Epic family visit from the UK

 

When Pearly, my second sister, and her daughter, Melanie, decided that they wished to make another trip to Malaysia, their plans for a trip from UK to Asia was discussed months ago.

 

Pearly [Left] with her family in the train
on their visit to the city, Kuala Lumpur

Pearly, who made a home in the UK, have made numerous trips with and without her family over the years, to visit us in Johor.

 

Her most recent trip was in December 2022 when she travelled alone to witness the book launch of My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the final instalment that completed the trilogy of My Johor Stories books.

 

As Pearly considered their travel dates and itinerary, she realized that August 2024 coincided with the 10th wedding anniversary of her son, Jamie, who married Kimberly in 2014, an event which my siblings and I witnessed in the UK.

 

Pearly [Left] and Melanie [Right] with the
grandkids, Jamieson and Thea
at the hotel pool, Singapore

Since his first visit when Jamie was just an infant of three months old, he visited us again as a toddler. In their teenage years, we shared time with them on our visits to the UK but for me, the most memorable adventures we shared was when he and his sister were here in 2009, for the first time, without their parents.

 

Their time with us as young adults gave this Aunty the opportunity to share with them, some unforgettable experiences in a travel itinerary that peaked at Gopeng with a wet and wild ride in a white-water rafting adventure on the Kampar River.

 

Cousins together again: Then and Now,
Jamie holding Amanda with Melanie [Right]
My sister thought that Jamie and Kimberly’s 10th wedding anniversary was an excellent milestone for them to embark on an epic trip to Asia and for the family to make new memories together with relatives and friends here.

 

Pearly then initiated further discussions with her family about the travel plans that would match with her two grandkids, Thea and Jamieson, aged five and eight.

 

Over the next few weeks, they were able to flesh out an itinerary that worked with arrival and departure through Singapore and destinations that spanned from Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Gandah, back via Melaka and to Desaru in Johor.

 

Once the flight tickets were booked, they did extensive online research to secure reservations at destinations, places-of-interest and hotels in locations like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Legoland Malaysia Resort and Pulai Springs Resort in Johor.

 

Jamie & Kimberly with Jamieson
and Thea at the Mak's, Singapore

Pearly, who is familiar with the challenges in the border-crossing between Singapore and Johor Bahru, wisely planned for a brief stay in Singapore for the family to adjust to the weather changes as this was the first Asian Adventure for her daughter-in-law and grandkids.

 

While they were in Singapore, the family had an itinerary to visit some places-of-interest like the Aquarium at Sentosa Island and a meet-up with relatives in the Mak clan.

 

Since their retirement, the senior Mak's have been on globe-trotting adventures – from motorcycle convoys to mountain-climbing – with a recent stopover in London where Pearly met them in the city.

 

In Singapore, the hospitable Mak's had graciously invited Pearly and her family for a sumptuous feast on local delicacies.

 

While their travel date into Johor was right smack within the weekend where Singapore celebrated her National Day, it was a relieve for everyone that the border-crossing into Johor went rather smoothly.

 

Thea leaving her instructions to my brother
and his wife on the care of Missy Kissy 

It was much later that I learnt that their delay in arrival in Johor Bahru was in fact, due to a miscommunication with the transporter who inadvertently, went to the wrong hotel for their pick-up!

 

Over the years, my sister had stayed in touch with us through regular video chats and made every effort to let her grandkids get acquainted with their great-grandmother (our mother!) and grand-aunts (our eldest sister and I!) through such video chats.

 

So when we finally met physically, the experience was not overwhelming for the kids who had already grown familiar with us via video chats.

 

Durian for dessert; Jamieson pinching his nose!

The English kids, who often spend time with their grandmother, have grown up with a diet of Asian flavours so it was more than encouraging that they were ready to try new tastes of unfamiliar food and drinks during their epic Asian Adventure.

 

Prior to their arrival, my sister had indicated her desire for a taste of durian and as we were still within the season, I made advance arrangements to satisfy her longing.

 

None of the UK visitors knew that this fragrant fruit, packed in sealed airtight containers, was chilling in the refrigerator until they were opened and served for dessert after our dinner.

 

Ready to head up the Twin Towers

While my sister and her daughter eagerly anticipated having another taste of the King of Fruit, her son politely declined and remained seated at the table but her grandson, Jamieson, instantly pinched his nose and made a dash for the door…

 

When the eating started, her son excused himself from the table to be with the kids while his wife, Kimberly, was a good sport, ready to give durian a try.

 

At her first taste of durian, Kimberly found it’s sweet and creamy texture so agreeable that she went on to have her second seed, followed by a third. After her fourth seed, she decided that it was enough for her. When she left the table, we congratulated her for scoring full marks in her first encounter with durian.

 

My sister’s family visit was also a time of reunion with my brother’s family who graciously hosted their stay in their home both in Johor Bahru and USJ, Selangor.

 

Browsing the street market, Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur

In 1995, when my brother and his family visited the UK for a holiday, Jamie and Melanie had their first meet-up with cousin Amanda.

 

While reminiscing about that trip, someone shared a charming photograph where Jamie carried baby Amanda in his arms while his sister stood next to them.

 

When the three posed together for a current photo memento, we saw that Time had certainly passed so quickly because the cousins were adults now.

 

Melanie and Jamie with Grand-Aunt Dato Sylvia

I took one look at this attempt to create a photo replica – shot to compare Then and Now – and did not hesitate to ask, “Why isn’t Jamie carrying Amanda in this current shot?”

 

When Jamie heard my question, his spontaneous response was, “Let’s get it done then!” And they captured a special Then and Now memory for everyone.

 

Our time together was also a wonderful opportunity to interact with the grandkids, a boisterous pair who – by God’s grace – was spared any insect bites or ill health in their new experiences travelling to various destinations in our tropical weather.

 

Feeding an elephant at Kuala Gandah, Pahang

When they were packing for the trip, the grandkids were told they could bring along their favourite books and toys so they each packed their own rucksack with carefully selected items.

 

It was a pleasure to meet Missy Kissy, a baby doll belonging to Thea, that looked surprisingly real and which could exercise bodily functions like drinking and peeing.

 

When the family went for their overnight stay at Legoland Hotel Malaysia, Thea was advised to leave Missy Kissy at home as there was plenty of Lego to play in the hotel room.

 

Being 'fed' to a crocodile at Teluk Sengat, Johor

In her absence, Thea was responsible to leave specific instructions to my brother and his wife who were asked to babysit Missy Kissy.

 

I was also happy to meet with Jamieson’s pet hamster – which did not move because the battery had gone flat due to too much activity – but I was more than pleased when he showed me the illustrated and handwritten adventures of his legendary hamster.

 

He gently warned me that the beginning of his book was sad and it was indeed very sad because the opening line read something like this: “On the day that I was born, my parents died…”

 

Close encounter with a lobster!

As he unfolded sheets of paper attached together as a ‘book’ I was told that this book project was on-going and he was working on adding the next episode and the next.

 

As he turned the delicate pages to read with me, he reached the final page of the first episode that opened up into a large poster of his legendary bulging-muscled hamster!

 

I was delighted that creative writing lives on in young Jamieson and when I encouraged him to continue with the next exciting episodes – after his holiday experiences – that feature this hamster enjoying its Asian Adventures, Jamieson seemed to seriously take my ideas on board …

 

So starting from Singapore, the family from UK arrived in Johor Bahru before heading to Kuala Lumpur where they visited relatives and landmark destinations like the Petronas Twin Towers.

 

They had made advance reservations for a 6pm visit so that they could enjoy an aerial sunset view of the Kuala Lumpur city skyline.

 

Lunch treat: Chicken Rice Balls in Melaka

From the city, the family headed to Kuala Gandah in Pahang to see elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary. In a previous visit, my sister and her daughter had the exciting experience of meeting the gentle giants so they wanted the grandkids to have a similar experience with the elephants.

 

Their visit to Kuala Lumpur then continued with a walk through the touristy Petaling Street to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Malaysian street market.

 

On their return drive from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru, the family took a detour into the historical city of Melaka to visit the landmark A Formosa monument.

 

While the weather was fine, the humidity certainly took a toll on the youngsters whose energy was sapped and waves of lethargy caught up with them. Everyone welcomed a sit-down lunch and were soon rejuvenated by a meal of chicken rice balls washed down by refreshing drinks.

 

With nephew Jamie and grand-nephew
Jamieson and grand-niece Thea

This lunch experience was at SMVKKK Hainanese Chicken Rice, a restaurant owned and operated by an enterprising Indian proprietor who served a popular Melaka specialty.

 

Back in Johor Bahru, the family rested and repacked their bags and headed off to Desaru for a beachfront holiday with a visit to the Crocodile World in Teluk Sengat and seafood feasts at Sungai Rengit.

 

Their stay with us in Johor Bahru continued with a downtown walk to explore heritage streets with me before packing again to go for another staycation, this time at Pulai Springs Resort.

 

The family, holders of annual passes to Legoland Malaysia Resort, have been back to the theme park several times to enjoy the rides, the waterpark as well as SeaLife.

 

From feeding elephants to meeting crocodiles, from climbing the Petronas Twin Towers to building a ginormous castle with moat on Desaru’s sandy beach, my sister’s grandkids certainly had such a wide range of experiences to jot down in their holiday dairies along with many new memories made with family and friends here.

 

All good things must come to an end – especially on fun holiday trips – and then it was time for farewells, a long flight and the return to work and school.

 

Farewell at Departure from
Changi Airport, Singapore

It will take some time for everyone to recover from this eventful and exciting Asian Adventure and adjust to the daily schedule but we are ever grateful for a meaningful and memorable time together as a family, especially for the youngsters to meet their 92-year-old great-grandmother in person.

 

P.S. Meanwhile, Jamieson has declared that he would like to live in Legoland. After playing the slide on the swimming pool at Mont Kiara where our Aunty Dato Sylvia lives, he said he would like to stay there for the rest of his holiday.

 

Then while enjoying countless rides down the slide at the swimming pool in the Pulai Springs clubhouse, Jamieson said he would like to work there and shared his ideas on how he could improve the arrangements for a better pool experience…

 

P.P.S. My sister and her daughter extended their stay for a further 10 days to spend more time with us and to celebrate our mother’s birthday in early September.

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