Hello again! We apologize for such a long delay between posts. Between exciting adventures and our day to day work, time has flown by.
Since we last wrote, we got to spend our Christmas down in Melbourne, with Emily’s wonderful extended family. I (Erik) have never spent a Christmas in the summer, so it was an exciting new experience to enjoy the holiday season in the warmth and sunshine. That doesn’t mean we didn’t get to enjoy some classic holiday activities, like decorating cookies with Em’s cousins.
On Christmas day, Em’s Australian relatives all came together to enjoy an amazing day of eating and family. Even though I (Erik) was very far from the Christmas I knew, it was wonderful to take part and be welcomed in their traditions and festivities. I can’t thank them enough for making me feel like part of the family.
In the days after Christmas, we prepared to depart for our next destinations across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Kota Bharu, in our efforts to meet many of the extended family members scattered across Malaysia.
Flying out of Melbourne, our first stop was Singapore. Given that our primary reference point was the beautiful depiction in Crazy Rich Asians, we were extremely excited to explore the pristine state. Our first stay was in the unbelievable Marina Bay Sands Hotel, with its three towers and 50th floor infinity pool!
We stayed in the third tower (on the right). It was a crazy building – the bottom floors had shopping malls, a casino, night clubs, and restaurants. Of course, the main reason we stayed there was for the unbelievable pool at the top.
Singapore is extremely close to the equator, and is therefore suffocatingly muggy and hot. We had to be careful not to walk too far, for even a half mile felt like an impossible marathon in the heat. Even so, we got to enjoy lots of Singapore’s unique sights, including the massive bio domes filled with flora from around the world.
After a few days in Singapore, we took a short flight to Kuala Lumpur, which is the capital of Malaysia. During our first day, we adventured to the north, where a mountain range concealed a Hindu temple in large caves. After climbing several hundred stairs, you can enter the caves, which are full of Hindu places of worship, statues, artwork, and monkeys.
We also had the pleasure of meeting some of Emily’s extended relatives who lived in Kuala Lumpur. We met up with them one evening and enjoyed some traditional Chinese food together.
After a few days in KL, we flew up to Kota Bharu to meet more family members. Kota Bharu is a small city in the state of Kelantan, situated in the northern part of peninsular Malaysia. It’s about an hour’s drive away from Thailand!
All my life (this is Emily now) I have heard stories about life in Kota Bharu. My grandfather grew up in KB, and most of his 10+ surviving siblings still live here. My grandmother – who is originally from England – lived in KB with him for about 10 years before settling down in Australia. My dad, his brother, and his sister were all born in KB. My dad was 7 when he moved to Australia, and as a result his memories of KB are pretty foggy.
KB is 93% Muslim as the majority of the population is Malay. My family is Chinese and very much in the minority. Erik, my dad, and I definitely experienced some culture shock and stood out as foreigners! The town itself is rather rural and close to the ocean, with a river running through it. We just missed flood season, which apparently gets pretty bad!
It was an incredible experience to see where my grandfather’s side of the family is from and to meet so, so many relatives. It was also very emotional for my dad and me to connect with so much family.
They all go by their birth number – auntie #6, auntie # 7, auntie #8, etc.
After an incredible couple of days in Kota Bharu, we started our journey back to Sydney, stopping in Singapore for one more day. Erik very unfortunately got quite sick right as we were leaving, but was a trooper and made it home in one piece. Poor thing had Salmonella and we both missed 4 days of work as Erik was the illest I’ve ever seen him and I couldn’t bring myself to leave him in such a state! He made a full recovery, though, and after an only somewhat traumatic 8-hour trip to the hospital mid-week we were both back to work on Friday!
After our big Asian trip/Salmonella-gate, we laid low for a couple weeks. In early February, I (Emily) took a trip to Tasmania with some of my Fulbright girlfriends which was an absolute blast. We rented a car and roadtripped around the island. It was so fun!
Some other fun things we’ve done since 2020 began: We celebrated Chinese New Year with friends, had a “sausage sizzle” for Australia day, more recently had a lovely Valentine’s Day together, and, as always, hung out a lot with our cat.
Cheers!!
Emily and Erik.au 