoor breakfast area and kitchen

The dry kitchen area

One of our first priorities to get the BBQ pit, smoker, patio furniture and pool area ready to have a pool party. We both worked very hard and were able to celebrate New Year's Day smoking some delicious pork ribs and grilling on the BBQ while sitting by the pool with friends. It was a great way to start out the New Year.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!! xoxo

The de Jong Family has relocated!

After spending 2 1/2 years in the beautiful city of Perth, it was time for us to make another move, this time to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We were fortunate that even under the circumstances of a last minute trip to Houston, the move went as well as it could have. Moving {especially internationally} with your house packed up and not having your goods for 2-3 months is never an easy task.

The dogs and I moved over and they went straight into quarantine. Luckily, they will only be in for 10 days, so it isn't terrible {originally there was no quarantine, but the Hendra virus set us back}. We are currently in a temporary apartment while I house hunt to find a permanent place. I am hopeful we will find our new home quickly so we can start to get settled.

Kaes and I {as well as the pups} enjoyed our time in Perth with the great weather and beautiful beaches, but are very excited to explore Malaysia and more of SE Asia. Leaving behind such great friends is always a struggle with each place we leave, but we are excited about new adventures to come!

It's Official - We are Moving!!!

Well the time has come once again for us to relocate to our next position. Our company has been very good to us over the past 3.5 years with new and exciting places to live and amazing opportunities for both of us. We have known about this potential move since June, but it was just finalized a few weeks ago, and Kaes' announcement was published to the region this week.

We will be relocated to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. KL is just a short 3.5 hour drive to Singapore and on the Malaysia mainland that is bordered by Thailand to the north, and Singapore and Indonesia to the south. For those of that are unsure of where it is located, see the map below.

{click map for larger view}

Our very first overseas location was in Malaysia, but on the eastern side of the country in Miri, on the island of Borneo and close to the border of Brunei. I have pinpointed each location {A - KL and B - Miri} to see the distance between each city. 2.5 hours by flight separates the two from each other; similar to the distance between Houston and Denver.

Kaes officially starts his new position on October 1, which is a 2-year assignment, but it will take us a bit longer to relocate. Currently, there is a ban on importing horses and domestic animals from Australia to Malaysia {this is very unusual due to the strict quarantine process in Australia} due to the deadly Hendra virus {transmitted by fruit bats} that has killed 20 horses, a dog, and has infected humans. The ban on livestock and goats was just lifted a few weeks ago as they are the biggest exports for Australia and where Malaysia gets its main source of meat. Unfortunately, the virus is on the eastern side of Australia, over 2,000 miles away, but Malaysia is taking all precautions to ensure it is not transmitted to Malaysia.

What that means for us is a waiting game...the dogs and I will stay in Perth until the ban is lifted and Kaes will travel back and forth to KL. Hopefully the Malaysia and Australian governments can sort the issue quickly so this does not turn into a lengthy process. Once we get the green light, it will take 6 weeks by sea for all of our furniture to be transported from Perth to KL. I cannot say that I am ever excited to be packed up, wait for what seems like forever to finally get to sleep in your own bed again, then have to unpack and organize everything...it is quite the daunting task...

Perth's beautiful summer is quickly approaching, so I can't say that I am complaining {too} much!! It will be bittersweet to leave the beautiful beaches, river, and amazing weather that makes Perth such an enjoyable place, as well has the many friends that we have met, but we are excited about new opportunities in Malaysia as well as being closer to quick getaways in SE Asia.

Stay tuned for updates and pictures of our new city and home!!!

Mabul, Sipadan, and Kepalai

Hotel: Seafest Hotel
Price: $ 30 USD/night inclusive of breakfast for 2
Duration: 6 days/5 nights
Transportation: Walking 5 mins. to Scuba Junkie, then diving!

Kaes and I took a trip to the islands of Mabul, Sipadan, and Kepalai to dive and get our Advanced Open Water Dive Certification. Sipadan is one of the top dive destinations in the world.

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 2,000 feet or 600m from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.

Normally rare diving scenes are frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan: schools of greenback turtles and hawksbill turtles nesting and mating, schools of barracuda & big-eye trevally in tornado-like formations, pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks.

A mysterious turtle tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that have become lost and drown before finding the surface.

Langkawi with Rob and Teri

Kim and I were going to meet our friends Rob and Teri from Houston for a nice Thai weekend in Phuket but things didn't quite work out like we planned. Anti-government protests closed the Phuket airport for 3 days and we went to Langkawi, Malaysia instead. We had a lot of fun, weather was nice during the days, and it was great having good friends visiting.

Mulu National Park - Sabah, Malaysia

We went to Mulu National Park this weekend and walked around in the largest cave in the world. We watched 2+ Million bats leave the cave at dusk in search of foods. Surprisingly, we didnt get bitten by one mosquito or bug even though we were walking around in a rain forest - must be the bats! The last thing we did before leaving was a canopy walk across the top of the forest which is quite amazing.

Scuba in Miri 02AUG08

Kim and I went diving last weekend. We visited a ship wreck and sunken oil platform. Visibility the whole day was very bad with the ship wreck being the worst. We saw a lot of bat fish (1st pic), lion fish (2nd), and some colorful plants.

Trip to Kota Kinabalu

Kaes, Dayna, Alio, and I all went to Kota Kinabalu this past weekend. The first full day we went up to Poring Springs. It has the largest waterfall (100m) in southeast Asia. We were not able to climb to the large waterfall due to bad weather, but were able to still see a very pretty waterfall and had a great time climbing through the rainforest. On Sunday we headed to the beach. The beautiful beach and mountains in the background sure made it a picturesque place. We will post pictures soon but here is one from the island we visited on Sunday.