Where are the Kuala's?: I heart KL

This blog will just be a few ramblings about our November and some of December, I'll try and make it short and sweet :)

After Cambodia the first weekend of November we got on with the rest of the month. I went on a walking tour of Little India put on by the American Association. The walking tour of Chinatown they put on in January was WAY better. I wasn't to thrilled with the way this turned out. We didn't even go into the main part of Little India. We started at Merdeka Square and heard some city history and walked a little bit and heard some more city history. We walked some more to this place called the The Colosseum, it's a movie theater and a restaurant and I believe she said it was the first building in KL with AC, that's nice and all but has nothing to do with Little India. The point of this walking tour (I thought) was to hear about some Indian culture since Deepavali was coming up, since it's a big Indian holiday. But, we got no culture, so I was a little disappointed.

Deepavali (also: Depawali, Dipavali, Dewali, Diwali, Divali, Dipotsavi, Dipapratipad ) marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year according to the Lunar Calendar. It literally translated means 'Row of Lights' (from Sanskrit: dipa = lamp / awali = row, line). It celebrates the victory of Goodness over Evil and Light over Darkness - it ushers in the new year.

To get to our lunch spot we walked through a bit of the backside of Little India, went into a Saree shop to see a demonstration of how the women wrap themselves in the Saree's, then onto lunch. All lunch consisted of was a bowl of rice with a piece of chicken in it, and it was super spicy, I had one bite and couldn't eat anymore. Not a good tour, but I got out for the day with some friends, which was nice. I also rode the metro underground by myself for the first time, woohoo!

I also had my first day of subbing at the international school down the street from me. It was really nice. The school is nice and the kids are great. I had a 4th grade class. It felt good to work again (not saying I want anything full-time, don't be silly), but it was nice to get up and go work for a day doing something that I really enjoy. I also had two days in the first week of December for a 5th grade class, same one both days. That one was really easy because they had a music concert they were preparing for, so lots of rehearsal. Fun though! Can't wait for school to start back up next week and I can hopefully get some calls to go in!

Eric and I attended a Bollywood Ball put on by the British Association in town. It was nice, in a party room of some Indian restaurant at a hotel. We had fun with our friends all dressed up. They had dancers put on a show, some Indian dancing and they did a dance to Gangam Style, and then they played Gangam Style about 3 other times in the night and they also played every Pitbull song, it was crazy, and a little annoying, but we still had fun. The food was tasty too!

Next big event...Thanksgiving! We had it at our place, as we were the only Americans at our Thanksgiving :) Scott, Chantal, Ashley, Dave and Leah (all Canadians) and Jaime and her mom (Scottish). I cooked a turkey, which aren't cheap over here, it cost about $50 for a 12lb turkey! Insane! I also made a sweet potato casserole, that came out awesome, some stuffing, and an Oreo pudding pie. Everyone brought something and we had a really nice Thanksgiving, it was good to spend it with friends. Eric and I also went to another Thanksgiving on that Sunday at some American friends house. They made smoked chicken, which was delicious!

That same weekend we attended an Indian Wedding Reception. Only family attends the ceremony that was held the day before and about 800 people were invited to the reception. They rented out a hall and it was decorated, there were two stages, one for the couple and one for dancers. There were a crap ton of tables for all the people, we were at the Cameron work table in the back. (it was one of Eric's co-workers that got married) They had some dancers come out and do some traditional dancing before the bride and groom came in. They were announced and preceded by drummers who went to one stage while the bride and groom went to the other stage. They turned out most of the lights just before dinner and had some lady lead the couple to their chair and I'm guessing she blessed their meal of something, which was kinda cool to see and then everyone was allowed to eat. Food was good, we watched some more dancing that went on during dinner, said hello to the bride and groom and then took off. After we left we headed to Changkat street to meet some friends for a drink in our Indian dress, we got a few stares walking down the street there, lol :)

At the end of November, I finally got my birthday lunch with the girls! The stars aligned I guess and we were able to make it happen. It was a really nice lunch at a place called Shook, and they have different themed set menus that are tasty! Thanks again ladies, I loved it!

That weekend we all went out and celebrated Leah's birthday at Sky Bar. Eric was out of town, so I went solo and left early when a couple of them went to Zeta bar next. Turns out though that JLo showed up at this bar, as she was in town for her concert the next night, and was hanging out and then when the house band went off stage a little after 2am she went on stage and did a song or two! That would have been fun, but not sure if I had gone to Zeta bar that I would have stayed that late, and then I would have been more pissed that I didn't hang out long enough there to see her, so it worked out I think.

The next day was the Canadian Christmas family lunch. We were invited because Chantal, first VP of Canadian Association, asked Eric to play Santa! He agreed and we went. It was a very nice lunch, fabulous food and a good time. I helped Eric get changed and walked in behind him with some of the presents when it was time. We heard from other people that when he first walked into the room his eyes got really wide and he was freaked out for a minute when all the kids rushed him, lol. Once he got to his seat and the presents were brought in and the kids seated he calmed down and was able to play a great Santa! Everyone said he did a very nice job :)

Christmas was spent in Krabi, Thailand with friends, but more on that in another blog...

New Years Eve...what a year. We ended it at a party in the building next to ours with friends. They rented out one of their banquet rooms that has the same view of the city we do, so it's a nice one ;) and we got to hang with all our friends and we really enjoyed the night. Eric wore his crazy blue suit and all the Scottish guys we knew wore their kilts, lots of dressed up ladies (I went for comfort in shorts and flip flops!), good food, a champagne toast at midnight along with several firework displays going off all over the city. A beautiful sight to see. What a way to end this incredible year that we have had.