Jon, Nic and Tatum got in at 1.30. That would be am, folks. Add an hour’s drive home from the airport put us in bed around 3 am. I was more than a trifle surprised to seem them up at 9, but not unhappy, as is has been a long three years out here without family company. Although we have had the occasional friend visit us in KL, it has been quite a dry spell since that happened as well.

I had bought a good variety of fruit (although I unaccountably ‘lost’ a plate of it for a while, unitil I discovered it had turned turtle and disappeared into the door tray), and with some scrambled eggs and green tea had a decent breakfast. Then it was off to the Batu Caves, as the the Hindu shrine on the north edge of town is called. The drive out was uneventful, although we had to restrain Nicole from stopping off at the Ikea store. The three of them went up the 292 steps while I conserved my strength and plotted out a route back into the city.We do not own a car and rent one only on special occasions. Driving is problematic at best in this convoluted metropolis, and my scant knowledge of city roads and traffic patterns has got us into trouble on more than one occasion. Fortunately, Nic was up to the navigational challenge, and we made it to the Twin Towers parking lot unerringly.

Once there the girls went off to explore while Jon and I sat in the Dome coffee shop that overlooks the park, one of my favourite spots in KL. It was nice to get a little bit caught up on Jon’s life. He has been on quite an adventure over the last few years, to say the least. Then we hoofed it over to the Pavilion and took in the upscale stores and the tacky mall display that you see pictured here.

Having done the local downscale mall BB Plaza, and the high tech mall, Low Yat, we ended up at Berjaya Times Square, with its 1,000 stores and 3.5 million square feet of retail space. Jon and Tatum took a ride on the corkscrew roller coaster inside the mall, while Nic and I opted to take pictures. A cab took us up to Thean Hou (Heavenly Mother) Temple overlooking the city, one of the largest Taoist temples in Southeast Asia. The cabbie waited while we snapped some pictures, and then drove us down into Brickfields, the Indian quarter where we got dosai, butter naan and tandoori chicken for ten bucks for the four of us. I am going to miss Asian cooking when we have to leave Malaysia!

A quick ride on the LRT got us back to the park at KLCC where we had a strawberry smoothie and a couple of Shirley Temples at the Trader’s Skybar overlooking the Twin Towers as the lights came on. Those of you who have been to this spot know how magical that is. We found Jalan Tun Razak without any trouble, and caught the Smart Tunnel out of the core (an underground route that serves as an expressway and doubles as a storm drainage system in the monsoon season). We were home in time for Jon and Nic to do some planning for Cambodia and get themselves packed, including a suitcase full of vitamin supplements for a health clinic in Phnom Penh.

We were all up at 3 the next morning to drive to the airport to catch the 7 am plane to Siem Reap. They got themselves checked through in time for one last chai tea latte, this time at the Coffee Bean at the airport. I don’t know how the three of them are managing, but it is only 6 pm as I blog this, and I am ready for bed already; and they’ve got jetlag and strange new food and water to contend with. But for all the driving and walking we did, it was a wonderful day, one that I will treasure for a long time to come. Thank you Lord for a family visit to cheer my lonesome heart.