the distracted life: 2023

Malaysia is only a four hour flight away so it is a little embarrassing that we had never been before. But when we learned that Penang has that longest tube water slide and the one of the best canopy walks in the world, we decided to make it our next trip. Plus the longest zip coaster (zip line/roller coaster—it’s a thing) in the world, the steepest funicular in Asia, and an amazing food scene! Yes, please!

We flew into Kuala Lumpur and can I just say--having an international flight that is not a red-eye is bliss! Which meant that when we had our 24-hour stay in Kuala Lumpur we were awake enough to enjoy it.

One of the best things about KL? All the intersecting tunnels between buildings so you don't have to go out in the heat and humidity. From our hotel we could walk to most of the major tourist sites without having to go outside for an appreciable amount of time. We went to church and then went to see all the things.

We didn't get tickets in time to go up the towers, but we got to see them!

We went to the aquarium--which was only ok--and then it was time to get food, grab our luggage, and go to the airport for a one-hour flight on a little plane to Penang.

The next morning we began to enjoy Penang! Our hotel was right on the beach and had a great pool/water slide/splash pad situation that we couldn't wait to try out.

I swear we didn't plan this pose

There was an apom balik stand (we hadn't heard of them before this trip either) just down the road from our hotel that we stopped at no less than three times. They're like small, sweet or savory filled dosa tacos. Also--why hasn't India gotten on board with sweet-filled dosas? It seems like a no-brainer.

And it was fun to see the monkeys gathered on the power lines from our hotel hallway.

The next day we went to Escape Penang! We got in line for the zip coaster first thing, but there was already a wait. Brandon was able to get on before the rest of us, but then called as soon as he finished. CJ was a little hesitant about doing it and he thought she would hate it: too high with too many jerky turns. So she and I took the chair lift back down while H and E stayed in line. We didn't have to wait too long before they made it down on the ride. They had a good time, but no one wanted to do it a second time.

The rest of the day we spent at the water park side of things. My favorite was the longest tube water slide: sliding through the jungle canopy, turning corners and seeing monkeys drink from the slide--it was a blast!

The water park was for the kids (and Brandon), but the tree walk was for me! The next day we went to Penang Hill, took the steepest funicular in Asia to get to the top, walked through the trees, and enjoyed the views of the city. But no pictures will do justice to just how high up we were.

Our time at Penang was almost up, but before we went to the airport, we went into Georgetown. After lunch, we walked to Fort Cornwallis which, aside from the free water bottle that came with the ticket, was a bit of a letdown. I mean, they wouldn't even let us walk on the walls.

We walked around the old town and headed toward Pinang Peranakan Mansion.

After that, it was time to head to the airport for one last stop: Bangkok!

Gotta try any new snickers you can

Airport dinner

The Bangkok Temple had been dedicated just a couple months before--our new closest temple!-- so since we had to fly through Bangkok anyway, we decided to take a couple days to go to the temple. Brandon went first with the older kids first thing in the morning.

After their uber getting stuck in traffic on the way there,

they opted to take a tuk tuk on the way back to the hotel

Then we went to the one temple in Bangkok that I regretted not seeing the last time we visited Bangkok: Wat Arun. But first we walked through Lumphini Park to see the monitor lizards on our way to get lunch at Coco Ichibanya. After getting out of the subway and walking the wrong way for a bit, we hailed a tuk tuk to get to Wat Arun.

And Wat Arun was just so cool! It was hot and crowded, but it was totally worth it.

We took a ferry back across the river and walked back to our hotel. After dinner, Brandon and I walked to the temple, which meant we could enjoy this random zebra display on the walk home.

The next morning we had breakfast with our friends, the Robinaughs, who served in our mission in BLR before being transferred out to Thailand.

We spent the rest of the day at Wat Mahathat, which was a random spot--we don't know anyone who's been there--but was the highlight of the trip. This place was awesome!