Wasting Away in the Maldives...

This is actually a pretty current post...Jeff and I have trouble finding time to take vacation with our current work schedules. Jeff is traveling all over Asia, for business, a large portion of the time and when he has a few weeks break from the travel, it's a bit difficult to convince him to get on a plane and stay in a hotel, even if it is for a holiday. I did a lot of advance planning and we finally agreed to take a week vacation to the Maldives. We had heard wonderful things about it and it was on my list of "Must Go" places. We are very fortunate to only be a 4 hour non-stop flight from the Maldives, one of the perks of living in Asia. Another perk, is the possibility of finding cheap flights there. I did a lot of searching trying to find the lowest fare and was not having any luck, and then one day, a miracle...I logged onto Malaysia Airlines and they had a promotion...2 Round Trip tickets for under 200 USD total. I was sold, I immediately booked the flights and found a hotel and arranged our trip for August. When I told Jeff the price of the flights, he didn't mind traveling to such a beautiful place during his time off. We love snorkeling and chose our resort, Kurumba, because of the proximity of good snorkeling. We like to choose a resort that has good snorkeling on site so there is no need for additional excursions for snorkeling. We like the flexibility to be able to choose when we want to snorkel and where, and Kurumba was great for this! If you ever have a chance to visit the Maldives, take it. It is a truly wonderful place.   




View from our room right before the storm



These little guys are very friendly and like their picture taken

I was dying to see a turtle in the wild and we did! It's a little blurry because it had been raining earlier this day.

Jeff loves sharks...and he likes to chase them too



Crystal Clear Water



Looks guys! Jeff is in the water and the sun is shining! Thank goodness for 110 SPF

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

Back in February we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and travel to Hong Kong to experience our first Chinese New Year in Asia. It was an experience! We arrived on a Friday and the main celebrations would start on Sunday-Tuesday, so we were able to fit in some sights as well. We visited the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, we also visited the Lunar New Year Fair and Flower Market (which was a madhouse!). We stood by the roadside with THOUSANDS of others watching the Chinese New Year Parade and did a riverboat dinner cruise to watch the fireworks celebration over Victoria Harbour. 

On our way up to see the Big Buddha

At the Lunar New Year Fair and Flower Market

Mandarin oranges and tangerines are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune

Chinese New Year Parade = Massive Amounts of People!!

Victoria Peak

  

It was cold, cloudy and rainy the first few days, but started to clear up

 

Victoria Harbour Fireworks



Home for Christmas!!...8 months later

I know I am about 8 months late on this post, but I thought I would share some pictures from our trip back home.

After being so far away from our families for over 6 months, Jeff and I were thrilled to take our home leave and head back to the US for some food, family and friends for the Christmas Holidays. On our way back to the US, we also stopped in Dubai for a few days.

While the food in Malaysia is great, we will always hold Tex-Mex and BBQ very close to our hearts, so we made sure to get our fix! We spent a few weeks in Texas visiting Jeff's family in Ft. Worth and my family in Beaumont. We also got to spend time with some close friends and loved catching up. We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and miss them dearly. We are lucky enough to be able to text and Skpye regularly with friends and family back home, which makes living on the other side of the world a little easier. On Christmas Day, it snowed in Ft. Worth and we loved being able to experience the cooler weather. In KL, there is no change in temperature, its hot and humid most all the time, which we have gotten used to, but we enjoyed the cooler weather in Texas while we could. We are already looking forward to making the trip back this year



Walking on the Beach in Dubai



At the Christmas Program with Bailey



Tacky Sweater Party with the Owens'



Snow on Christmas Day! A perfect ending to our trip.

  

Just a nice surprise when we returned home :)



Emily Comes to KL!!!!

I was so excited when my friend Emily, from Chevron and Tech, told me that she was planning a trip to Asia. She was planning on visiting Cambodia, Bangkok, Langkawi and finally KL. She is our first visitor here and loved having her, Christine and Roy here. Everyone arrived on Friday and left on Sunday, so it was a quick trip, but we had a great time! We went to Merdeka Square and Petaling Steet (ChinaTown). It was a hot day, like most days in KL, and we decided to stop at a 7-11 and grab a drink to cool off. When we got to the door, we realized they were not Texas Tech friendly (see the picture below), so we decided to purchase our drinks elsewhere :) While in ChinaTown, we visited the oldest and richest Hindu Temple in KL. Jeff and I had been by before, but never gone inside as you have to remove your shoes. This is a little tramatizing for me, but I did it this time...and the bottom of my feet were black when we got home. At least I can feel comfortable knowing that my hesitation wasn't for nothing, the ground is dirty...this is Asia. That night we went and enjoyed delicious Indian Food and on our way home stopped to take a few pics of the Petronas Twin Towers at night. It was a little hazy this night, but you get the idea. Thanks again to Emily, Christine and Roy for coming to visit! We loved hosting yall!

Jeff thought this was great...I did not :(

View from inside the Hindu Temple in ChinaTown

View of the Petronas Twin Towers at night