Adventure Time with Keri!

So when Bee and I get together, we go crazy. Like…crazier than normal. And we’re super weird. Not that we aren’t already…but it magnifies our weirdness. I feel sorry for her parents. Haha. 

We left early in the morning for the flight to Bee’s house. Now, let me preface this.  The only thing I ever want to do there is eat and hang out with her. No lie. Mainly b/c there’s not much to do here in the first place. Sure, there are touristy things to do here, but we’ve done them millions of times. So, this trip was ALL about eating…and sleeping…and, of course, hanging out with my beloved cousin. That's kind of what the title means...it roughly translates to: Eat, Sleep, Poop. Which is pretty much all we did all wee. Haaaaaaa.

Also, I’m went another week without luggage b/c my other cousin's house is half an hour away from the airport in the other direction and then we’d be late for flight, etc. So I borrowed my Auntie Beth’s clothes b/c we’re about the same size. Win. 

*Side note: Not having my luggage taught me not only to not take things for granted, but also the fact that I don't need so much stuff. When I finally got my luggage back the other day, I opened it up and was overwhelmed by everything that was in there. I didn't know where to look and gave up. Haha.*

We got to the airport and checked in and decided to have maggi there since we were super early and had nothing better to do.  It was a small plane and short ride so we were there in a jiffy. So short in fact that the ppl traveling to the next city never got off the plane. Lol. 

We went to get lunch with all the aunties at a Korean restaurant a few hours later. These are my Auntie Mei-Mei’s friends and are all super cool…therefore I got lots of ang pau. It was like a game the way everyone was trading the envelopes. Tradition states that if you’re married you must give to the unmarried (another reason not to get married!!!!) so since Bee is newly married, it’s her first time having to give out ang pao and she was super sad. Hahaha. But they’re all good sports and give each other ang pao for fun anyway. It was hilarious!! After we ate lots of food we went to a nearby kedai kopi and had MORE food. Actually it was just red bean bread and the aunties had coffee. Lol. But still, I was super full and had a hard time eating it even though the red bean here is famous.  We went back to the house to hang out with my Uncle John. He’s addicted to online poker. It’s so funny!

That night we were invited by my other uncle to go have dinner at this seafood restaurant that we’ve always gone to as little kids. I have so many childhood memories in this town so please bear with me as I reminisce. At this restaurant they have all the tanks of fish out so can see them and back in the day we used to be able to use nets to catch them (or at least I think that was the place…). They also used to have this bear in a cage and it was so sad and we always wanted to let him out. Lol. It was nice to catch up with and to be able to see my Uncle James, Auntie Kathy, and my cousin Yien again b/c it’s been so long since the last time I saw them. 

When we got back to the house Auntie Mei Mei gave me a cup of the sweetest coconut juice I’ve ever had. She had just bought three young coconuts that morning when she went to fetch us from the airport. It was SO good!

The next morning we had breakfast at a restaurant-like house in the depths of the kampong. It’s kinda sketch if you were to go there for the first time. Haha. We had a sea side view and I had some amazing kari laksa. 

After that we dropped by the yacht club. YuBee, Jeremy, Vivian, Derek, and I have TONS of childhood memories here b/c  during the day we’d go swimming there (while Bee was at school…haha) and then at night we’d go there and play all night in the arcades and get snacks and drinks at the bar. I remember going back to our parents so many times begging them to give us coins to play the games and then Viv and Bee would sign their dads’ names on the bill to put it on their tab for the snacks and drinks. Ahhh…good times. 

After that we went to visit the temple on top of a mountain. I’ve always seen it but never had a chance to go in. So it was cool to be able to see the inside at last!

We called my mommy on the home phone and then I got to video chat with her on Tango. Btw, if anyone wants to text me while I’m out of the country, make sure you get either: wechat, tango, or whatsapp and add me!!

So since it was still Chinese New Year (at the time of this writing) I got to try all the CNY goodies. It is tradition to have tons of special snacks and goodies placed on the coffee table to entertain the myriads of guest that comes by to visit during this time. Yummm. =)

It was FINALLY lunch time. Why was I so excited? B/c I FINALLY got to eat amazing Gai fan/nasi ayam/chicken rice. I’ve waited three years to eat this again! I don’t usually like to eat chicken, but it was so worth it. 

After our delicious meal of gai fan we went across the street to visit the open pasar to get a few groceries.

Then we went home and Uncle John goes, “Computer time! Everyone go update your FB!” Hahahahaha. We all updated our instagrams instead. Hahaha.

After taking my third shower of the day (I’m not used to having to take like five showers a day b/c of the humidity) we went to walk around the pasar malam (got hit on by a bunch of boys =.=) and bought some snacks like potato wheel and Taiwanese chicken. 

For dinner we crossed the street to get murtabak AKA roti canai and roti telur. I love watching them make it. It’s like an art. It was so goooooood and cheap. That’s what I love about the food here. It’s good and cheap. Actually more like amazing and cheap. 

After we chilled at the house (or sweated to death depending on how you look at it), I got ready for bed (and watched Transformers…I was so confused b/c we started watching it in the middle) and then we decided to go back to the pasar malam just for kicks and giggles and then went to the mile 4 pasar for chicken wings…just for the heck of it. Haha. I love going to the mile 4 pasar b/c it’s big and open and crowded and noisy and dirty and the food is so much more delicious because of it. I have fond memories of going there early in the morning with Bee and her parents for breakfast before we dropped her off at school. I now have many fond memories of us going late at night for a snack just because we can. Haha. 

 I was dead tired by this time and all of a sudden fireworks started going off behind the house (b/c it was the eve of Chap Goh Meh, the last day of CNY) Every time Bee went to take a picture, it would stop. Hahah, she was getting so frustrated. Then like clockwork a big storm came and squelched any other ideas of any more fireworks and I was able to sleep. It actually rained a lot that night and the wind was so big. 

The next morning was Chap Goh Meh, the 15^th and last day of CNY. Apparently it’s tradition to eat only vegetarian food on the first and last day of Chinese New Year. So that is what we did. For breakfast we ate at an all veggie restaurant and it was so good. They had amazing satay that was made from mushroom stems. I would go back there just for that it was so good.

*Side note: I’ve had so much good fruit here, esp guava. Additionally it has been raining like crazy here.*

We went back to the same restaurant as this morning for lunch b/c the other store we wanted to go to was closed on Sunday. Poo. We visited another temple after lunch and Auntie Mei Mei gave us ang pau or danah (donation) to give to the temple. 

It was raining like crazy still so we pretty much just hung out at the house.  This is how Bee passes her time:

I think the only exciting thing that happened during that time was that the Lion dance troupe came around and I got to give them ang pao and took a picture with them...it was quite exciting for me, ok? Hahaha. 

We went to visit Auntie Eliza (and got to meet her parents) who lives down the road and got to see their new house. It’s definitely different than the old house I used to go to, to spend the night with Vivian and Derek, but it’s super nice. We got to talking about passports, life, and just caught up with each other. Uncle Steve pulled up just as we were leaving and was super surprised to see me. Haha. I always appear out of thin air. 

So there’s this one restaurant below this hotel that we always go to b/c it’s a really good Chinese restaurant. It was super crowded b/c of Chap Goh Meh, but thankfully we made reservations (and pre-ordered our meal). We ate so much good food. And yes, it was all vegetarian. Score for being all veggie today!

There were more fireworks that night since it was the last day of the New Year and YuBee failed once again at taking pictures of it until the very last one. Hahaha. There’s STILL fireworks going off around the neighborhood as I write this.

To be continued.....